Crafters Needed

[Kevin Sawyer, General Manager]

We are hand-picking American crafters (USA only please) who are willing and able to produce and ship their quality crafts in the USA. We are *not* looking for mass-production factories that crank out useless trinkets and widgets. If so, we'd just import from China and Taiwan. Instead we want only genuine, top-quality handcrafted items made right here in the USA. Here's how it works:

• If you haven't already, make samples of your handcrafted items.

• Take quality pictures of them.

• Send us the pictures (mail, e-mail, or post online and e-mail the URL).

• Send us a brief narrative about yourself, your crafts and your commitment to quality.

If we are interested in you and your crafts, we will follow up via e-mail and/or phone call so that we can get to know you better. If you are selected, then here's how it works:

• We negotiate wholesale prices (what we'll pay you for your crafts).

• We gather required information (turnaround time, photos, descriptions, dimensions, weight).

• We add your crafts to our website(s) and promote sales.

• We process secure retail orders from our customers.

• We immediately forward a copy of the order to you including our official invoice to be shipped with the product.

• You fulfill the orders (pack and ship with our invoice/label).

• We pay you immediately (wire transfer) upon shipping confirmation.

The idea here is that you get to do what you do best -- quality crafts -- and we get to do what we do best -- online promotion, sales, order processing and related customer service. The only "business activities" you perform is checking for orders (daily) then packing and shipping. We can help you obtain the appropriate shipping materials. In some cases we may even provide them. There will be no paperwork to do except for printing our final invoice and the shipping label. Depending upon our relationship we may even decide to provide you with the resources required to generate the invoices and labels. We might even provide you with an entire PC, printer, and internet connection. We may even be willing to pre-pay for your crafts. These benefits are all negotiable once our relationship has been established. We'll do whatever it takes to ensure that 99% of your time is spent working on your crafts.

There's no catch. It's this simple. As long as you produce quality items and ship them in an acceptable time frame, we'll live happily ever after. You have absolutely nothing to lose. We both have everything to gain from doing what we are supposed to do and anything else we can think of to help each other. If either of us are less than satisfied for any reason, we simply terminate the relationship.

Please respond via e-mail and include your preferred e-mail address, phone number, best time to call you, and any information you are willing to provide about your crafts. Please reply to "Quality Crafts at MetroEast dot Net" (remove the quotes and spaces and replace words with the appropriate characters -- we've listed it this way to make it harder for spammers to pick up our address here in the newsgroups).

All aspects are open for discussion and therefore your thoughts and comments are always appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager American Crafts Direct * Handcrafts Direct * USA Crafts Direct

PS - Feel free to forward this message to other crafters.

[Bob]

Hmmm.... Tried doing a search on all the company names he listed and found zilch....must be *very* new...

How about listing where your companies are located, telephone numbers, web site URL's, are they incorporated or just DBA's ?

Bob S.

[Rob Mills]

zilch....must be *very* new.

[John]

You are reading too much into it. He simply wants you to put 50 hours into something, and pay you $75 for it.

[Leon]

I don't need a middleman. Thank you

[CW]

That was my first thought.

[Kevin Sawyer, General Manager]

Please forgive the mistype. The e-mail address is "Crafts Direct at Metro East dot Net" not "Quality Crafts at Metro East dot Net" as previously specified (although that address has now been created...so both are functional at this time).

We have been providing Internet services, hosting, and consulting since 1995 and presently host over 100 e-commerce sites. We are involved in several joint-ventures that help companies and individuals bring their products and services to the web. I would be happy to provide more details in a private forum.

I have a few close friends and relatives who are craftspersons and who have tried to sell their crafts on the Internet with little or no success. They can not afford to pay someone to develop a site/store nor can they afford to pay someone to promote it. After much discussion it was my idea to leverage knowledge and experience to promote and sell their crafts online in a manner that is mutually beneficial in the purest sense (all parties have natural incentives to perform as expected and no one wins unless all participate as agreed). However, I'm not interested in selling junk or trying to sell crafts of inconsistent quality. I will dedicate the resources (servers, bandwidth, programming, merchant accounts, payment processing, customer service before/after the sale, etc.) only after I have found enough craftspersons who are willing and able to perform as expected. I intend to have close relationships with each craftsperson and help them in every way possible so that they can focus on their crafts. They are welcome to set their wholesale prices after which I will determine what I feel is a fair retail markup. If we don't both make money, we'll both lose. It's that simple.

Please e-mail me directly and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thanks, and sorry again for posting an incorrect e-mail address.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager American Crafts Direct * Handcrafts Direct * USA Crafts Direct

[Kevin Sawyer, General Manager]

So skeptical! I had no idea I'd be ruffling feathers here.

No, I don't want you to work your butt off for nothing. No, I don't want to "steal" your plans/ideas. I want to provide you with a way and means to profit from the sale of your crafts and I want to profit from providing the service. Win-win is the only thing that will work here.

If it takes you 50 hours to make something, hopefully it is something that people are willing to pay enough for so that you can afford to do it. If not, then you're better off doing it as a hobby and to make gifts for your friends and family.

