Crafters Needed

We are hand-picking American crafters (USA only please) who are willing and
able to produce and ship their quality crafts in the USA. We are *not*
looking for mass-production factories that crank out useless trinkets and
widgets. If so, we'd just import from China and Taiwan. Instead we want
only genuine, top-quality handcrafted items made right here in the USA.
Here's how it works:

+ If you haven't already, make samples of your handcrafted items.
+ Take quality pictures of them.
+ Send us the pictures (mail, e-mail, or post online and e-mail the URL).
+ Send us a brief narrative about yourself, your crafts and your commitment
to quality.

If we are interested in you and your crafts, we will follow up via e-mail
and/or phone call so that we can get to know you better. If you are
selected, then here's how it works:

+ We negotiate wholesale prices (what we'll pay you for your crafts).
+ We gather required information (turnaround time, photos, descriptions,
dimensions, weight).
+ We add your crafts to our website(s) and promote sales.
+ We process secure retail orders from our customers.
+ We immediately forward a copy of the order to you including our official
invoice to be shipped with the product.
+ You fulfill the orders (pack and ship with our invoice/label).
+ We pay you immediately (wire transfer) upon shipping confirmation.

The idea here is that you get to do what you do best -- quality crafts --
and we get to do what we do best -- online promotion, sales, order
processing and related customer service. The only "business activities" you
perform is checking for orders (daily) then packing and shipping. We can
help you obtain the appropriate shipping materials. In some cases we may
even provide them. There will be no paperwork to do except for printing our
final invoice and the shipping label. Depending upon our relationship we
may even decide to provide you with the resources required to generate the
invoices and labels. We might even provide you with an entire PC, printer,
and internet connection. We may even be willing to pre-pay for your crafts.
These benefits are all negotiable once our relationship has been
established. We'll do whatever it takes to ensure that 99% of your time is
spent working on your crafts.

There's no catch. It's this simple. As long as you produce quality items
and ship them in an acceptable time frame, we'll live happily ever after.
You have absolutely nothing to lose. We both have everything to gain from
doing what we are supposed to do and anything else we can think of to help
each other. If either of us are less than satisfied for any reason, we
simply terminate the relationship.

Please respond via e-mail and include your preferred e-mail address, phone
number, best time to call you, and any information you are willing to
provide about your crafts. Please reply to "Quality Crafts at MetroEast dot
Net" (remove the quotes and spaces and replace words with the appropriate
characters -- we've listed it this way to make it harder for spammers to
pick up our address here in the newsgroups).

All aspects are open for discussion and therefore your thoughts and comments
are always appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager
American Crafts Direct * Handcrafts Direct * USA Crafts Direct

PS - Feel free to forward this message to other crafters.

"Kevin Sawyer, General Manager" Crafts Direct at MetroEast dot Net wrote
in message ...
SNIP for brevity


Please respond via e-mail and include your preferred e-mail address, phone
number, best time to call you, and any information you are willing to
provide about your crafts. Please reply to "Quality Crafts at MetroEast
dot
Net" (remove the quotes and spaces and replace words with the appropriate
characters -- we've listed it this way to make it harder for spammers to
pick up our address here in the newsgroups).

All aspects are open for discussion and therefore your thoughts and
comments
are always appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager
American Crafts Direct * Handcrafts Direct * USA Crafts Direct


When I saw this spam in the NG thought I would give the benefit of the doubt
and see what you are all about, but couldnot get your businesses, listed
under General manager, to pop up on the first page of any web search with
Google.
SO I wonder about "what you do best" as far as web sales and promotion?
Wholesale price? That isusually reserved for wholesale buyers, not
consignement. "Negotiate" a price to buy wholesale?

Because I doubt that old Kevin will check back, I also wonder if anyone that
reads this has ever used a "service" like this and what was your experience?
I am trying to push the attitude about what I "think" will happen and see
what "has" happened.

Anyone?

"Javahut" wrote in message
...

