Survey For Leathercrafters

[SLudlow]

Afternoon folks,

Firstly, wanted to thank everyone who responded to our first thread (and through PMs) regarding an online shop. I've gotten a fantastic response from various local folks and online folks about what they would like us to carry.

The missus of course is wanting to measure twice and cut once before we take the dive, and she made up an online survey so that we could get a better idea of what you folks are purchasing, from whom, and in what amounts. She's the brains of these things, so I hope you won't object to the questions. Basically we want to know what you guys want a potential supplier to carry, how much stock of it to keep in the back, and what the best plan for shipping is. For tools and such, for example, using flat-rate boxes we can basically manage to charge $5 on any order that can fit into an 8" x 5" x 2" box, which is frankly most leatherworking tools and hardware.

If you'd take a few minutes to go through the survey, we would really appreciate it, and it'd help us not end up with a room full of stock that will never move. I'm planning on making the results of the survey freely available (just the aggregate stuff, your personal info won't be kept/stored/captured/sold in any way). Hopefully this survey might be useful to more folks than just myself that way, and I won't feel so bad about asking y'all to do this.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/W35QPBW

Thank you so much for your time, again we really appreciate the assistance.

- Stefan Ludlow

Ludlow Leather Supply Co.

www.ludlowleathersupply.co (website won't be open until we get stock in, but it's there!)

[SLudlow]

Thank you later to all of you who have taken the survey. Your input is VERY much appreciated, and the candid comments are leading me to shift my ideas of what people really want in regards to shipping. That is to say, most people (76% of those who have taken it) prefer free shipping with the understanding that shipping is built into an item price. No surprises, and TANSTAAFL.

[SLudlow]

We are now up to 35 responses. Thank you so much for everyone who has participated! Survey monkey won't allow me to export directly, so I will be adding the results into a publicly viewable google doc that I can keep updated.

Again, thank you to everyone!!! You have been fantastic, and I hope the results of the survey will be useful to others in the community.

[electrathon]

I will give you my personal opinion, and that is all it is. You are an individual who is basicly offering to call the store that stocks/sells what I am interested in and asking them to drop ship it to me, for a fee. I have both the phone and the internt I know how to order.

A primary concen to me is priciing, best price availabe for the item I am buying. I usually am able to buy at a discount. Also of concern is warranty when needed. You will not be able to offer either of these. If I buy Tandy crap and it is defective they will hand me a new one no questions asked. You wll not have anything to send me as a warranty and I question if you could afford to on an ongoing basis.

My recomendation is to sell things that are otherwise hard to find, like tiger thread.

Aaron

[SLudlow]

I appreciate your opinion and candor.

As for drop-shipping, I'm afraid you're mistaken. As a business, I can purchase items in bulk or wholesale, or at auction at the various events around the country, and keep them in stock and available at equivalent or slightly discounted prices to retail. I think that I can do a better job with shipping items than many of the larger retailers, who seem to have set their eyes on large margins rather than satisfied customers.

As for discounts: If you have already purchased the various "gold club" or "wholesale" or other packages offered by some retailers, then I probably can't beat their rates. My target audience is folks like yourself when you are trying to find hard-to-find items, but at the same time, you probably aren't purchasing loads of Tandy tools at this point in your career. My goal is to provide a place where new leathercrafters can come and purchase the tools they want from manufacturers they know, and at the same time, at the same shop, see alternative and potentially better options. Take for example someone purchasing a Tandy English Point 1 1/2" strap cutter. C.S. Osbourne carries a similar tool, at the same price, but their tool is made much better. I want new folks to the craft to be able to see them side by side, and compare them quickly and easily, without having to have spent years learning to know the ins and outs of manufacturers.

As for a warranty, I don't know a single small business out there who would sell a defective product and tell a paying customer to sod off. As a craftsman, and as a business owner, I can't imagine acting like the corporate jerk and not offer to take the product back with a refund, no questions asked. Well, I'll probably ask a question or two, so that when I call the manufacturer the next morning I know exactly what to complain about.

And hell or high water, I'm going to carry Ritza25 "tiger thread" and some proper sewing clams that don't cost more than my workbench.

[electrathon]

And hell or high water, I'm going to carry Ritza25 "tiger thread" and some proper sewing clams that don't cost more than my workbench.

That is more of the answer. "Unique, quality leather tools at affordable prices".

