Those dang czechs...

[christopher]

So, I've got a couple of bead shops that I sell pendants and beads to, and implosions seem to move best I can generally get between $12 and $15 for a patterned (as opposed to frit) implosion with color backing and color bale (bail?). I had only taken one batch to a new shop and got a couple hundred bucks, but when I went in to bring her some more, she told me, "I've got bad news..." She then proceeded to pull out two VERY nice implosion pendants, about twice the size of mine, and told me that she gets them for four bucks each. That one hurt. She has two stores, one on Cannery Row (very touristy) and one in Carmel, CA (very touristy too, but HELLA rich...avg. shack of a house (and I really mean a shack) is about 1.2mil...not millimeters, either...). She agreed to keep my pendants in her Carmel store as a "higher end" product, but is gonna yank my stuff from Cannery Row, replace it with czech pendants that she's still gonna retail for $25, and just make herself $21 profit instead of $13 on each pendant. Of course I understand her position, it was gracious of her to keep my stuff in her other store, but...

this is my first experience with being "outsourced "...it hurts, looks like my secret about how easy and quick implosion pendants are is now useless...

It's time to roll into some other production lines anyway. Where to next? We shall see...

Without turning it into a "let's bitch about the foreigners" thread, I'd love to hear of others' experiences and what you did to recover...

I'm actually really excited about the possibility of moving into some other area...

[christopher]

Shoot, I just posted that on the tech forum, maybe some sweet mod will come along and move it to the general discussion?

[Kool]

The trick is to keep one step ahead of 'em. I try to keep coming up with new products that I don't see other people making. If they sell well, eventually other folks start making similar things, or some clients even ask other people to make the same thing for cheaper. But by then, you've hopefully played that one out and are over it anyway. Even so, you have a head start (so you can hopefully do it faster and better) and a lot of businesses will stick with you on principle alone (gotta love those people!)

This works especially well if you "discover" something that isn't necessarily common knowledge or you put things together in a new way. I've gotten lucky with that a couple times.

Keep at it and you'll find your way. Innovate! Good luck.


K

[Swampy]

Of course you know it's just the tip of the iceberg, right? I mean it will happen again, has to. Because the developing world is getting more savvy, not just in hand skills but also in their marketing strategy.

So what can you do but keep ahead of the pack and improve your own marketing strategy, maybe pay for an experts' advice.

Continue with your current product line but sell it differently, like from your website? or different outlets.

Regarding the ladys' gracious effort to continue supporting you, how long do you think that will last? She's already importing, so. Put it another way, would you support a local manufacturer that charges $21 more for the exact same imported item, just because you were feeling gracious? So you gonna eat the $21?

I'm just brainstorming and offering ideas like you invited Christopher, I am able to see your situation from the other side of the fence because there are no manufacturing processes here in Belize so everything is imported due to the lack of infrastructure. So everyone has to work harder to make it work, see. As someone finds a new product here some smart Alec imports it from China for half the price.

In my lifetime experience, if you are hungry enough you will adapt to the change, and survive.

[steven p selchow]

Even though I've worked boro over half my life (30 + yrs.) I got into the pendant scene some 4 years ago, and only in the last 2, have had any competition, but thats fused dichro pendants, nobody does what I do around here in flamework, I've found that at an art show wheres their a few fused artists, my pendant sales still sell strong, I've watched the buying public browse the other booths, but tend to come back to me, and always hear them say, I've never seen anything like yours before, always buying from me ( my sign by the pendants say "free cord included" that, beleive it or not, has made the difference of a sale or not, as they don't have to go buy a cord later, its included, a good marketing strategy, which works, my signs are professional made from a trophy award center..anyway, all my pendants are one price, implosion, raked, dichro, frit, multi colored, whatever. I find I have almost $1.00 in findings including leather, and offer them for sale wholesale with one included, my one account refuses to buy import, as they are an upscale specialty botique, even foregoing the cheaper ones and huge profit margin of imports, to support american and local artists, a good presentation of why your work is better actually helps explain...$4.00 a piece I could not compete with, maybe If I was starving, but likely they wouldn't buy enough.
My suggestion is to branch out...make matching earrings to go with your pendants, something I bet they can't get from their supplier, and sets do make the sale too. Make them animal pendants, sealife ( good by your area) stay ahead of them, mass importers aren't going to go into production of a few new items to compete with you, You think of it, make em,sea turtles, lizards, dolphins, hope you come up with new things.

steve

[jeffbuchs]

Use more dichro. They don't have it easily available overseas yet.

