Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, I just haven't been able to find any information on it. Multiple times now, I have seen Messmaster say that he is not responsible for anyone who is scammed on this website unless they paid through UMD's payment processor. So how on earth does one do that? I dont see this as an option on any stores. What am I doing wrong?

You have to directly message someone themselves if you want to purchase a custom. Obviously a degree of trust involved there but if you look around a bit you'll see who has a good reputation for them.

I recently had one done by Rev Slymsford and he absolutely crushed it to the point where I fully plan on having one done by him again next year.

You have to message the producer yourself and work out the details. If you see someone you want to order, from check their profile page. You'll see "Customs:Approved to offer" on their page. That means they have a great reputation for delivering on their custom. MessMaster isn't responsible, but if you see that on their profile, then they have a solid history and have proven to be trustworthy.

I've ordered a multitude of customs this way, had some amazing results, but also have gotten scammed by some of the usual suspects. There are a couple of producers who I am considering ordering from again, but they weren't the most professional and I wouldn't do so without some measure of protection.

Messmaster keeps mentioning that the site can process payment for customs and if something goes wrong, he will refund the money. I just want to know how to do that.

Otherwise, I will just stick to the people I know are good for their word or just do it through manyvids.

Doesn't sound like being approved to offer customs is worth very much in that case.

I'm specifically looking for the function of processing payment through the site, which messmasster refers to every time someone gets scammed by a producer who was approved to offer customs.

That would be where the scene is offered for sale, to a single customer only, through the UMD store system. It is possible, when you set up a scene to be sold you can specify it to be available to one single user only rather than generally on sale. However as far as I know, no producer uses it because:

a) they would have to cover all the costs themselves up front and only get anything back when the final sale happens.

b) the producer would only get 70% of the sale price so they'd have to mark it up at least 30% to get the price they wanted.

But that would mean the sale went through UMD, and because payout is delayed by two weeks, if the customer wasn't happy then MM would be able to pause or reverse the sale.

All other custom deals, where buyer negotiates direct with seller, are entirely separate from UMD, in the same way you can't complain to your email provider, or the post office, if something negotiated by email or letter goes wrong.

Thank you for actually answering the question lol

I do think the "approved for customs" label is misleading. I don't think the post office comparison is that great because the post office isn't providing any kind of seal of approval.

I can see why no producer would ever want to process a custom through here considering there is no assurance that the customer will actually buy the video in the end and 30% is really high. Manyvids only takes 20% and processes the transaction up front so both the customer and producer get assurance.

It's unfortunate that there isn't a safe way to do customs on here. I've learned my lesson the hard way. Hopefully more producers will migrate over to less shady sites.

I don't go through UMD for customs, and have never done it on here.

There's two main producers that have sold me customs. One we do email, the other we text.
I've also tried loads of others but the main two are always consistent, so I stick with that. The others we normally email.
I've never had anyone take money and disappear, but i do stick with my main two.

I don't think a lot of people are aware of the option, and of course it's only visible to store owners.


"Approved for Customs" means that the producer has a store here with at least ten scenes and a decent history of operation, and that they have verified their account (mandatory for store owners). But it's certainly not a panacea. Even long-established and hugely trusted producers can go rogue, as has happened more than once. But it did largely put an end to the "new model pops up, does a few scenes, takes advance payment for a dozen customs, then vanishes" scam, which used to be a significant problem.

ManyVids may only take 20% for customs but they take 40% for standard video sales, so I don't see any mad stampede to migrate there any time soon. At a guess from your description they are operating an escrow service - taking the money from the customer and holding it, and only paying out once the customer declares themselves satisfied with the product. Which still means the producer has to front all the costs with no guarentee of actual payout at the end. And also means ManyVids will be required to comply with the somewhat arduous financial regulations that apply to escrow services.

We've all heard about rogue producers, but remember there are also rogue customers. A common scam used to be to pay 50% deposit for a scene, keep active communication until the producer provdied the demo shots to prove it had been filmed - and then customer goes radio silence and vanishes, hoping to anonymously pick the scene up from the producer's store for just the deposit plus download store price, rather than paying the full agreed sum. Which is why when we do customs there's a clause that if the balance isn't paid, the scene will never be released and will be placed in a 100-year vault to be passed to my heirs and successors.

At the end of the day the vast majority of wam producers are either solo operators, couples, or very small circles of friends. Ordering customs will always be a risk, both of not getting the result you want or not getting anything at all. There's only so much protection that anyone can offer in a market like that. The way we do it here, which I think is the fairest way, is:

50% deposit in adavance.
We guarentee to shoot the scene within 3 months of deposit, or cancel and refund.
50% balance on proof of completion.
If balance isn't paid, scene is never released.

The deposit covers the cost of supplies and outfit, and partial model fees. The balance covers the rest of the model fees and profit. I'd recommend anyone offering customs to use a similar model, which tries to fairly split the risk between producer and customer.

Useful thread and information. Thanks, all