I think there's a market for quality handcrafted items online. Some things will obviously sell best in a brick-and-mortar environment, but I'm sure there are *lots* of items that will sell online and at a much lower price.

If you want to develop your own online store that features only your crafts or pay someone to do it, then go right ahead. You can deal with the customers, pay for the hosting, pay for the maintenance of the pages and databases, have a merchant account and process credit cards (if you think people are going to mail you a check then you're missing the whole point of online shopping...quick and easy). Even then you won't make a dime unless you can drive traffic to the site. For the past six years or so I've watched businesses and individuals take a "field of dreams" approach and spend big bucks on putting up a web site in hopes that people would find it and buy their stuff. Many of them have used one of my companies for Internet services and hosting. We even built custom sites for a few of them but after that we were out of the loop and they were on their own to promote it and keep it up to date (few ever did so). It's just not a good model from my experience.

Please...let's keep this discussion going!

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager

[Kevin Sawyer, General Manager]

I guess you're already selling your crafts online and meeting and exceeding all of your expectations... Please point me to your site! :) OK, I'll stop being a smart-ass now...

I guess you could consider me a middleman, but you could just as easily consider me someone who wants to buy from you regularly and is willing to pay you according to whatever price you feel is fair. If it's too high, we won't be able to sell it and we'll both lose. The process really regulates itself quite naturally. We could just buy from you and have you ship to us and have that be the end of it as far as you're concerned. But, we have no desire to waste money on stock (warehousing) and additional shipping. Why ship it to us so that we can sit on it until it sells after which we ship it again? That's a great way to make money for the shipping companies. The added costs drive prices up and profits down. It makes a lot more sense for you to make them as they are needed (or shortly before) then drop-ship them to the end consumer.

If you think you can reach those consumers on your own and service them on your own, then you should already be doing it and you have absolutely nothing to gain from someone like me. People want to purchase from a very nice-looking, well-performing site with lots of different crafts (not just a few items from one craftsperson) where their satisfaction is guaranteed. They must be able to click "add to cart" and enter their credit card number on a secure page then wait a week or two for the product to arrive an live happily ever after. The number of these consumers is growing exponentially.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager

[J. Clarke]

You are making the erroneous assumption that there is some vast pool of woodworkers just dying to sell their stuff online. Price good handmade furniture and find out how many pieces a good craftsman can make in a year.

Incidentally, if you want people to hire your services as a salesman then you need to demonstrate that you can actually sell something. So far you're doing a piss-poor job of selling your service to _us_ so why would we believe that you could sell out product to anybody else?

So where is this "very nice-looking, well-performing site with lots of different crafts"? What do you offer that ebay doesn't?

[phil]

Kevin:

I truly wish you the best of luck. I hope you can make your business a profitable go. Unfortunately, I have seen too many brick and mortar business with your same idea of selling good quality crafts go under. At least in the upper Mid-West, the customers are not there to support the stores.

For some reason, and believe me I wish I knew, art and crafts of high quality (high $$$) does not sell. Ask most of folks at you mid-range craft shows on why they make and offer, and I assure you it is because at craft fairs the crafters make and offer what sells. Period. (of course there are exceptions like the high end arts & craft shows you find on the East Coast. This is the 80-20 rule, 80% of the profits are made by 20% of the people.)

The tried and true market for high end craft work today, as in the past few decades, is the same: Interior Decorators. It just seems that over some undefined dollar amount, few people will invest in hand made craft (or art items) without getting confirming opinions from someone else. And if you have the money to invest in expensive $$$ craft item, paying for the advise from an interior decorator seems plausible. In any case, over this undefined dollar amount people will seek out the opinion of those whom they consider to be knowledgeable or have opinions that are trusted in Art (with a capital A.)

Now, if you had a way to focus your marketing to interior decorators or other "opinion leaders" in the purchase of art-sy craft items, then providing an expedited purchase channel would make sense. But as you will find out, EVERYBODY, wants to target market the interior decorators. You will be just another voice in the background.

Again, I truly wish you the best of luck with your venture.

GraybeardPhil

descriptions,

appropriate

[Joe Gorman]

Don't be ridiculous, the $75 is retail, you get $37.50, unless he buys more than 1, and the bulk discount kicks in:-) Joe

[Swingman]

The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but the road to Arkansas this past weekend was paved with failed businesses (many arts and crafts), and brand-new, permanently built fireworks "warehouses" (not "stands") in place thereof ... perfectly reflecting a dumbed down culture and the insatiable need for the important things in it: whiz, bang, and flash.

[Kevin Sawyer, General Manager]

Thanks for your feedback. I'm not making any assumptions whatsoever. And not all woodworking is furniture. I'm not asking anyone to hire me. I'm asking them to sell to me. Perhaps you're confusing me with someone who is offering to promote products for a fee regardless of results. I'm trying to structure this so that I don't make money unless you do. That's basically the opposite of "hiring" someone to promote your products.

I'm not really here to "sell" as much as to see if there is any interest. So far I have received a lot of great feedback from my recent postings. There have only been a few people who have been negative or overly skeptical. Either you're interested or you aren't. But enough "defensive" commentary...

