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Mickdog:
Couple of suggestion for you.
#1 is to correct the spelling of Biege to BEIGE
#2 is to take a look at the dictionary def. of beige and you will see it is a yellowish, tan, brown. So make absolutely sure these are even beige in the first place
#3 search this forum for my longer explanations on how males and females “see color” and “color blindness and “color deficiency”. Males see color defirrently then females, many males are red green deficient and can be 1 in a thousand or so while females may be yellow blue and is not dominant so only one in about 10,000
#4 go to this web site https://enchroma.com/pages/color-blindness-test and test your own color ability and get the test result. It’s free and only takes about 5 minutes. Actually everybody here should do it. If you are deficient in certain colors, shades or ranges you may have to have someone double check your color categories.
#5 I have laid down a good argument in the past about monitor variance. I use two monitors and can see the different on both monitor’s when side by side. So your buyer may have a monitor calibration issue combined with their inability to see color correctly.
#6 Test your “white balance” on your camera or camera phone. Use a 20% gray card to balance for grays coming through from the camera. Many whites shift toward Gray which can be either warm or cool gray. Warm will show some reddish in the white hue and cool will show some blue. Add to the “cool gray” scenario any flourescent lights and that will throw your photo even more toward the blue side. Daylight from windows outside will shift your photos toward the red spectrum. No flourescent, overheads, LED [which flicker by the way only you can’t see it] will distort any true color.
to test this… shoot a plain white piece of paper, then print out your solid white square and then hold it up to your refrigerator white appliance and look at the difference. Hold your phone photo up to the refrig and see the difference.
#8 do test shots on every setting until you can shoot and maintain a good, clean white
#9 make sure you do the color test at enchroma and see how you eyes and brain are seeing and interpreting color.
#10 Go to this link and check for your Ike bowls. https://www.worthpoint.com/inventory/search?query=ikea+365+bowls . Tell me which ones are white or [variations of white], is it lighting, cameras, monitors, human eyes, males or females looking at them??? Look at the other colors and the dark lighting. How many have their white balance set correctly or evevn know what white balance is.You wont be able to see the prices without a subscription but you can read the titles and definitions. If you want some prices, post back here and ask for any of us who has a subscription to Worthpoint to give you the prices.
By the way as a tie in to last weeks comments on studio lighting. We use the Cowboy studio lighting. We have multiple tri-pods with two and four bulb heads for a total of 12 110 watt [equal to 500 wats] for a total of over 1500 watts of light. We use 4 bulbs to light up the the background behind our object [not on the object itself]. Then we sit the object about 6 to 10 inches in front of that and then we hit the object from the front, sides and top with the remaining tri-pods at a 45 degree angle. try to light up enough so you don’t cast any shadows at all. If so bring the lights closer.
Lastly we have a MSWord document among our many SOP about color and we cut and paste in a reply to any customer who brings up color. Lastly we do not accept any returns for color. Do you think any buyer has ever tested their color vision? They may see pink as white, gray as white, tan as white, light brown and light green as white. A beige with light brown in it, the male will see it more as an off white or light gray.
BTW, all of these facts are certifiable with some research. We learned all this is art school both undergraduate and graduate.
Good luck and have fun experimenting…
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
We are the same as T-Satt. Used EAT {easy auction tracker] for two years. If you are familiar with spread sheets and know how to write formulas, there are areas that you can add your own columns to customize it also.
One thing that I suggest before you start doing any type of inventory management is that you develop a unique inventory control numbering system. Code it in some way that each number is unique and attach that number to the item by way of a tag or label of some sort. Then it will help you with using EAT and also in the future if you go to a more robust system such as WonderLister or SixBit.
EAT will not track any type of cross listing and if you do cross list it won’t track it automatically but you can do manual entries by entering items in your inventory tab, date purchased, where bought and sold price.
They also have some video tutorials but not many nor too in depth. I believe, and is my guess from asking questions and getting replies that this is a one man show, who developed an elaborate spread sheet and loaded it with Macros and got Ebay to approve him. Questions take a long time to be answered because I think this guy also works another job. But don’t let that sway you, it is more a guess on my part.
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta
Seen the movie many times, never figured out which poisonous cup was the “real poison” until he keeled over. 🙂 But honestly, you got me on this one. I didnt remember that line.
But yep.. I bite off more than I could chew and now will just fall back into a slower online selling mode and make the eating, sleeping changes, then exercise when doc says it’s ok and move forward from there.
another one .. “Here’s looking at you kid!”
mike at MDCGFA
OK Mama Jay! LOL You, my wife, my daughter, and our assistants Christie and Lisa all are saying the same thing. Daughter Kim is already sending me emails of heart healthy, low sodium, low carb diets.
I have to get on an eat six times a day in small portions schedule. Maybe thinking about a mail order plan like Balance by Bistro MD. Seems better than nutrisystem and less costly.
