Bracelet Survey Results

Thank you again to everyone who participated in my marketing surveys. I really appreciate it! Overall, the feedback has been great, with maybe one or two questionable comments thrown in here and there.

I really wish I knew who responded with which answers, because a few of you went above what I expected to receive as far as feedback goes. Unfortunately, the survey results only tell me the city the responders are located near, so unless you are from somewhere other than NY (Ohio, Virginia, Maine, Maryland, Connecticut, etc...), then I have no way of knowing who you were. So please don't be offended if I don't offer up a personal thank you for replying!

But on to the results!

For the bracelet survey, 31 people responded:

Photo/Project Credit: The Mother Huddle

1. If you were to wear one of these bracelets, would you wear it in antique copper (shown), silver, or gold/brass? (Select all that apply).

• Antique copper - 67.7% (21)
• Silver - 67.7% (21)
• Gold/Brass - 38.7% (12)

2. Which colors, (in print fabrics) would you prefer? (Select all the apply)

• Blues -67.7% (21)
• Purples- 58.1% (18)
• Greens - 67.7% (21)
• Reds- 45.2 % (14)
• Oranges- 51.6% (16)
• Yellows - 48.4 % (15)
• Browns - 58.1% (18)
• Pinks- 41.9% (13)
• Other: "all colors"; "black and white (together)"; "mixed up palette"; "All"; "prints are cute"; "any fun color combos you come up with!"

(Note about this question: I have no idea why I didn't include blacks and grays, or neutral colors in with the responses. I meant to....)

3. What min/max price range would you pay for one of these?

• The average range of responses ended up being $14-$17.42, with $15-$20 actually being the price range given the most . The lowest suggestion was $9 (which no offense to the person who made that one, but it made me laugh because that wouldn't even earn me back my total cost to make the bracelets!), and the highest price given was $25.

Someone brought up the issue of our county (St. Lawrence) being the poorest in New York, indicating that prices should be on the lower end of the price range to be able to sell in this area. As I stated in my previous post, I do agree with this, as far as selling at craft fairs goes. You really should consider your average customer when selling locally. However, when it comes to selling on Etsy, I do believe that I could sell these for prices at the higher end of the range without any problems.

My "Magic Pricing Worksheet" (see previous post) is actually pretty spot on with what the feedback has been, (although I just realized that the price I entered did not include how much it would cost to ship the supplies to me). The suggested wholesale price is $20, "safe" price is $25, and the retail price is $40. (If you read my previous post about pricing, then you will understand what those mean. If you have not read my previous post, which based on the stats, most of you haven't, then shame on you. Go read it now).

Overall, the response to these bracelets was all positive. There were a few very enthusiastic responses to this item, ("LOVE THIS BRACELET!!!! SO FUN!"), which was very encouraging. I am definitely going to be making this in the very near future, so watch out for them! The only thing that I am waiting on is my seller.

I have not been able to find any of the bases that I will need for this bracelet locally, so I am ordering them online through Etsy. This specific design of bracelet base has been difficult to track down, and of the three (?) places that I have found it, the ones on Etsy have been the cheapest, and it's only available in the antique copper. Thankfully, I found them early, before anyone else did, because they are the only listing for these bases on Etsy. Unfortunately, the listing was only for two bracelets, and I definitely want more than that. Fortunately, this Etsy seller was kind enough to place the bracelets on reserve for me while he/she collected a few more on his/her restock days. I am assuming that he/she buys these locally at a supply store and then resells them, which is fine by me, because the price is still cheaper than anything I have been able to find elsewhere for them. These bracelets may be in limited supply because of this though, so when I do start making them, if you see one that you love, then you had better act fast! :-)

How's that for a promotion strategy?

Attempting to be Professional

I have been told that one needs a photo box, or light box, to take great professional photos. I have read various advice blogs and articles that claim that photos taken in one these boxes are a must when listing on Etsy. I totally believed them. And I believed that the method for making one was as easy as the directions implied. Here is the one that I made:

The box is lit from the top, or sides, with the intent of providing enough direct light to minimize shadows and eliminate the need for flash, which I'm told washes out the colors. It took me over an hour to make my attempt at a photo box, (I blame it on the box cutters I was using). What is more frustrating is that using this box hasn't seemed to change my photos for the better at all. Well, I suppose a couple of them look better, but none of the other ones do.

I'm probably using the wrong light bulb, and I'm sure that it would help if I had more than just one inadequate desk lamp. I tried taking some photos last night (because one woman swears that taking photos in one of these at night will still look as though it was taken during the day- they didn't). They came out really blue looking and dark. So I decided I needed more daylight to make it work, and packed everything away until today.

I was so hopeful about this that I sat down to re-take my photos today, in the early afternoon because I also read somewhere that photos look best when taken in morning or afternoon light. I took 90 photos (multiple shots of some items) to ensure that at least one photo of each item would look decent. Then my lamp broke before I had even put a dent in photographing my entire inventory, (in its defense, it is old). I gave up trying to fix it and uploaded my photos instead. I am not happy with any of them. They all still look rather dark with too many shadows. And I'm still have a difficult time getting the colors to come through correctly. They are looking washed-out and dull, and for the most part, purples are still appearing more blue. I'm blaming my camera for this one because they look exactly the same on my computer as they do when I review them on me camera. Take a look at how they are turning out (after some slight editing):

These colors should be hot pink and lime green, but they are rather dull. And the background is not white at all.

This is SUPPOSED to be a bold, almost fire engine, red!

Does this look like a deep royal purple to you?

What am I doing wrong?! Anyone know how to fix this? Tips? Tricks? Anything?