"Kevin Sawyer, General Manager" Crafts Direct at MetroEast dot Net wrote
in message ...
SNIP for brevity


Please respond via e-mail and include your preferred e-mail address,
phone
number, best time to call you, and any information you are willing to
provide about your crafts. Please reply to "Quality Crafts at MetroEast
dot
Net" (remove the quotes and spaces and replace words with the
appropriate
characters -- we've listed it this way to make it harder for spammers to
pick up our address here in the newsgroups).

All aspects are open for discussion and therefore your thoughts and
comments
are always appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager
American Crafts Direct * Handcrafts Direct * USA Crafts Direct


When I saw this spam in the NG thought I would give the benefit of the
doubt
and see what you are all about, but couldnot get your businesses, listed
under General manager, to pop up on the first page of any web search with
Google.
SO I wonder about "what you do best" as far as web sales and promotion?
Wholesale price? That isusually reserved for wholesale buyers, not
consignement. "Negotiate" a price to buy wholesale?

Because I doubt that old Kevin will check back, I also wonder if anyone
that
reads this has ever used a "service" like this and what was your
experience?
I am trying to push the attitude about what I "think" will happen and see
what "has" happened.

Anyone?

A while back there was a long thread on alt.crafts.professional about the
same sort of service/scam. Numerous folks who have websites are contacted
by the "shopping networks" , hardly a week goes by that I don't get spammed
byone of the cable networks. Most recently it was from some yahoo in the UK
wanting SG panels.

"Moonraker" wrote in message
. ..

"Javahut" wrote in message
...

"Kevin Sawyer, General Manager" Crafts Direct at MetroEast dot Net
wrote
in message ...
SNIP for brevity


Please respond via e-mail and include your preferred e-mail address,
phone
number, best time to call you, and any information you are willing to
provide about your crafts. Please reply to "Quality Crafts at
MetroEast
dot
Net" (remove the quotes and spaces and replace words with the
appropriate
characters -- we've listed it this way to make it harder for spammers
to
pick up our address here in the newsgroups).

All aspects are open for discussion and therefore your thoughts and
comments
are always appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager
American Crafts Direct * Handcrafts Direct * USA Crafts Direct


When I saw this spam in the NG thought I would give the benefit of the
doubt
and see what you are all about, but couldnot get your businesses, listed
under General manager, to pop up on the first page of any web search
with
Google.
SO I wonder about "what you do best" as far as web sales and promotion?
Wholesale price? That isusually reserved for wholesale buyers, not
consignement. "Negotiate" a price to buy wholesale?

Because I doubt that old Kevin will check back, I also wonder if anyone
that
reads this has ever used a "service" like this and what was your
experience?
I am trying to push the attitude about what I "think" will happen and
see
what "has" happened.

Anyone?

A while back there was a long thread on alt.crafts.professional about the
same sort of service/scam. Numerous folks who have websites are contacted
by the "shopping networks" , hardly a week goes by that I don't get
spammed
byone of the cable networks. Most recently it was from some yahoo in the
UK
wanting SG panels.

Tony Blair?

"Javahut" wrote in message
...

"Moonraker" wrote in message
. ..

"Javahut" wrote in message
...

"Kevin Sawyer, General Manager" Crafts Direct at MetroEast dot Net
wrote
in message ...
SNIP for brevity


Please respond via e-mail and include your preferred e-mail address,
phone
number, best time to call you, and any information you are willing
to
provide about your crafts. Please reply to "Quality Crafts at
MetroEast
dot
Net" (remove the quotes and spaces and replace words with the
appropriate
characters -- we've listed it this way to make it harder for
spammers
to
pick up our address here in the newsgroups).

All aspects are open for discussion and therefore your thoughts and
comments
are always appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager
American Crafts Direct * Handcrafts Direct * USA Crafts Direct


When I saw this spam in the NG thought I would give the benefit of the
doubt
and see what you are all about, but couldnot get your businesses,
listed
under General manager, to pop up on the first page of any web search
with
Google.
SO I wonder about "what you do best" as far as web sales and
promotion?
Wholesale price? That isusually reserved for wholesale buyers, not
consignement. "Negotiate" a price to buy wholesale?

