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Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Too Many Choices?

I am hearing a lot that my customers can't decide which painting they want on a tote bag, so they don't order at all.

Am I making a mistake to offer so many choices? My flowers look great on the totes and I get a LOT of comments on them, but I keep getting the "I can't decide" also.

What am I missing?

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Lutz Baar

8 Years Ago

You can always send them to my end...

 

Joseph C Hinson

8 Years Ago

You sure folks aren't just saying that? Gosh, there's just so much to choose from!

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

You mean as an excuse not to buy them at all?

Actually, I want to buy one of my totes and I can't decide either.

 

Marlene Burns

8 Years Ago

In my experience working with clients, I don't offer too many choices...it becomes overwhelming for them to make a decision.
If you have a regular following, it might be an interesting experiment to introduce 3...and add another few every few weeks...it might promote the first sale and then encourage them to order yet another when new images become available.....

 

Mike Savad

8 Years Ago

i think if they really wanted to buy something they would have. kind of lame to say - i'm so confused, too many choices... tell them - here, here is one you can use, done.

always have choices, or it will be confusing. as for you, buy the first one that catches your eye... better yet go to my store and choose one from there.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

 

Robert VanDerWal

8 Years Ago

If they like it and really want it, they will buy it. As a contrast, someone from Beverly Hills, CA has consistently viewed my photo of Lichtenstein Castle at least twice a week since February 2014 without buying it. Who knows?

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Good idea Marlene!

You're sneaky Mike! (:

I hear you Robert!

 

Marlene Burns

8 Years Ago

Robert,
That someone is not a person, it is a search engine.

 

Cynthia Decker

8 Years Ago

On a kind of related tangent, when you all have an image that isn't properly formatted for the decor items (so that a solid color margin will print) do you offer those for sale? I'm considering not selling the decor items from images that aren't the right aspect ratio. This mostly applies to duvets, I'm finding.

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Cynthia, I am considering not offering the duvets at all. It would take a mighty big and fine photo to be adequate.

 

Mike Savad

8 Years Ago

maybe can make them a deal and offer a discount for buying more than 1.


i never sold a duvet until it was on this site. because they let you spread it across the entire thing, it generally doesn't look stupid as it does on other sites i'm on. i sold 2 already. the more products you offer, the more you should show up around the net.

if you can stretch your image to fit over the entire thing, i'd do that, because flowers and such should work well for duvets.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Mike, if I stretch it, how will I know if it is still in focus that big?

 

Mike Savad

8 Years Ago

sean does allow us to stretch to fit now,i'm not sure what the rules are for that.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

 

Cynthia Decker

8 Years Ago

Mike, I've sold two as well. One with the margins on either side, which was what prompted me to ask about that.

Problem for me with stretching is that cropping always kills my composition and usually cuts off some important image element. I think I'm going to go back through each image and optimize how it looks - it's fantastic that we can upload dedicated files for that purpose too, I may just have to reformat some things.

 

Mike Savad

8 Years Ago

its an issue for some. i'm wondering how many customers realize that there are borders on some of these images. i've adjusted some, and always feel funny about stretching it, but i guess its allowed? i think they sell better when it fills the whole thing. but it really depends on the image. wish we had matching pillow cases to go with it.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

 

David Bridburg

8 Years Ago

Except for cards I am trying to sell only prints. I took all the other merchandize down.

If the average markup was $7, high, but if. Then if by some miracle I had 100 sales of merchandize
I would make $700.

Mike, I followed all of your prices. So if my average markup is $100 on a print, then seven sales makes up for lack
of merchandize.

I study marketing and now will add studying sales with Youtube videos. These two skills are a very different set
of paradigms for me. It is not second nature for me. But I do get it.

The new Skates report is out. It focuses on FB for the arts. I am stopping most activity on Twitter and moving over to
work more carefully on FB.

I am learning. It is never too late to teach and old dog new tricks.

At this point I want to ready my art and the number of images I have for Christmas.

Cynthia using GTMetrix on my site I see some of my sites problems. I straightened out a major one with a couple of videos
from YouTube. It is possible to simply look up terms and watch videos. No pros involved in modifying the site.

Dave
http://bridburg.com

 

Abbie Shores

8 Years Ago

Robert that person is a person AND/OR a search engine

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Yes, Mike, every time I stretch the duvets, I wish the pillow covers would take up the slack on the top.

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Although the pillow choices would work if the customer realizes they can match the pillows too.

 

Toby McGuire

8 Years Ago

I once had two images show views from Beverly Hills, CA and immediately after someone emailed me about them. They later wound up buying a large print of one of them so you never know...

 

Cynthia Decker

8 Years Ago

Shirley, I would think you could enlarge the image on your own system to the percentage youd be enlarging it on the duvet and look at it that way. Keep in mind though that FAA's printers do a pretty good job at optimizing images and fabric can be more forgiving than paper.

MIke, the borders on one of the covers I sold where very obvious. It was a vertical image on a king size duvet. But they chose a nice background color so it did look ok.

I am just going to have to buckle down and make sure I have optimal file sizes and shapes uploaded for the merchandise I plan to sell. That'll take a couple weeks, but it'll be worth it.


Dave, I appreciate your input and it's clear you put a great deal of effort into learning about marketing. I know I'm not a moderator but please try to stay somewhat on topic in other people's threads. You might consider writing a daily blog about your experiences researching and learning about marketing. It'll be more effective than just posting your insights in unrelated threads.

 

Frank J Casella

8 Years Ago

Offer them a Limited Time Promotion discount if they buy two or more.

EDIT: what I sense from your words is they are saying the value is not meeting the need or want. Otherwise they would buy one or more already without the discount. Or they need more information about quality and durability ... things like that.

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Thank you Cynthia!

 

Julie Senf

8 Years Ago

Shirley, your paintings do make very pretty Totes :)

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Frank, thanks. If you are talking about the totes, I think the quality is what it is, I have no control over the material quality. I do think my paintings are ideal for these totes. I think I will sell a lot at Christmas. I'm hoping that people are waiting until then. But I could be wrong...

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Thank you Julie! I appreciate the confidence that gives me. I hope others are looking before replying.

 

Frank J Casella

8 Years Ago

Shirley -- thanks for being clear. What I meant is that your customer my not have enough information to make a buying decision, they just may not be saying this to you directly. . You may have no control over material and quality but you do have control to communicate the material and quality to them.

 

Shirley Sykes Bracken

8 Years Ago

Frank, thanks, what more can I communicate to them? I hope you don't think I was being curt, I wasn't for sure!

Would you give my store a quick swing through and tell me if I need more meat?

 

Floyd Snyder

8 Years Ago

@Robert VanDerWal4

"If they like it and really want it, they will buy it. As a contrast, someone from Beverly Hills, CA has consistently viewed my photo of Lichtenstein Castle at least twice a week since February 2014 without buying it. Who knows?"

You should search Google for bots, spiders and web crawlers.

@Shirley Sykes Bracken4

You mean people are actually emailing you and telling you this? In any significant numbers?


When selling in an atmosphere like the Internet, more choice will always be better then less.

When selling one on one where you have a chance to actually qualify the buyer and actually direct their focus, few is better than overwhelming them with choice.


The is not sense showing your seascape art to a buyer that only buys western art.

No sense showing a $60 tie to a guy looking for a $10 tie.

 

This discussion is closed.