Selling To Board Members ONLY?

[miasmahair]

Hullo everybody!
Okay, so I've been thinking about something for a while, and finally got around to asking. What do you guys think of selling to board members only?
I would really really like to do this, the general public generally have no idea what they're doing. They ask for me to make them things that I know will look hideous, ask me to instruct them on how to install, and word insane orders in illegible text-speak ie "Hi, cn u mk me sum dreds, dunno wt color n how many i need, wot u rckn maybe 2 pnk, 2 othr pnk, 5 drk pnk, mayb sum prpl n blk and I wnt to pay $2 fr tha lot."
Board members know exactly how many they need, what length, how to install, how much good quality dreads are worth, and the quality of their grammar is a welcome relief.
However, the board isn't here for selling, it's here as a community for support and ideas and hair happiness. I want to tell all my fans to come sign up, but then who knows what sort of undesirables might come in and clog up our special little corner of the net with necroing and general idiocy to bump their post count up.
So, conundrum. What do you guys think?

[rivetlicker_]

It's a major frustration, I do agree. Most of my customers are friends anyway, so they have SOME idea of what they want.

Opiate and I had this one guy harrassing us for stuff that's already been sold, or stuff we don't even sell. He even wanted to buy a whole set of dreads for $25. I don't know what was wrong with him, but he seriously had some issues. I deleted him and I think she did too. It was just hurting our brains.

[MrsEss]

Most of my orders (about 95%) are from people on the board anyway. Even the people that message me on facebook put in brackets (xyz from HeF)

[Zombiæ]

Hullo everybody!
Okay, so I've been thinking about something for a while, and finally got around to asking. What do you guys think of selling to board members only?
I would really really like to do this, the general public generally have no idea what they're doing. They ask for me to make them things that I know will look hideous, ask me to instruct them on how to install, and word insane orders in illegible text-speak ie "Hi, cn u mk me sum dreds, dunno wt color n how many i need, wot u rckn maybe 2 pnk, 2 othr pnk, 5 drk pnk, mayb sum prpl n blk and I wnt to pay $2 fr tha lot."
Board members know exactly how many they need, what length, how to install, how much good quality dreads are worth, and the quality of their grammar is a welcome relief.
However, the board isn't here for selling, it's here as a community for support and ideas and hair happiness. I want to tell all my fans to come sign up, but then who knows what sort of undesirables might come in and clog up our special little corner of the net with necroing and general idiocy to bump their post count up.
So, conundrum. What do you guys think?

Lol, how much did you hate my first ever dread order that happend to be at your shop?

I also didn't knew how much I needed for a full head, and you even had to help me get PayPal started....

But if possible I would love to order again in the future. Your dreads were and are amazing, and now I know what I need, how much it costs and how PayPal works

[VixenSingsBlack]

Hullo everybody!
Okay, so I've been thinking about something for a while, and finally got around to asking. What do you guys think of selling to board members only?
I would really really like to do this, the general public generally have no idea what they're doing. They ask for me to make them things that I know will look hideous, ask me to instruct them on how to install, and word insane orders in illegible text-speak ie "Hi, cn u mk me sum dreds, dunno wt color n how many i need, wot u rckn maybe 2 pnk, 2 othr pnk, 5 drk pnk, mayb sum prpl n blk and I wnt to pay $2 fr tha lot."
Board members know exactly how many they need, what length, how to install, how much good quality dreads are worth, and the quality of their grammar is a welcome relief.
However, the board isn't here for selling, it's here as a community for support and ideas and hair happiness. I want to tell all my fans to come sign up, but then who knows what sort of undesirables might come in and clog up our special little corner of the net with necroing and general idiocy to bump their post count up.
So, conundrum. What do you guys think?

I guess I just deal with the general lack of knowledge/grammar from some folks. I make the decisions for them, and run it by them before making anything. It's worked great for me so far. I agree with DSM, I sell in other venues, but many of those people are from HEF as well.