Because I doubt that old Kevin will check back, I also wonder if
anyone
that
reads this has ever used a "service" like this and what was your
experience?
I am trying to push the attitude about what I "think" will happen and
see
what "has" happened.

Anyone?

A while back there was a long thread on alt.crafts.professional about
the
same sort of service/scam. Numerous folks who have websites are
contacted
by the "shopping networks" , hardly a week goes by that I don't get
spammed
byone of the cable networks. Most recently it was from some yahoo in
the
UK
wanting SG panels.

Tony Blair?

Nah...I think his name was Charles Windsor or something like that.

perhaps" CHUCKIE"?

h

--

In the words of the IMMORTAL USED CAR DEALER:
THERE IS AN ASS FOR EVERY SEAT!

Please forgive the mistype. The e-mail address is "Crafts Direct at Metro
East dot Net" not "Quality Crafts at Metro East dot Net" as previously
specified (although that address has now been created...so both are
functional at this time).

We have been providing Internet services, hosting, and consulting since 1995
and presently host over 100 e-commerce sites. We are involved in several
joint-ventures that help companies and individuals bring their products and
services to the web. I would be happy to provide more details in a private
forum (e-mail or phone would be fine).

I have a few friends and relatives who are craftspersons and who have
tried to sell their crafts on the Internet with little success. They
can not afford to pay someone to develop a site/store nor can they afford to
pay someone to promote it. After much discussion it was my idea to leverage
knowledge and experience to promote and sell their crafts online in a manner
that is mutually beneficial in the purest sense (all parties have natural
incentives to perform as expected and no one wins unless all participate as
agreed). However, I'm not interested in selling junk or trying to sell
crafts of inconsistent quality. I will dedicate the resources (servers,
bandwidth, programming, merchant accounts, payment processing, customer
service before/after the sale, etc.) only after I have found enough
craftspersons who are willing and able to perform as expected. I intend to
have close relationships with each craftsperson and help them in every way
possible so that they can focus on their crafts. They are welcome to set
their wholesale prices after which I will determine what I feel is a fair
retail markup. If we don't both make money, we'll both lose. It's that
simple.

Please e-mail me directly and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may
have.

Thanks, and sorry again for posting an incorrect e-mail address.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager
American Crafts Direct * Handcrafts Direct * USA Crafts Direct

PS - You won't find anything in Google until we are up and running. If
you'd like to know a little more about me and one of my Internet-related
companies, check out http://www.apci.net.

"Moonraker" wrote in message
. ..

"Javahut" wrote in message
...

"Kevin Sawyer, General Manager" Crafts Direct at MetroEast dot Net
wrote
in message ...
SNIP for brevity


Please respond via e-mail and include your preferred e-mail address,
phone
number, best time to call you, and any information you are willing to
provide about your crafts. Please reply to "Quality Crafts at
MetroEast
dot
Net" (remove the quotes and spaces and replace words with the
appropriate
characters -- we've listed it this way to make it harder for spammers
to
pick up our address here in the newsgroups).

All aspects are open for discussion and therefore your thoughts and
comments
are always appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager
American Crafts Direct * Handcrafts Direct * USA Crafts Direct


When I saw this spam in the NG thought I would give the benefit of the
doubt
and see what you are all about, but couldnot get your businesses, listed
under General manager, to pop up on the first page of any web search
with
Google.
SO I wonder about "what you do best" as far as web sales and promotion?
Wholesale price? That isusually reserved for wholesale buyers, not
consignement. "Negotiate" a price to buy wholesale?

Because I doubt that old Kevin will check back, I also wonder if anyone
that
reads this has ever used a "service" like this and what was your
experience?
I am trying to push the attitude about what I "think" will happen and
see
what "has" happened.

Anyone?

A while back there was a long thread on alt.crafts.professional about the
same sort of service/scam. Numerous folks who have websites are contacted
by the "shopping networks" , hardly a week goes by that I don't get
spammed
byone of the cable networks. Most recently it was from some yahoo in the
UK
wanting SG panels.

