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John wrote:foxfeather wrote:
I know that story very well. I’ll start haunting stores again in the new year. The economy here is insane 😯
Insane bad or insane good?
Depends on your point of view. For windstone it’s really good. We’ve been in the midst of a major economic boom for 2 years now. Alberta’s growth has been at something like 11-12%. So there is alot of disposable income and buisnesses are chronically shortstaffed and desperate for staff. Right now there is only 1 store in Calgary that carries windstones. I visited another a couple of months ago that used to and was going to look into carring them again but I haven’t been out that way since then. When I first stared collecting, there were 10 at least!
Kujacker wrote:pegasi1978 wrote:He would have people come in and look, then go order online.
Huh, that’s odd. Why would you want to order the same piece online when it’s right there in front of you? My dealer always gives me discounts when I buy from them.
That doesn’t make any sense to me either. I’d much rather pick something out in person. 😕
starbreeze wrote:Kujacker wrote:pegasi1978 wrote:He would have people come in and look, then go order online.
Huh, that’s odd. Why would you want to order the same piece online when it’s right there in front of you? My dealer always gives me discounts when I buy from them.
That doesn’t make any sense to me either. I’d much rather pick something out in person. 😕
Me, too. Esp. with all of the painting variations out there. Plus extra for shipping?
I’d rather buy it in person as well. I don’t understand why people would buy something on line when they don’t have to.
Kujacker wrote:pegasi1978 wrote:He would have people come in and look, then go order online.
Huh, that’s odd. Why would you want to order the same piece online when it’s right there in front of you? My dealer always gives me discounts when I buy from them.
I was thinking that it’s because they wouldn’t have the money on hand to get the Windstone.Lokie wrote:siberakh1 wrote:Lokie wrote:Ah, I feel so bad for my local dealer. They have a pretty healthy stock of all the new pieces with a sampling of all the sculpts and colors but my limited disposable income means I haven’t made a purchase from them in almost a year 🙁 Hopefully they continue selling as I’d like to someday give them my business. Everyone who doesn’t have a local dealer needs to move here!
Which store? Is it near Boston or in RI? I can give my brother and sister-in-law a place to look for things I like, or when I wander out their way to visit 😉
Near Boston- Pyramid Books in Salem, MA. It’s a New Age gift store with tarot readings. Definitely worth a gander if you’re ever in the area and looking for Windstones. Plus, it’s Salem, so no one would give you a second glance if you came out of the store carrying a large dragon. Or five 😛 Hehe.. my friend has been trying to get me do a weekend in Salem. Are their readers any good? Guess I’ll need to take a trip this spring 😉While there are those dedicated collectors out there who are more than willing to pay $1000+ for a one of a kind or limited production piece, the market is currently driving prices down. It’s the China effect previously mentioned, and the lack of disposable income for many Americans.
What does this mean for Windstone? I honestly NEVER want to see them lower the quality of their work just to attempt to compete with cheap cheesy China-made plastic dragons. However, I think you will see a tendancy of the consumer to buy the lower priced Windstones rather than the high priced ones. They act as a kind of advertising, the first Windstone I ever bought weighed in at around $30, but I later bought much more expensive pieces.
I think this is the reason why the Curlies are so popular, besides the fact that they are cute, they only cost $50, which is a significant price sensitivity inflection point. My two cents, is that Windstone needs to develop a couple sculpts that are easy to mold and paint and that could sell at a low price. I’m not advocating that they produce something that is cheap or would devalue the line, just that as prices have moved up, its negatively affected the turnover rate of Windstones in brick and mortar stores.
Ideally, you would have a really small sculpt weighing in at around $30, and another slightly higher at around $40-45. The curly rounds out the trio.
Any thoughts?
These are great insights!
The problem as I understand it, is that the smaller a piece is, the more time consuming it is to paint it for production. (John or Melody can correct me if I’m wrong)
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My art: featherdust.comSmaller pieces are harder for me to paint! I don’t know about at the factory, but for me the smaller pieces are easier to sculpt but harder to paint. Larger pieces are much more paint friendly…plus with more room you can pull off more complicated color schemes. 😀
Maybe this is where Melody’s Pebble Cats could come in? My first purchases were indeed at the “low end” – the bird and bat flappers. They were $20 back in ’89…what do you think a comparable price would be now?
My first two Windstones were smaller pieces in the $25-$30 range. It’s too bad the smaller colorful fantasy sculpts are harder to paint because I think several pieces with a lower price point would attract first time buyers.
siberakh1 wrote:Are their readers any good? Guess I’ll need to take a trip this spring 😉
I’m not sure! My little sister does my readings for me. Maybe if you go, you can let me know.
lamortefille wrote:Maybe this is where Melody’s Pebble Cats could come in?
That’s a good idea, especially if they were cast in one solid color like the Maya Hill pieces. They could be about the same price point as the journeystones.
frozendragon wrote:but then again…this is Texas….according to most of the people here that have seen mine…”dragons are evil”…
so that keeps a lot of stores from even thinking about carrying them….
😯 Are they kidding? Oh for the love of Mike . . . there’s nothing evil about dragons in general, any more than humans in general, or cats, or . . . trees! Any fool can create an evil dragon character, but that doesn’t doom the entire genre. And it’s pretty clear just by looking at ’em that Windstone dragons are not among the bad guys. This is taking that herpephobia thing way too far! Bloomin’ idiots!
oh you would be amazed at the things they call evil here….
but then again….we have a church on every corner practically….
more than convenience stores it seems sometimes….
and everyone wants to know why I want to move so bad…
Barrdwing wrote:frozendragon wrote:but then again…this is Texas….according to most of the people here that have seen mine…”dragons are evil”…
so that keeps a lot of stores from even thinking about carrying them….
😯 Are they kidding? Oh for the love of Mike . . . there’s nothing evil about dragons in general, any more than humans in general, or cats, or . . . trees! Any fool can create an evil dragon character, but that doesn’t doom the entire genre. And it’s pretty clear just by looking at ’em that Windstone dragons are not among the bad guys. This is taking that herpephobia thing way too far! Bloomin’ idiots!
The reason Dragons are seen as evil is becuase they are mentioned in the book of Revelations in the Bible. Not that actual dragons are what they are referring to, just like saying the devil was a snake, it is just what people can relate to. It is meant to be scary if that makes sense in the most simplest terms?
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