Preorder Suggestion.

[yankeebobo]

I was going to stay out because this round I have no orders in with COV other than replacement CTs. But....

I've brought this up before. I think proper communication goes a long way. And communication can generally keep most people calmed and relaxed. Avoiding specific questions, which are valid, and cameo appearances is what starts to let imaginations run wild.

This has been seen before. A preorder guarantees a customer their product while playing a refresh game without preorder guarantees nothing but different madness. This occurs more and more in preorders, especially those that take months to complete. And Imeo himself has mentioned that the preorder money does not go to him immediately. It stays with the seller.

My recommendation....

Preorder lists. When the time comes for a preorder, you post your intentions and quantity. Each seller can have another thread specific for the preorder. "Penelope v2 COV preorder". You post, quantity, your name is added to a list. 1-2 weeks before, the seller comes to everyone on the list and requests the payment due for the quantity purchased. It's now up to the CUSTOMER to manage the money and budget their time. If you don't have the money within the window of time requested, you cannot be guaranteed one at the time and have to join the regular public refreshing the public page when the remainders go up.

Imeo still doesn't get the money, sellers don't hold the money "hostage", and the customer cannot complain that the product has arrived because it also allows the seller time to collect the money, and immediately forward te required funds to imeo.

 

[S8 ESX]

Seams fair to me mate. I don't mind either way TBH.

 

[gtbb]

Sounds like this would avoid many of the issues we've seen in the past.

 

[Aal_]

I was going to stay out because this round I have no orders in with COV other than replacement CTs. But....

I've brought this up before. I think proper communication goes a long way. And communication can generally keep most people calmed and relaxed. Avoiding specific questions, which are valid, and cameo appearances is what starts to let imaginations run wild.

This has been seen before. A preorder guarantees a customer their product while playing a refresh game without preorder guarantees nothing but different madness. This occurs more and more in preorders, especially those that take months to complete. And Imeo himself has mentioned that the preorder money does not go to him immediately. It stays with the seller.

My recommendation....

Preorder lists. When the time comes for a preorder, you post your intentions and quantity. Each seller can have another thread specific for the preorder. "Penelope v2 COV preorder". You post, quantity, your name is added to a list. 1-2 weeks before, the seller comes to everyone on the list and requests the payment due for the quantity purchased. It's now up to the CUSTOMER to manage the money and budget their time. If you don't have the money within the window of time requested, you cannot be guaranteed one at the time and have to join the regular public refreshing the public page when the remainders go up.

Imeo still doesn't get the money, sellers don't hold the money "hostage", and the customer cannot complain that the product has arrived because it also allows the seller time to collect the money, and immediately forward te required funds to imeo.

How is this different than pre-order? Aren't you still paying the seller before the items are in stock?

 

[RiverNut]

Yes but only a week or two instead of months (which gives the seller more time to mismanage the funds)

 

[fright88]

I don't think there has been a problem with this historically.

 

[yankeebobo]

There also hasn't been many preorders historically. Everyone who's been around long enough remembers fighting website refreshes and crashes. There were complaints then too.

Then the preorders started. And there have been issues with those as well. And I don't mean to imply all sellers had an issue. Slow shipping, conferences, missing parts, etc.

This simply puts the customer in a "don't ....." position. If your payment was due and you didn't have the money, now it's YOUR problem and you only have yourself to blame.

 

[redeyes24321]

I completely agree Yankee. A little communication goes a long way, and COV doesn't seem to realize, or care. I think some of the comments on the COV thread are going way overboard, but there are some valid points that Bruce seems to ignore. I know that I will EVENTUALLY get my preorders, but its hard seeing people get there orders 2 or 3 weeks before mine has even shipped and it makes it seem as though COV doesn't care about me. Bottom line is WE are the customers that keep these vendors in business, so WE should be their top priority, especially when they have my pre-order money. COV likes to post very vague and sometimes completely uninformative crap just to shut people up instead of taking 5 minutes and performing some good old customer service! I'm not trying to dog on COV, I just think they need to wake up to the fact that these kind of business practices are pushing their customers away.

 

[Kataphraktos]

yankee, I agree. The issue here is the manufacturer theoretically takes a risk, as any and all pre-orders can be canceled, leaving large inventory that may or may not sell, but has already been produced.