Hi. It's not consignment. We would pay your price and mark it up to sell
it at retail. That is the basic definition of wholesale. Consignment means
that we keep a set percentage and you set the retail price. I guess that
might work, too, but I like the wholesale/retail model a little better.
Remember, all of this is open to discussion. We're looking for the
proverbial "win-win" here. Anything less is a waste of time.

We *could* just pay you to produce a number of units and ship them to us
after which we could warehouse them until they are sold. Then we're really
just another brick-and-mortar retailer (who happens to have an e-commerce
storefront). Our costs would be significantly higher which we force us to
charge more and be less competitive. It just makes more sense (to me,
anyway) for the product to be made at (or shortly before) the time of order
and only be shipped one time -- directly to the customer. Why pay UPS or
FedEx to ship it to us, then pay to sit on it (warehousing), then pay UPS or
FedEx again to ship it to the customer? If we get rid of some of those
extra costs, then the customer gets it cheaper (making us more competitive)
and/or we both get a better margin. I'm not interested in sitting on a
warehouse full of products nor am I interested in making giving a bunch of
money to the shipping companies when neither are necessary.

Let's say you make something and you agree to sell it to us (wholesale) at
$40. We put it online and promote the site(s) and sell it at $49. A
customer clicks "buy now" or "add to cart" then goes to the checkout where
we automatically calculate their shipping charges based on the weight and
dimensions of the product. We close the sale and authorize their credit
card. Assuming the authorization is successful then you immediately get a
notification via e-mail that you need to fulfill the order. If necessary to
earn your trust, we pay you in advance (it would be pretty short-sighted for
either of us to screw the other at this point and I'm certainly willing to
take some risk to prove my trustworthiness). You fulfill the order and send
us shipping confirmation (easily automated by FedEx, UPS, etc.). We notify
the customer that the product has been shipped. Once we receive delivery
confirmation (again, easily automated by FedEx, UPS, etc.) we e-mail a
customer satisfaction survey to the customer, thank them for their business,
and invite them to shop again.

I intend to provide a 30-day money-back guarantee even if I have to "eat"
the products involved. The worst thing that can happen is that I decide to
drop a craftsperson because they wouldn't stand behind their product at all
and left me hanging. We don't want you to have to interact with the
customers at all...unless you're just that nice and want to help out with
that part. We're assuming that if you wanted those headaches that you'd
already be doing it. I've already learned first-hand that every contact
with a customer (or prospective customer) is an opportunity to earn their
trust and their business. If I have to do it by giving their money back
because they aren't satisfied, then I'll be glad to do it. I'd probably
also send them a $20 gift coupon or something. In most cases they'll be
back if I take care of them. Been there...done that.

By the way, what do you make? Do you sell it? Do you have any photos
available? Let's keep this discussion going...please!

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager


"Javahut" wrote in message
...

"Kevin Sawyer, General Manager" Crafts Direct at MetroEast dot Net wrote
in message ...
SNIP for brevity


Please respond via e-mail and include your preferred e-mail address,
phone
number, best time to call you, and any information you are willing to
provide about your crafts. Please reply to "Quality Crafts at MetroEast
dot
Net" (remove the quotes and spaces and replace words with the
appropriate
characters -- we've listed it this way to make it harder for spammers to
pick up our address here in the newsgroups).

All aspects are open for discussion and therefore your thoughts and
comments
are always appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Kevin Sawyer, General Manager
American Crafts Direct * Handcrafts Direct * USA Crafts Direct


When I saw this spam in the NG thought I would give the benefit of the
doubt
and see what you are all about, but couldnot get your businesses, listed
under General manager, to pop up on the first page of any web search with
Google.
SO I wonder about "what you do best" as far as web sales and promotion?
Wholesale price? That isusually reserved for wholesale buyers, not
consignement. "Negotiate" a price to buy wholesale?