[TXAG]

A couple of things that have really p##### me off a lot lately are 1) retailers sitting on their collective a#### and not shipping my order for days on end and also 2) charging me $7-$12 or more for shipping for a single, god-forsaken tool. I'm sick of it. I've written off (PERMANENTLY) a couple of dealers that have done this to me lately. Maybe one day, there will be a dealer that isn't lazy, that cares about getting someone's order CORRECT (a third major irritation), and not ripping me off on shipping. There are MANY times an item can be shipping via first class mail (all packages weighing 13 ounces or less) WITH insurance and delivery confirmation, if we're forced to have that.

Anyway, hopefully you will fill that void in my leathercrafting needs.

Edited December 30, 2013 by TXAG

[SLudlow]

This I don't quite understand. Shipping a small tool should never, ever be more than $6, the price of a flat-rate box plus a little for handling. One would think it would be less for items smaller than 13 ounces. USPS will always pick up at residences, so unless it is the holidays and you are away from the business, there shouldn't be an excuse.

Anyways, did want to post the initial results of the survey before I went out for the night. You can find them here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlNqN5Khkb_XdDJXdzhOUDZtYzVUSlU1WVdQMnFkZUE&usp=sharing

[Leather by LOU]

It should only ever be the $6 plus nothing for handling if you ask me. You can order all your flat rate boxes from USPS for free. Only cost is tape and time. 2 of which I provide for my customers choosing to do business with me. I agree there is a large void to be filled by a proper retailer. My biggest struggle is finding unique hardware for upscaled design or tastes. Its all based off of western saddlery. Either that or the only reasonable selection you have to shop through a physical PAPER catalog then cross reference with a price list, then build your order like its 1970. Good luck to you on this venture!

[bruce johnson]

Do a little time study - Have your wife call you and make a fake order order. Have her call five more times and order different stuff each time. Sometimes a one item order and sometimes a 6 item or 8 item order. Sometimes she needs advice on what tool is most appropriate to buy. Discuss that with her on half the orders. Make one of those orders something bulky that won't fit a Priority box. Add the cost of that box. Write the orders down or enter them. Pull the orders and sort them by customer. Run the credit cards. Pack the boxes and add whatever padding you need. Tape the boxes securely. Print the labels and put them on the boxes. Stop the clock and divide the total time spent by the number of orders. add any materials. Decide if you can give that time away yourself or give away the wages of the employee who does. I am being the devil's advocate here. As evidenced from the posts above, customers don't like handing charges. They are a real cost of doing business though. I can' bring myself to charge what it is worth either, but should.

[electrathon]

Bruce,

I almost always agree with you. Not this time. I can go into any store that sells stuff and buy it, check out and am not charged a handeling fee, even though the store overhead is many, many times more than it would be if it was a mail order. I have never understood the total double standard. If I went to your shop and bought something from you, took up a half hour of your time selecting it and then handed you money would you then tell me that you wanted an extra $20 for the time it took you to handle the sale? Store overhead covers shipping/handeling/heat/cashiers/theft(this one is HUGE)and on and on. Mail order overhead is a fraction of that, then you want to charge more. I have no comprehension of it at all.

Aaron

[TXAG]

...exactly what Electrathon said...Couldn't have said it better myself.

[bruce johnson]

Aaron, We pretty much agree on most of it. Like I wrote, I m playing the devil's advocate a bit. I see what you are saying, but I am coming at it from the point of view of the mail order/internet small business that it appears he is setting up. The time and materials involved are a fixed cost of business of a business that ships. I time this out for myself. The most basic order takes me abut 15 minutes once I have got the order firmed up. That is the time to run the card or email a PayPal invoice, pull and pack, do a receipt, print a shipping label, and get it on. I am not adding more than rounding my flat rates up to the next dollar. I am packing a splitter, 3-in-1 or something big, I may have 45 minutes and a lot of packing material involved. I still just round my shipping up, and hope to hell my packing hasn't added more weight than I allowed. When I ship leather orders those two or three shipments a week time isn't a big time factor. When I ship 6 or 8 boxes of tools a day, it can be. My deal is that I have this factored in to a small degree. Is there enough margin for him to offer discount shipping, be price competitive, pay himself and maybe employees and still be profitable on the same things that the established sellers already have in place? I think that some can be beat with service, but it may be pretty hard to consistently beat them on price and keep the boat floating. When he planned to have choices to compare - I think Osborne punch vs. a Tandy punch side by side, is there enough there to warrant and afford stocking full lines of both? European tools? Is there enough demand and knowledge of them here to make it profitable to stock and sell in the US? My limited experience is that about 80% of the Dixon and Blanchard older tools I sell go to Europe or to Australia. Another 10% go to European trained leather craftsmen in the US/Canada and the rest go to US workers wanting to try them.