Plus doc says I have to sleep 8 hours per day. No more working until 9 and 10 pm and getting up at three to pack and ship, then try to get to job sites by 7:30 which were 45 minutes away. Doc even said she wasn’t crazy about me driving until the wide sugar level swings and bouncing betty blood pressure levels stabilize. All doable she says, even to a point where she would stop all medications but only if I drop 25 pounds as fast as I safely can, get on the scheduled eating plan and start walking 2 miles min. per day AFTER she clears me next month. But no exercise or stress for now. She said she wants me to go to my “Happy Place” for a month. I said that would be my art studio, my online businesses {ebay, Etsy, Shopify], changing over to SixBit and of course back to doing some Scavengerlife Posting. She just had a deer in the headlights look on her face and said that she said “REST”. I said that is rest!! LOL
Then we went out the next day and bought about 50++ items and hauled them home.
mike at mdcgfa
Same as ours, but we also have to do a state return in Georgia.
so we end up with our S-Corp filing, our personal joint and the GA. and he electronic files all 3 for $975mike at mdcgfa
You are correct.. Topo!
Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together! 🙂
Bad news from my doc. on Monday. Due to some very high sugar levels and blood pressure she told me I need to pull out of the house building projects and let someone else take over. I have a whole regime I have to start doing and she concluded running 5 businesses which includes the art studio PLUS the houses was too much especially since I was doing some of the physical work. So just rest, diet and another Dr. visit in 30 days and if weight lose has taken place and blood work and blood pressure is down, then she will OK me but just for the online type of work. Uggh. So had to turn the Supervision work on the houses over to some else. Phooey.. was counting on some good extra FU money from that. Will get paid for work down to date but that may be it. But doctors orders.
Susan and i did hit a good find at a thrift store on Wed. when we went up to the house lots to turn the blue prints over to the new supervisor. Doctor said I could do picking as long as I took it easy and no heavy loads until after my next appt. in 4 weeks.
mike at MDCGFA
Aaahh …T-Satt you are just so “sweeeet”. LOL 🙂
Here is one for your trivia memory. Hint from a TV show..who is the character and what show?
who said: “Aaah.. Eddie kiss me goodnight!”
mike at MDCGFA
I went through the same scenario last year and we even had a fairly good thread here on SL. You can try search for a few keywords.
But try this: Google search Danni Ackerman. Look up some of her YouTube Videos that she broadcast from Las Vegas. She lays the ground work for the “Pro” side of the argument. Based on not the fact that it is all built in but the perception of FREE shipping as Jay mentions but also the problem with the younger crowd, math, and their perception of what it really costs. Her vids are about an hour and has some good information and you can jump ahead to the ones about and where in the vids she and a co-host talk about it. Think there are 2 or 3 out of all of her vids that specifically address the why’s and why it’s good.
Personally, we don’t unless it is under 15 ozs. and again we build it into the price. Zones 1 through 8 also make a difference on how you do it. Tough to build a $27.00 FREE SHIPPING into a $25 item.
Good luck
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
Troy.. Had two conversations with Steve at SixBit. Online chat yesterday for about 45 minutes and about an hour this morning. Interesting. While SB does have some of the issues you and I discussed, they did say a few others I discussed last year with them have been implemented on their site. The ending and relisting items while they are both on Sale and also in Promoted listings at times will cause the Ebay API to report back the lower sale price as a new starting price, so be careful and watch as you end and relist items. If you had a 10% off Sale running and Promoted listings after your Allocation plan does an end then you relist it Ebay may show the discounted price as the new original price. If you may recall we had numerous posts here on SL last year about this. But SB does have a historical Highest price ever listed column like I had WL create and that column can be cross checked to make sure an ended and relisted item gets set back to it’s original price.
But all and all, Steve and also JC Ryan said they would let me extend the trial until I got everything customized in SB.
Then they do have the Shopify Store on the horizon so that will be neat. But it will be an extra cost tier. Something like a “TRIO PLAN” as opposed to the “Duo Plan” you are now using.Broke 1200 listing on Ebay… Few months late but over that barrier and will now target 1500 and have 456 cross posted now to Etsy. BTW have all 1200 on Shopify Store but still have not submitted to Google for a WWW go live standing as of yet.
Will probably take you up to convo on the SB set-up but only after I start on the customization of the home dashboard page, do my due deligence on the tutorials and then as I suspect hit a few road blocks.
OK, now back to Shopify University Training Sessions.
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art.
Hey T-Satt. I haven’t looked in a while but years ago when we first started and rookies and would buy everything that wasn’t nailed down regardless of cost or if it would sell was approx. $21 per item.
6 years later our costs are about. $8.81 per item, but a lot of our items are at $40 and up. Now $8.81 is average. We get many items for less and that sell for higher than $40. But on avg. at last look about $8 per item.
Jay everything we ship is ceramics, pottery, glass, crystal. 8 to 9 out of 10 items is quadriple wrapped in our special cocoon process and most double boxed or coil rolled cardboard protection. so welcome to the clank, crack and break club of delicate home decor.
T-Satt had a good long chat with Steve at SixBit and have scheduled another live phone call tomorrow with either Steve again or JC Ryan. I haven’t made the switch yet because I am hammered with the two houses we are building. Those houses make the 6th business endeavor I am envolved with and with taxes right on me, I couldn’t muster to jump off WL right now, but it is coming.