Because I doubt that old Kevin will check back, I also wonder if anyone
that
reads this has ever used a "service" like this and what was your
experience?
I am trying to push the attitude about what I "think" will happen and see
what "has" happened.

Anyone?

"Kevin Sawyer, General Manager" Crafts Direct at MetroEast dot Net wrote
in message ...

Remember, all of this is open to discussion. We're looking for the
proverbial "win-win" here. Anything less is a waste of time.


I think you are displaying a total lack of understanding of
"how-we-do-things" in the stained glass art/craft/industry, Kevin.

Your business model might work for the "crafter" (Gawd, I hate that word!)
who makes crocheted toilet paper roll covers or repetitively hand paints
little wooden geese wearing blue aprons or some other such tawdry "stuff".

Actually your business model isn't a wholesale one at all. It's more
accurately described as a sales agent-dropship model. Your part is nothing
more than sales commissions and a bit of handling. Wholesale pricing means
to me that the wholesaler has a financial stake in the inventory, has
posession of it, and can do with it as he chooses. Consignment means that
the shop-keeper has permission to sell an item, but the right, title, and
interest in the item belongs to the artist until the customer pays up.

Here's why I don't think your idea will work:

Personally (and I bet I'm speaking for the vast majority of folks around
here), my work is custom. It's made to order. It's expensive, and it
takes time to create. It's fragile, can be heavy, and I make wood shipping
crates for the artwork. I'm not about to invest any time making something
on speculation (no matter where it gets inventoried) when I have work to do
that is already ordered and deposits paid. I think you'll find my situation
is not an exception to the norm.

For less than $85 a year I have a website with a dedicated IP, all the
search engines have the site at the top of the first page, and all the IT
support I need. Explain to me why I would want to pay you (and discounting
to sell at wholesale IS, in effect, paying you to distribute my work) when
you can make no guarantees as to the volume of orders you'll place or the
frequency thereof. I'm willing to spend the money promoting my own designs
and custom work, but offering you a discount so that you have something to
sell on your self-promoting website seems counter productive, especially
when I have no say as to what other things or artists you may be offering
and promoting.

I betcha you won't get many takers in the traditional leaded and stained
glass arts, for the reasons I stated above. (Unless you think you can get
rich selling $15 sailboat suncatchers for a $5 profit. And there's
probably plenty of those folks out there with that to offer.) :(

Any professional artisan I know already has outlets for their work either in
websites, galleries, or at shows. Those that are good don't have the time
to fill the orders they already have...so you'll be left with the secondary
level "crafter" who doesn't have any special designs or techniques to
differentiate themselves from 40 more wannabes doing the exact same sailboat
suncatcher. And that's a recipe for failure. Or mediocrity.

You may find those who make beads and fused jewelry have a different
perspective. They may be willing to have an inventory of ready to sell
items, but when they sell something offline, are you gonna be ready to
update their inventory levels on a 24-7 basis? Do you think they are
willing to reserve a one-off item for your website when they have a
face-to-face retail buyer? You do realize that this artwork isn't mass
produced and is unique? If I can sell something right now for $100 or wait
for you to "maybe" sell it and get paid $50...that choice is easy to make.
And then you are left with an item on your website that no longer is
available for sale.

If you search the archives of alt.professional.crafts you'll see much more
about this topic. Yours isn't an original idea...I've seen this topic two
dozen times in the last 5 years, and I guess you'll be the first to ever
get it off the ground. Everyone else failed. But, hey, good luck.

"Kevin Sawyer, General Manager" Crafts Direct at MetroEast dot Net wrote
in message ...

Please forgive the mistype. The e-mail address is "Crafts Direct at Metro
East dot Net" not "Quality Crafts at Metro East dot Net" as previously
specified (although that address has now been created...so both are
functional at this time).

PS - You won't find anything in Google until we are up and running. If
you'd like to know a little more about me and one of my Internet-related
companies, check out http://www.apci.net.


Hummmh. Located in East St. Louis, IL. Wonderful location. Makes
downtown Baghdad look like Palm Springs.