[pinky]

weirdly i've only had one or two people from the board order from me. but thankfully i've only had to walk someone thru paypal set up once and i've had a fairly decent lucky getting fairly knowledgeable people *keeps fingers crossed*

[starlight]

They might not be able to spell or use grammar correctly, but at the end of the day they are paying customers

[pinky]

exactly

[Gracey]

They might not be able to spell or use grammar correctly, but at the end of the day they are paying customers

Absolutely agreed.

I get a lot of enquiries for 'dreads' from folks who don't really understand what they are looking at. They are the customer, I am the professional, so my job is to help them understand and get to the bottom of what they want. Given that i offer natural dreads, various styles of synth dreads and various types of wool and yarn extensions this can be confusing and can take some time. I think that is basic customer service, and i expect to be dealt with similarly whenever the situation is spun round so I'm the one doing the spending.

Any business relies on it's customers more than the customers will ever rely on the business.

[..::AtomicLox::..]

Well stated, Gracey!

I soooo know what you mean, Cathy! Your example of poor grammar had me snorting in amusement. It's really frustrating, however I've found a few methods that work with the uninformed masses.

1. I have a basic FAQ written up, which I intend to expand upon to make it even more informative in a simplistic way. When I have people that just don't quite seem to know what they want, I politely direct them there, and welcome them to contact me again with further questions. They usually don't.

2. I've managed to avoid quite a lot of irritation through selling on Etsy. Most people that find me do so because they already know exactly what they're looking for!

3. If I get a customer that simply can't understand no matter what I try to do (which happens very rarely but HAS happened) I take the loss and as nicely as possible tell them I don't think I'm the right fit for what they need. Sometimes, the frustration and stress just isn't worth the experience of gaining a new client.

I actually do the majority of my sales off the board, though I would love to work more with the ladies here. I know I LOVE my HEF hair collection, and it really is that much more special to me knowing where they came from!

[MissPlastik]

would be good if there was a site like etsy but just for hair sellers/buyers..

o__o

[Opiate]

It's a major frustration, I do agree. Most of my customers are friends anyway, so they have SOME idea of what they want.

Opiate and I had this one guy harrassing us for stuff that's already been sold, or stuff we don't even sell. He even wanted to buy a whole set of dreads for $25. I don't know what was wrong with him, but he seriously had some issues. I deleted him and I think she did too. It was just hurting our brains.

Good lord that guy was painful!
"how much???"

He actually got all stroppy when Lara and I politely told him to get bent. We were arguing the point of pricing (I had absolutley no intention whatsoever to sell to this idiot mind you) and after everything, he sent me a message going "Fine! $110 my final offer"
I went spare at him, saying how dare he cheapen my work, and if he shopped around, he'd be lucky to get an accent kit of well made dreads for that price, and because of his sh*tty attitude, I would never sell to him. Ever.

I haven't sold too many sets yet, but I've been lucky with my cusstomers. They've either given me a basic idea of what they want and tell me to go nuts with it (woooohoo!!!) or they're really precise with what they want.
Again though, relatively new seller, so I'm sure I'll come across some er.. frustrating people along the way.

[rivetlicker_]

It's a major frustration, I do agree. Most of my customers are friends anyway, so they have SOME idea of what they want.

Opiate and I had this one guy harrassing us for stuff that's already been sold, or stuff we don't even sell. He even wanted to buy a whole set of dreads for $25. I don't know what was wrong with him, but he seriously had some issues. I deleted him and I think she did too. It was just hurting our brains.

Good lord that guy was painful!
"how much???"

He actually got all stroppy when Lara and I politely told him to get bent. We were arguing the point of pricing (I had absolutley no intention whatsoever to sell to this idiot mind you) and after everything, he sent me a message going "Fine! $110 my final offer"
I went spare at him, saying how dare he cheapen my work, and if he shopped around, he'd be lucky to get an accent kit of well made dreads for that price, and because of his sh*tty attitude, I would never sell to him. Ever.

I haven't sold too many sets yet, but I've been lucky with my cusstomers. They've either given me a basic idea of what they want and tell me to go nuts with it (woooohoo!!!) or they're really precise with what they want.
Again though, relatively new seller, so I'm sure I'll come across some er.. frustrating people along the way.

And the fact he had disturbing pictures on his profile of his dead grandfather. I think he was just a nutjob to begin with.