whenever I see an opening gambit like that.. ROFLMAO
IT'S A SUGGESTION!
BRAINSTORMING, options, call it what you will.
For fricks sake dredge, thus the questions, it's not like I can pop down the pub & say, have you contemplated this?, ..have you looked at this angle?
I suggest you read the thread properly, it clearly is asking questions that run along the "poser" of too much time spent packaging items, ..bigger problem overall, choosing to drop an item may not be the grand solution or end of the matter in a seasonal concern.
For instance recycling is suggestive (here's a bin please recycle), result being 65% increase in recycling less landfill,.. advertising is suggestive, Ryan could pop up a pic or guide of various mixes that fit into his current cartons that make life easier for him, you only have to ask for folk to do something for alot of them to comply, especially when they see the benefit in terms of dispatch, or a well thought out package of goodies...
eg
bundle #1.
bundle #2.
..everything else
With any item you sell out of your entire stock of prior to halloween amongst a range of goods orientated the same direction you've clearly got to assess as to whether it's a wise move to remove that listing & how it relates to site / B&M movement.
If Ryan is spending too much time packaging it
may come down to several immediate
possibilities.
Layout space, existing packaging, site growth & boomerang effect on sales, awkward product... etc.
If not done effectively the packing up aspect can easily waste between 30 minutes & 1 1/2 hrs daily.
Bearing in mind the seasonality & way Ryan works through the night, propping himself up on mountain dew etc, doing everything else etc there is obviously squeezed time between all the processes that need re-evaluating / refining / adopting, ..scheduling sleep
Therefore you'd be daft not to question those when it comes to smooth running & allowing time to function as a human being when presented with something that clearly sells, draws to the site & is influential to making your patterns accessible & do-able by all regardless of experience via such an easy & promoted means on your site.
Therefore questions.
Asides from Ryan Doing ALL aspects of the site revamp prior to seasonal peak, say finishing everything by August 1st including ignoring all new pattern suggestions / requests that come in up to & inclusive of 31st October..
(that's not going to happen then)
Saral is / was extremely hard to get over here unless you know where to look, & can be as much as 19.85 GBP = 32.4984 USD
Saral Paper by the looks of things influences sales, for the one stop shop, rather than the "oh shop X sells saral & lights, & decorations, it'll have everything ...i'll get it from there", ..opportunity missed, stock left,
cashflow!
This means
potential loss of sales of strobe & howler lights ..all of which are available in plenty of US /Canadian stores,
Warren cutlery is pretty well known in North america ..strike another product (it's available as a dedicated pumpkin carving set from them now)
Pumpkin Gutter ...touted around the place generally, available in shops too... strike another item.
Pumpkin hanger, who knows how these'll be marketed in coming seasons, in store availability, though it's easy to replicate & sell through any outlet seasonally..
Which pretty much leaves t-shirts, stickers, that's 3 products out of a potential 10 as are showing currently (Aug 2011)
So we have 7 products which are pretty likely to be found in biggish stores (or variants thereof).
Then we have 3 products remaining 2 of which are T-shirts, these depend heavily upon having possibly, XS,S,M,L,XL,XXL,XXXL (7 sizes) on cost, where it is also seasonal (new pic each year) with a starkly contrasting price between old & new style to throw into the mix, of which Ryan has already downsized his availability which from the shop frontage was a slow burner with plenty of left over stock from 3?? previous seasons.
Finally we have a nice cut out vinyl sticker at $7.00 ..for a sticker, the mindset may say "that's almost the cost of a cheap t-shirt", (before shipping).
So unless within the annual "big reveal" there's a plethora of newly sourced goodies I'd be concerned as to key items ramping up or down overall sales.
Sales can often be interlinked, back to back dependent upon each other but won't clearly show until you lose key components.
Pertaining to
your Link for Saral, I've already placed what we believe to be the current uk best price (no idea of stock held) linked elsewhere, just as I did last year.
I didn't link to that site based on the fact that if you purchase Saral from them ... there is £5.95 p+p from them taking it to £14.91
i'd already checked it out from purchase to delivery!
With regards to the rest of your post Dredge, look at it this way unless you are here & reading very frequently & chose to look precisely when a post is created or answered, dug up (again) then you are faced with ALOT of fresh posts whereby upon reading you may assume (incorrectly) the member is having a whine, in which case totally incorrect.
Try this exercise perhaps, write down EVERYTHING you wish to say over the course of a day & write it verbatim onto your phone in office mode for instance, then read it back to yourself , or get someone else to read it back & see how it comes across, ..probably if you've had a bad day, in pain, bored, emotive, what comes back is deemed whiney, to anyone who is unable to contextualise it & say, ok this is in direct relation to 1 subject matter & therefore should not stigmatise the rest of a persons character.
Like you say in your blog about being a miserable so & so, hard to live with, "shady" / morose does that define the rest of your character?
I am promoting discussion,, getting others views & expanding on a theme even by berating it, as I realize I am not the only voice, but nor in all likelihood am I the only one who may feel the same way, but maybe the only one to actually comment on it, in order to discuss & gain insight..
& sadly covering old covered territory again...
As someone who is active on the forum most of the year, the odds are in favour of more posts from myself therefore a skewed perspective.
When I question something it's usually because a thought or experience has prompted me to do so, such as actively encountering folk who say "Zombie Pumpkins is incredibly US orientated", from their pespective & dalliance via a link, ..correct if you are looking at Summer Spirits, flags, bald eagles, uncle sam etc etc... (which is a percentage of an overall site).
Take for example the ratio of North American members to UK / european forum members ..it's pretty small yes? therefore those who vocalise will feature more prominently.
If say you were on tv all the time doubtless perception rightly or wrongly would be put upon you also due to looks, features, physical aspects, regional characteristics.. all of which may not accurately portray the person.
What would be worse? If I had concerns about elements of the site & neglected to speak up & voice my concerns to someone I have dealings with on an almost daily basis?
Or should it simply be left as is to sink or swim, the forum is here for the express purpose of discussion, sharing, good or bad... my personal opinion of Twilight is that it's about an abusive relationship that is sending out "god knows what" messages to potentially impressionable children that domestic abuse is normal within a relationship..
It's well documented..
This is a random trawl....
http://vampirely.wordpress.com/2009/05/ ... tic-abuse/
..& an utterly terrible vacuous movie series (to date)
However as I've previously stated, it (multiple character stencil release) takes up large blocks of limited release over the course of a season, multiply a release like that two-fold & that's a big chunk of the "shop window" where new releases are concerned..
I wouldn't bull$hit my kid, colleagues, friends, people I know by association, (e.g. internet) on matters that gave me reasonable concern etc I wasn't brought up to sugar coat "the pill" ...(avoidance of issues).
Ultimately Ryan will do it the way Ryan wan'ts to do it, but if we all go down the route of " hearty back slapping,everythings fine, you're great, I heart everything you do then we are not being truthful to anyone with regards to a site we care about. & feedback / opinion help drive direction, input = output, as Ryan has also stated with regards to stencil design creativity happening.
The more info there is to read develop knowledge of the better, same as putting info up on the internet, to share, inspire, improve, rejuvenate, chew over.
Only a fool would post up anything on the internet & expect pure adulation!
..however in many instances folk do just that to the detriment of someones health or endeavour for the sake of a job position, pay & entitlement.
Ryan's not dumb, we can however all get in a rut though & sometimes have things go by unexplored / unnoticed.
If you go read your own posts on your blog Dredge, how do you come across?
is that the sum of you?
no, I don't expect it is.
No, i'm not back.
(unlike Jonny)
