I've been conducting a self-survey for the past 2 months, since November 7, 2007, to satisfy my personal curiosity. i've FINALLY done the math (picture me with icebag on head - that's how i feel right now...)here are the results:EVERYDAY:
i log on an average of 4 times a day on Multiply.i am on the internet anywhere between 3 to 10 hours a day (not always at a time, more often than not it's in spurts).i visit anywhere between 28-65 websites of my contacts a day.i visit anywhere between 35-80 NEW websites for future contacts a day.i am interested enough to buy a product anywhere between 8 to 21 times a week.the product, as displayed on the multiplier's account, has its price displayed 1 out of 7 times.if the product's price is not displayed, i am compelled to PM asking for its price 1 out of 7 times. this means i lose absolute interest in a person's product 1 out of 7 times SIMPLY BECAUSE THE PRICE IS NOT INDICATED.
to continue:
i get to purchase from a multiply seller an average of 4x a week.
i have made a total of 32 purchases online (since November 7), all of which were shipped to me.
i have never yet had a problem with a purchase, or have been sorely disappointed with my purchase.
i have never yet had a problem with a courier, or late shipping, or stolen merchandise, or damaged merchandise due to the courier's negligence.
In light of all this, i have come to some conclusions:
I'd rather see that the products displayed on sale by the multiply seller have its price up front. More often than not, i won't bother taking the time to ask for the price, and that means a lost sale on the part of the seller.
I spend too much time looking up online purchases, time better & more productively could be spent on business matters... hehehehe...
I spend too much money on online purchases.... hehehehe x2....
I learn a lot about new trends, and keep myself updated, and it is a useful, integral part of my personal & business life, the internet.
that's it for now.
i'm sure i'll still find other things to glean from this self survey.
HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY, PEOPLE!!!
 | WOW! ahahahah! natuwa naman ako sa'yo.. but your survey sure did come in handy. thanks for your survey. from now on, i'll indicate the prices na in all of my items.
thanks ulit and God bless.. |
 | "if the product's price is not displayed, i am compelled to PM asking for its price 1 out of 7 times. this means i lose absolute interest in a person's product 1 out of 7 times SIMPLY BECAUSE THE PRICE IS NOT INDICATED."
THIS IS SO TRUE ... why can't sellers put their products' prices once they put them online. Nakakatamad talaga to wait pa for people to respond. Minsan naman, when i get their reply, i totally forgot na the product i was interested in. hahaha
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 |  "if the product's price is not displayed, i am compelled to PM asking for its price 1 out of 7 times. this means i lose absolute interest in a person's product 1 out of 7 times SIMPLY BECAUSE THE PRICE IS NOT INDICATED."
THIS IS SO TRUE ... why can't sellers put their products' prices once they put them online. Nakakatamad talaga to wait pa for people to respond. Minsan naman, when i get their reply, i totally forgot na the product i was interested in. hahaha
 sigh, yan ang totoo, tapos nahihiya naman akong itanong, "ahhh, anong product nga pala yung sinasabi mo, please?" i DO try to keep a list on my desktop of PMed queries, but believe me, it don't help - sometimes i even forget i HAVE that list!!! |
 | tama dapat ung price na ka -state na dun sa item. kakatamad kapag kelangan mo pa mag tanong, pwera na lang kung super interested ka talaga sa item! |
 | so true sis! i try my best to indicate the prices din po. :-) tnx 4 the survey. |
 | sometimes it's better for sellers not to advertise prices for people to inquire so they know and keep updated that someone is viewing their site! But you have a point. I'll see to it that i put as much prices as possible on the items... Thanks for the tip! |
 | wow, i learned a lot from you today! but i also feel the same way when prices are not posted. |
 | i definitely agree with yah! |
| As a seller, I always upload photos of my items with their corresponding prices. Minsan lang, nahuhuli yung price but eventually I put prices with the items naman. Less PM's from buyers just to ask the price, at least kung mag PM order na kaagad! hahahahahaha =) |
 | you know what. i've been thinking about the same thing and i've reached the conclusion that those people who hide the prices are commentwhores. hahahaha. mas maraming taong nagtatanong about the prices, mas maraming comments. wootwoot. :) |
 | thanks for the tips and ideas :) - i'm interested in selling online but not so soon. |
 | i agree! irritating when there are no prices. i do ask about prices but only when i'm really interested in the item. and shopaholics are known to buy things on impulse. so kung meron price, malamang kahit partially attracted lang, the shopaholics out there will buy agad. so missed sales if there are no posted prices.
but what really irritates me are the sellers who take so long to answer your inquiries! you know naman they log in often because it shows naman on their pages when was the last time they logged in. and then you see them answering some of the inquiries while ignoring yours! aaaaaaaaaaargh...one seller deleted my posts asking if she didn't want to sell to me...which was weird since it was the first time I ever asked the prices of some of her items. Sayang kasi I wanted to order 6 items from her. Oh well...I still like her stuff but I have never bothered to order from her anymore. :) And if she does check up on me, I've always pushed thru with any orders I've made online. Except for the one time where I was the one who kept texting and asking another seller how to send my payment and I never got a reply. Funny.