I'm looking for people who want to work together. I'm not trying to force some turn-key service down anyone's throat but rather am trying to work with people and their ideas about how this could/should work. If we can't find the win-win, then we don't work together. It's that simple.

I've been in the technology industry for 15 years. I've successfully operated several small businesses and employed many others over that same period. I have the unique benefit of being extremely technical while also being a "people person" who loves to communicate and interact with others. I've been in the Internet and related services industry for 9 of the last 15 years. My employees and I currently manage servers, networks, security, web sites, and other technology for many very satisfied customers. Only recently have I decided to try to put all of my knowledge and experience and other resources together in the manner described in my original posting.

EBay will give you the framework for a storefront after which you are on your own. They aren't going to manage it. They aren't going to promote it. They aren't going to merge it with other similar/complimentary stores so that you can benefit from the added traffic exposure. They aren't going to accept all responsibility for the customer before and after the sale. They aren't going to handle payment processing (merchant services) and the associated liability. EBay Stores is to online as retail space is to brick-and-mortar. I'm certainly not knocking it. I've both used and recommended it in the past and it definitely has its purposes.

If you want to work on crafts, ship them, and get paid for doing it (and set your own prices) then we should talk. If you are so cynical that you just can't believe that anyone would actually want to help you and work with you then it's best that you continue to do things on your own. I'm willing to earn your trust. If you need to wait until I'm up and running with other crafters so that you can see that it works, that's fine. At the same time, you have an opportunity to be one of the first crafters and help define and design the relationship and the systems that make it work profitably for all involved.

Thanks again for your response.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager

[Dave Hinz]

Yeah, we saw your commercial several times already. Give it a rest, eh?

[Sweet Sawdust]

"Sounds like a good proposition to me. I have been involved in a couple of these and one worked until the site went out of business (he paid up front and made some bad investments) the other I get maybe one or two orders a year from but comercial vendors do well on the site, a third started charging 300% of whole sale and went out of business. I would like more information such as fees turn around time ability to withdraw items and add new items etc.

[JAW]

Kevin; Obviously you have ran across a group of people, some just starting like me, others with a lot more experience ,that have seen or have been burned by other inquiries that look, sound and smell like a scam. Though you may be honest in your dealings, I believe you have picked the wrong approach to promite your ideas. Remember this group of fine gentlemena and ladies love to work with their hands and minds, sometimes making true works of art. This pride and craftsmanship can not be easliy won over via a quick message on a newsgroup. The people here, for the most part, are good and honest and work hard for what they have. You will find that if you come across in a manner that seems to smack against this lofty values, you should expect a LOT of resistance. I believe, and maybe someone needs to counter me on this, that if you took a more traditional approach to offering your services ( clubs, conventions, face to face dealings, etc.), then you will have greater success.

HTH Jerry

Kev [snip]

[J T]

Wed, Jun 16, 2004, 2:46pm (EDT+4) [e-mail] (Sweet=A0Sawdust) says: I would like more information such as fees turn around time ability to withdraw items and add new items etc.

Likewise.

JOAT Use your brain - it's the small things that count.

- Bazooka Joe

[Kevin Sawyer, General Manager]

I certainly appreciate your comments. As I read the posts here I am learning more and more about the community of which you spoke.

I don't expect for one moment that people will get excited and jump at the chance based on one simple posting to a newsgroup. I was hoping to start constructive discussions about my ideas and earn the trust and respect of the community with my candid responses.

I would love an opportunity to meet face-to-face. What all of you do is very personal and I know this from first-hand experience (friends, family, myself). I would never dream of selling any of your products until we've had a lot of correspondence and spoke on the phone. If feasible we would certainly meet face-to-face.

I, too, am good, honest, and work hard for what I have. I wouldn't have it any other way.

--Kevin

me, others with a lot more experience ,that

smell like a scam. Though you may be honest in

your ideas. Remember this group of fine

making true works of art. This pride and

what they have. You will find that if you

should expect a LOT of resistance. I believe,

traditional approach to offering your services (

[Kevin Sawyer, General Manager]

You set your own prices (what you'll charge me). From there I mark them up as I see fit. You get your profit from your price, I get my profit from my mark-up. This governs itself quite naturally. If you charge too much and don't leave me enough room for a minimal mark-up, then the product doesn't sell and we both lose. If I charge too much then the product doesn't sell and we both lose. The market will drive our individual pricing. Either what you charge will work for me or it won't.

I would prefer that you selected just a few items and first and grew from there. If you don't want to make those items any more, you let me know that you'll no longer sell them to me and I'll take them off the site. If you have new items that you think I'd be interested in selling, then approach me. It is not your job to keep the site up to date. If someone orders something and for some reason you can't deliver, then it is my responsibility to provide the customer service and give them the bad news. Of course this could also affect our relationship in the future. So, timely and effective communication will be very important. After all, this is a relationship and either one of us can decide to get out of it at any time.

--Kevin

Likewise.

JOAT Use your brain - it's the small things that count.

- Bazooka Joe