Were those implosion pendents soft glass? nice burst patterns? I've seen that around for a while, I think they were Czech.. pretty nice.

I saw some Malysian made $2 soft glass rings w/ millies on ebay a while back to.

[christopher]

Regarding the ladys' gracious effort to continue supporting you, how long do you think that will last? She's already importing, so. Put it another way, would you support a local manufacturer that charges $21 more for the exact same imported item, just because you were feeling gracious? So you gonna eat the $21?

Sorry, my first posting wasn't that clear. She retails my pendants for $25, I wholesale them for between $8 and $15 (a difference of $4-$11). Either way, though, your point is well taken. But depending on the circumstances, I might be willing to make $5 less per pendant if I had a store in which the item in question made up less than 1% of my inventory value.

As far as making an effort to support me, again, my post was poorly worded. Her Carmel store is a higher end place where people come looking specifically for local artists, which is why she's going to keep my stuff. So, as far as a gracious effort to support me, that wouldn't last. But within three days she had sold three of them at $25 each, which during busy time would be crappy, but in tourist town, CA, it's dead time for another couple of weeks. So three in three days isn't bad for now, I'm just hoping they continue to do well.

In a glass gallery in Carmel, the owner has called to ask me if I mind if she ups the price a little bit (she has to ask because it's a commission contract deal) because they're moving out too fast (only up by $5, but hey, that's another $2.50 in my pocket...)

Either way, thank you for your post. It's cool to hear peoples' perspectives from outside the US.

Where in Belize do you live? My neighbors are leaving for there in 2 days.

Thanks again,

Christopher

[Swampy]

The west is the best :-)

Sunny San Ignacio

Paul

[christopher]

Use more dichro. They don't have it easily available overseas yet.

There's some things even I won't do...seriously though, I'm not so big on dichro, except for M&M's galaxies (siiiiiiiiiiiiiccckkk.....)

Were those implosion pendents soft glass? nice burst patterns? I've seen that around for a while, I think they were Czech.. pretty nice.

They mighta been. Nice looking, but the janky little loops weren't properly fused, acute angles up the wazoo.[/QUOTE]

[WORLD FAMOUS]

From many 'consumers' point of view, there is nothing wrong with Dichro. :o)

[beadysam]

Dicho is being done to death over here in the UK! I used to like it, but I'm sick of the sight of it now. Its only very, very occasionally when I see an art bead that is made with dichro used in a subtle way that I can even tolerate the stuff now...
Having said that, it is flying off the shelves (or ebay really, and craft shows) but we must be due to hit saturation point sometime soon...
SAM x

[christopher]

There was a blues festival in Monterey last weekend, and there were two people with glass. One dude had pipes (nice, but just your average i/o prodo stuff) and the other had pendants. I saw that they were 2 for $15, and asked the guy if they were imported. Forgive me, I'm gonna sound like a cracker here, but it's relevant. The dude was asian (Korean or Chinese, from the accent) and told me in broken English that "Yes...Italy...Murrano glass." I'm guessing that was bullshit, only because of the price...What do you guys think?

Yeah, nate, I know there's nothing wrong with dichro, and I've actually seen some dichro that I like, I think I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and do it...business is business.

[Greymatter Glass]

I dunno.... glass is pretty cheap in murano if you buy the apprecticship crap. I have a fist sized paper weight from Murano that was all of about $5 retail.

[Groundjoints.com]

Its funny how Molino and Murano sound alike. Molino is a Thai company bringing in $2 implosion pendants from thailand as well as full color blanks for pipes which just need holes drilled in them.

[Shatner]

as well as full color blanks for pipes which just need holes drilled in them.

I've seen those damn things before on eBay. Does anyone even buy that crap?

[J Howard]

even with imports, there's lots of stores. many of those stores still haven't seen the imports yet, sometimes the solution is just branching out a little. sometimes it's time to just do something else!

[burnoutboy]

The dude was asian (Korean or Chinese, from the accent) "Yes...Italy...Murrano glass." I'm guessing that was bullshit, only because of the price...What do you guys think?

yeah talk about KEY words.