Tuesday, April 07, 2015

More About Ravelry In Store Sales

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to clarify some things.

Mary-Heather posted the following on my previous post:


Mary-Heather (rainydaygoods) said...
Just to clarify a quick thing (because we're getting excited emails about this!): this opt-in feature for shops with appointment only hours or dyers with studio hours isn't actually for In-Store Sales at shows, festivals, etc - the service can't be used at events. Our terms haven't changed and that still isn't permitted - we know people would like to sell at shows but In-store Sales are all that are allowed with this service, and nothing has changed there. I hope this helps to clarify!
So, I sent the following message to Ravelry:

​​Dear Ravelry, 

I am sorry I posted that Ravelry In-Store Pattern Sales were open to vendors at shows. Here is my confusion: 

1. When I setup my appointment only brick & mortar shop, I had to go through extra steps for designers to allow my shop to sell patterns. Steps outlined here: http://lavendersheep.blogspot.com/2015/04/ravelry-in-store-pattern-sales.html. While going through that process I saw that I could allow shops to sell my designs, which were described as “Vans which go from event to event”. I thought those sounded exactly the same as vendors at shows. I drive a van to various events and then setup a booth. What is the difference?

2. I would also like to clarify your policy. Are you saying that I can sell as many patterns as I like as long as I am in my home studio? However, when I travel to an event, where I take exactly the same yarn and samples, I can’t sell patterns there? How is this different? I sell patterns using my phone/tablet at either location. I handle every sale myself in person. I can’t print easily at a show, but other than that the transaction would be exactly the same. I would still pay designers through Ravelry either way. I also know from experience that I can sell a lot of patterns at shows. I have been selling hard copy patterns at shows for almost the last 10 years. I know I could sell even more if I had the flexibility of Ravelry Sales.

3. This seems to be a service that is wanted by both Indie Dyers and Indie Designers. From your service agreement you describe yourself as simply an intermediary between designers and shop owners. Wouldn’t you be doing exactly that to offer this service? If designers opt into it and Indie Dyers sign up for it, then what is the problem?

Perhaps now is the time to open your policies up to new possibilities that benefit everyone. I hope you will take these thoughts into consideration. I await your reply.

Your’s Sincerely, 

Yvonne Ellsworth​
--
LavenderSheep:
http://www.lavendersheep.com

I await their reply. I honestly don't think it will come to anything. I'm just sorry I gave out the wrong information. Though, in my defense I reread their service policies and they definitely are far from clear. They were written back in 2011 and I believe that they are in desperate need of an update. I'm not sure what I am going to do with pattern sales at the moment either, since majority of my pattern sales happen at events. I definitely will keep you posted here on the blog. Thanks!

Response is here: https://twitter.com/lavendersheep/status/585481291237347329

Looks like Event Sales are in the works! Woohoo!

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