Yun lang. :) |
 | ^_^ kakatuwa naman u..and the people that posted their comments. Well, at least, you have made a point..LOL,..so SELLERS, pleeease post your price on your item. |
 | hello! when i started my multiply site, i indicated the prices there, kaso the people who wanted to sell my products requested na wag daw muna kasi pag gusto nilang magbenta ng products tapos ipapakita nila dun sa multiply site ko, hindi na daw nila mapapatungan yung price kasi andun na daw yung actual price, hehe. kaso nga hindi convenient sa online buyers yung itatanong pa kung magkano yung product. kaya ngayon nilalagay ko na... at least for most of the items anyway. salamat sa pag-share ng self-survey mo sandy! madami kaming nakuhang tips! |
 | in our case, prices aren't posted because we have to protect our resellers. plus, we have to post prices in $ currency & as you know, the $ rate is unstable. so the price monitoring will be hard for both parties =)
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 | i am a frequent online buyer too... and i figured out that the reason why some sellers do not post their prices is to protect their products, in a way. i've noticed that some people kasi will sell the SAME things and sell them a bit cheaper than the first one who posted it. so to protect their prices and their market, they'd rather you PM them about it, and they can monitor the resellers in some way. :) |
| hi guys!!! warning: long ranting comment ahead!!!
i DO understand the reasons why some sellers need to be discreet about their prices, for the reasons so very well stated by most of you who've commented.
i CAN'T understand why some things, such as pre-owned items, need to be price-hidden. i LOVE bargains, and i don't care if it's super-used, basta pag na-trippan ko, heck, i'm a-gonna get it!
please note that this post wasn't a jab at those who don't indicate their prices - it was a point of self-study for me, because i wanted a more concrete look, a different perspective, perhaps, on how a normal buyer would think, and what i've learned is that i will try to post the prices of The M BARRETTO Bags ONLY on the site. The rest of the stuff i sell in my shop The READING ROOM that i take pics of i won't post the prices of, for the simple reason that i want to protect my pricing. i understand i may lose an online customer that way, but the other side of the coin is that i have a physical/bricks&mortar shop, and there's a chance i can sell it thru walk-in customers.
now, here's the ranting part:
showing your prices CAN hurt you.
take the very concrete case of what happened between The M BARRETTO Bag Collection & the bags made by a duo of designers/sellers on multiply who sell, as i like to call them "inspired HUGELY by" The M BARRETTO Bags. Inasmuch as the similarities are extremely disconcerting (and the fact that one of the co-makers is a close friend of the middleman-to-the-bagmaker who then claimed the bags were his designs - he later amended it to "i didn't design the bags - i created the blueprints/patterns for the bags for the purposes of bag production" and apologized publicly on his blog AND THEN removed every post alluding to that forgettable moment in his life and has since moved on very nicely to a career as a clothes designer, where his considerable talents are better served), it's the pricing that at one point i found almost extremely upsetting - they price their look-alikes (i'm sorry, i can't help but call them that, they DO look a lot like the M BARRETTO bags!) EXACTLY P100 less.
heeheehee... it's just too funny for words...
Heck, it better be funny.... because if for one micro-second i allow myself to get mad about the whole thing (and believe me, my beloved legal counsel has told me that it isn't worth it), i'm just going to have a heart attack, and for what, people who can't design something on their own???
sigh... ranting over... they're selling their bags, i'm selling mine, but mine are classics and i can SHOUT IT OUT TO THE WORLD THAT M BARRETTO'S A HECKUVA TALENTED DESIGNER WHO DOESN'T HAVE TO RIDE ON THE TALENT OF OTHERS....
okay... it's REALLY over... the ranting part, i mean, heeheehee.....
back to pricing... i guess what matters is taking care of the buyer, in the end. if the site is well done, if the seller notices (on the "viewed by" page) that an item has been passed over or checked by a prospective buyer, a nicely worded PM saying something like "hi! i noticed you checked out my items. they're just P__ each. if you're ever interested, text me lang at ___-_______ and i'll get back to you asap. Have a nice day!")
i've done exactly that (yes, sometimes i believe i have way too much time on my hands, or that i CAN be O.C., or that i lack sleep the way Dr. House lacks bedside manners), and it's worth it. A little PR can go a long way, especially if you're sincere.
i hope this doesn't create a ruckus.... anyway, said beloved legal counsel's there to box my ears about it as soon as she reads this anyways!!!
teeheehee...
