A mistake I was willing to make

Last month I had a couple contact me regarding a soap they would love to have. They asked me to make a blend of lemongrass and patchouli soap. The shop was slow, so I thought, "why not?". The contact was made on Facebook and the couple said they wanted quite a few bars, and a friend of theirs even piped in and said they wanted a few bars too.
So, I happly made the soap. I let them know they were made and I would post the listing in a week or so. The soaps were made using the hot process method, so they were available much sooner than my other soaps.
Two weeks later I posted the link to the soap. It has been two weeks now and they have not ordered the soap.
So why did the mistake (of making the soap before payment) turn out well?  The blend is amazing, and because I used the hot process method, I was able to superfat the soap with lots of extra cocoa butter! The soap smells amazing and I am going to add this blend to my soap line.
Now, I did make a mistake by making a product that was not paid for, which you should never do. But....I knew ahead of time that I may not sell the soap to the person who requested the soap, but I was willing to take the chance.
Sellers are often asked to make a product on Etsy. It happens all the time and most sellers are happy to purchase the materials, make the product, and then list the items for sale. But what if the buyer doesn't come back to purchase? Can you sell the item to someone else?
I always make sure I have the buyers money before I even start making the item.
I guess I don't always follow my own advice, but I do have a nice batch of lemongrass patchouli soap now!