Of course, that's a funny thought when applied to imeo's products, considering the stampede for anything he produces. Furthermore, he has shown willingness to start with a small initial batch with the new Ithaka insert, so he could do the same with any new product, gauge demand, and adjust future runs accordingly. This doesn't work with any item he intends to produce once and done, like he did with the justGG - but this won't be an issue with mods at least, once he's moved to electronics.

 

[yankeebobo]

And this can go further. Other "lists" don't typically get filled in one shot as many know. They typically get produced and run out in batches. So while one batch is going to polisher, another goes to CNC. When the end of the line is hit, leftovers go up for sale to public.

It's an idea and one I know many are familiar with. That's all. Just a way to try to keep this side of the pond as tension free as possible.

 

[fright88]

There also hasn't been many preorders historically. Everyone who's been around long enough remembers fighting website refreshes and crashes. There were complaints then too.

Then the preorders started. And there have been issues with those as well. And I don't mean to imply all sellers had an issue. Slow shipping, conferences, missing parts, etc.

This simply puts the customer in a "don't ....." position. If your payment was due and you didn't have the money, now it's YOUR problem and you only have yourself to blame.

I just want to state that I would support your idea if for no other reason then when a new product is launched I don't have a few weeks to come up with the money I have till shortly before it is ready to ship. So I like this idea.

However I just want to mention that this may only solve the issue that is going on currently. The issues that happened in the past were bad releases IMHO. Don't get me wrong I am not trying to rag on anyone here but the fact is when a product comes out it normally has a release date. And the release date is typically the day it is available in stores. And normally that release date would not happen on a day or weekend that 1/3 of your vendors or more are going to be closed down for a convention. Also that date is normally either a universal worldwide date or sometimes by country ect. Which would help in either case. With a worldwide release no one can complain that anyone else got theirs before they did. And even with a country wide release no one can complain unless the product isn't delivered when promised. Which shouldn't be an issue because the release would normally be planned for a better time.

Assuming the current situation doesn't happen again the current system can work. It may not be the best for some. And yes your idea may have prevented the current issue. However it wouldn't solve the issues people have complained about in the past.

Again not trying to argue just want to put my .02 in. I like your system the JGG pre order is a perfect example of how this would have benefited me. When JGG pre-orders went up I knew I wanted one of each finish but I was forced to only pre-order one because it was what I could afford at that moment. With your system I could have ordered 2 and saved shipping and not had to deal with the worry of if I would be able to pick up a brass version once they went available to the public.

 

[imeothanasis]

The solution is to stop preorders. I did it for my customers but it doesnt work all the time. So I will stop them and I will go back to normal ordering.

I thought a lot about this issue and thats my simple solution. Its the best for you.

 

[imeothanasis]

The solution is to stop preorders. I did it for my customers but it doesnt work all the time. So I will stop them and I will go back to normal ordering.

I thought a lot about this issue and thats my simple solution. Its the best for you.

 

[xtreme101]

It's a shame that one seller can mess up a good system for entire GG family. Only have preorders through e-smoke ~ Vassilis has impeccable track record.

 

[RiverNut]

 

[<---cop]

The solution is to stop preorders. I did it for my customers but it doesnt work all the time. So I will stop them and I will go back to normal ordering.

I thought a lot about this issue and thats my simple solution. Its the best for you.

Please reconsider.

The same people will then complain when they miss out on a purchase because they have sold out.

Your preorder system is fair and honest and gives everyone an equal chance to own every product.

 

[imeothanasis]

sure cop but we had one failure with cameron and I dont want to have another one. System works when all people involved on this work together but that doesnt happen all the time. Customers cant hang on when we will decide to work as we have to work. Customers will buy when the product will be available and without issues like this. Then all of us will be happier. Now noone is happy. Maybe on next preorder another issue will happen and we will be in the same bad situation once again.

 

[yankeebobo]

The solution is to stop preorders. I did it for my customers but it doesnt work all the time. So I will stop them and I will go back to normal ordering.

I thought a lot about this issue and thats my simple solution. Its the best for you.

I think there is a better balance which satisfies customers and sellers. This actually would also gauge the amount of interest and spread out maybe allowing you to run a couple products side by side in production.

Stopping preorders to solve this issue may be like putting a cast on a cut when all you need is a bandaid.

 

[imeothanasis]

I will read again your above suggestion yankee to see if its better than mine

 

[imeothanasis]

I read it yankee but it will not work. I will send you a pm to tell you the reasons