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!! |
 | oclox wrote on Feb 7, '08 Dearly beloved client, spiritual guru and utterly-fabulous-fabulous friend, as well as everybody else paying any attention:
For starters, I think pricing depends on both product and the type of consumers the online seller will cater to. I think everybody's comments more or less show the pros and cons... would like to add though that for more premium items, such as second-hand/pre-owned/pre-loved designer bags, jewelry etc, maybe setting a minimum bid price would work.
Now, per undersigned beloved counsel's two cents', the foregoing was a very efficient, effective and absolutely tamper-proof statement of the truth (how I wish everybody could say something like what you wrote even half as well my dear). In other words, no need to worry about putting the brakes on. 'ika nga, bato-bato sa langit, ang tamaan, may bukol. :D
Seriously, you're entitled to artistic indignation. There are a thousand and one ways any lawyer could establish a claim and recover from the offender(s) for the wrong done to you, but the practical consequence must be, and always is, a consideration. A Pyrrhic victory ain't worth it in my book, honey.
As sellers, creators and ultimately, artists, the flattery that comes with imitation comes with both challenge and loss: the imitation is a challenge for you to remain a step ahead, to innovate and to improve production, in order to forbear and prevent further loss of market share/participation to the imitator. In your case dear, re the "inspired" bags and the price undercutting: I know you know exactly the cost of production and the fair mark-up. But if "inspired" bag line-up can afford to carry those numbers on their tags, you have to analyze how they're able to pull it off. More likely than not some level of product quality, or quantity, has been sacrificed in order to pass off the goods at cutthroat prices.
That being said, am eagerly anticipating your new designs and approaches to hit the shelves---because if you don't, I stand to lose points for my fashionista credibility rating, ok??? ;-p
Declare a war on uninspired creations, by staging your new designs for the coming fashion season!
LONG LIVE THE BARRETTO & ALLAN DESIGN TEAM! :D
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 | hi sandy! couldn't agree with you more...haha! started shopping online last january and purchased a total of 41 items already! my hubby said he's gonna take back my lappy na daw. my palusot? im experiencing post partum depression and this is my therapy! :) |
 | hehe...nakakatuwang basahin ang blog mo...kasi VERY true siya...:) ako din ilang beses na din nakabili online via multiply...at countless times kung tumingin sa multiply...it was helpful also, dahil dito na-inspire kami mag-put up ng sarili naming "business" www.teamohsnap.multiply.com (naiinis din kami sa mga site na kelangan mo pang i-PM para malaman ang price, kaya sa site namin, may prices lahat, kayo minsan ang mga buyers ang hindi nagbabasa...nakaindicate na nga ang price at specs, tatanungin pa ulit heheheeh ;p)
at nagulat kami, dahil sa maikling panahon, na-prove namin na talagang mabilis at effective ang multiply...or online shopping :) i also find myself going to far away places just for meet-ups (sharing lang: taga marikina ako, one time nung bumili ko ng lomocam, sa rockwell ang meet-up...nung bumili ako ng brag bag, sa nbc tent) pero lahat worth it, kasi truly...ang gaganda ng mga products...
and sympre my friends and i personally went to The Reading Room to get our bag savers and bag-in-a bag :)
very convenient talaga ang "online shopping"..tama ka, you discover new trends and mapapatunayan talaga na napaka-innovative, resourceful, at creative ng mga PINOY :)
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| I bow down to you mentor. whehehehe. :) |
| halllo paolo! repost away, dear, you're most welcome! have a wundaful wundaful week ahead! |
 | nice tips! im just starting out so I very much appreciate this article! |
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Online Seller The READING ROOM,Thereadingroom Cubaoexpo Create your badge
Sandy opened up The READING ROOM in June 2007. This site is all about what she has to offer by way of her Soulcard Reading skills, and what the boutique part of the shop has to offer by way of merchandise (clothes, accessories, bags, books, school & office supplies etc.).
Don't be surprised to find posts on other things as well, such as announcements of events that Sandy organizes within Cubao Expo (home of The READING ROOM), about news of anything and everything that she considers important, or simply worthy of her time and yours.
Take your time browsing here, it's just as much fun and just as interesting as visiting her actual shops in Cubao Expo!
The READING ROOM, Shop #39, CUBAO EXPO (formerly The Marikina Shoe Expo), Gen. Romulo St., Araneta Center, Cubao (it's behind the old Rustan's [which now houses the Automatic Supercenter as well as Stellar Call Center], which is behind Shopwise, which is in front of the entrance of the Araneta Coliseum).
Contact #s: 0917.535.5974 / 0922.835.5974
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