Doctor told me today I am burning the candle at both ends and using a flame thrower to do it. She wants me to finish up the houses and not do any more. Slow down and take it easier. Sugar levels are high and so is my blood pressure. So maybe some calm computer work after taxes and I will get SB up and going. But I will have to train two people after I get everything customized.
And some good news, SixBit IS WORKING on a Shopify interface, so all three online stores will be able to be handled from SB. But no ETA on when they will be through with it, but it is being worked on after I talked with JC last time.
BTW, both houses are framed and ready for roughs electrical and plumbing. !!! 🙂 Jay I will update the Forum Topic on the houses and put in some of the financials to date. Boy thousand dollar bills go fast when doing construction. Bet a bunch of you guys know that.
catch ‘ya later…
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
Same for us. We print out a sheet with the full listing and get it signed and also ask for some ID, either drivers license or ask for some other form.
We date it and state received in condition as described. Only had a few local pick ups though.
mike at MDCGFA
Yeah.. I remember way back in early episodes where Jay and Ryanne would get to the end and had no callers and Jay would ask for members to post questions on the board or call in. Haven’t heard him ask for participation in a long time.
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
Great Mark.. I printed the Matrix out and showed to wife susan and both Helpers. We all had a good laugh when one of the helpers said, “And isn’t this cute” is not on the list!
That is my dreaded phrase, that if Susan picks something up and says “isn’t this cute”, then it is going to get bought regardless of profit margin or buying cost. It usually means it will never get listed and BAM! it sits somewhere in our house or the glass collection.
And by the way, I never hear her say, “isn’t this cute about a full tackle box, an old hatchet, or an old rusty barn item. No, no nothing I would ever want to keep for just me!
We all had a good laugh and said we need to add that to your matrix.
mike at MDCGFA in Atl.
Bingo Ms. Julie. We stopped Free Shipping long ago for your reasons plus others.
Danni Ackerman was big supporter of Free Shipping due again for all the reasons one can find all over the internet. Listen to any of her older videos and her big reason is that most people can’t do the math, according to her. But we always had to include zone 8 on the USPS shipping chart to make sure all costs were covered.
A 5 lb. package to zone 1 [closest to us] was $7.19 but $20.40 to zone 8. So in went $20 packed on top of the cost of the item, just to make sure all bases were covered. Unfair to zone 1 customers.
Then put a 20% Sale on and your item costs is reduced by 20% but so is your Free Shipping padding we put on top of the item. So you are down $2.00
I have always said, there is no such thing as free shipping. We run a business, not a charity. In any big corp. world a shipping center is a profit center. That cost is accounted for some place.
The American way is spend a dollar and sell for $4. That is what entrepreneurship is all about. The free enterprise system is not built on spending an amount of dollars then give it away. The whole American system is based on selling one’s goods and services for a profit. The rest is marketing and advertising. Free shipping is an enticement to buy, the perception of a “Value Added”, but bottom line is still spend a dollar, sell for $4 and pay taxes on the $4 and you get to keep what is left.
Free shipping is the same enticement concept as offering a 20% Off discount, so as you say, why have to deal with all the shipping cost changes. Just build it in and then run some periodic sales and you will be offering free shipping or atleast discounted shipping in some shape or form and doing this is way less hassle than having to rework all your listings to account for increased shipping costs, every year.
Here is a great banner slogan. If you want something you have design to be built to last a long time, give it to the Germans, want that designed item reduced down in size to fit in your pocket, give it to the Japanese, then if you want 3 of them sold to a buyer who doesn’t need one of them in the first place at 4 times what it should cost, give it to an American! All in jest guys LOL 🙂
Mike at MDC Galleries
Hey.. here is a couple of tests for you. My guess is they are molded resin then carved into after they are out of the mold.
Here is the first test for that. Take a larger sized needle. Hold it with a pair of pliers by the larger “eye” end. Hold it over an open flame, best if a gas stove top or candle. Get it red hot and then on the bottom in the middle [so the mark left behind looks like it was part of the making process] and push. If it is resin the needle will go in easily and you will also see some smoke come off / up from it. Smell the smoke also. If resin it will smell like burning plastic if wood it will smell like burning wood [of course].If still unsure from this test because the “feel” is new to you and you can’t gauge the resistance level of the needle yet, then a second burn test may help you. Do the same technique on this time use a metal carriage bolt about 1/8″ in diameter [they have a flat, bottom tip, not a pointed wood or sheet metal screw]. Hold the screw head with the pliers and get the flat tip red hot, just like a branding iron and agagin aim for dead center on the bottom. This larger, hot area will produce a bigger burn area and more smoke for the smell test. If wood you will definetly smell the wood aroma. Also, again, the mark left behind will look just like some sort of scar that was made by the artist during the mfg. process.
Another test is to measure the depth of the inside, rim to bottom of the cup and subtract that measurement from the overall height of the object. If that number is something like a 1/4″ to 1 inch difference, then that means you have a fairly large, solid mass of material between the bottom of the interior vs. the exterior bottom. This too usually means poured resin and also adds that extra weight [heaviness you feel].
Solid resin should be heavier than wood if it has larger solid areas.
Hope this helps some what
Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atl.
