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My question is when?? 🙂
Every act matters.No matter how small💞
(Wanted......Brimstone Lap)
Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.I agree with what Kiya is saying. This is after all Melody’s hard work we are talking about. Every time grab bags come out their are always ones that people get that are auctioned off in either the for sale section here or on eBay. I have often thought that if Windstone had intended to make more money off these they quite simply would have done that themselves. An yes I think they should be the ones to profit off their own work.
I have watched them go for double and triple the money that they were sold for here. Therefor the lucky person that got that much desired Grab bag made the profit off Melody’s work. Question? Really seriously ask yourselves who should make the profit off Melody’s work?
I know deep down inside most of you know the right answer to this question. I don’t have the money to bid these right now but I do know the unselfish answer would be for the greater good of a company I want to see stay in business.
Quite simply I love Windstone an a few missing Uni’s from this batch won’t make a bit off difference to me whether or not I buy one or not. Just saying.
windstonefan
Okay guys, I’ve read this thread, and am troubled. I think, or at least hope, that everyone believes that Windstone should do well, prosper, have proper funding to run, and have a minimum amount of stress caused by Grab Bags and other things.
It makes sense. No Windstone Editions, then no nice people to talk to, no nice forum or pretties for the shelf. Simple logic that everyone can understand. No-one wants to see this company hurt. (I would hope.)
So since it’s so obvious, can’t it be taken as self-evident common ground???
People shouldn’t have to defend their goodwill just because they give their opinion for or against a kind of auction.
I’m both unhappy and uncomfortable with the false dichotomy being slung around, that people either care, or they disagree, but they can’t do both.
Frankly, it bugs me far more than whatever is done with five unicorns.
I’m not 100% sure I’m interpreting what you’re saying correctly, but it sounds like basically: “people should be able to disagree with a business decision without being made to feel like they want to hurt the company”.
I don’t think that’s anyone’s goal (to make you feel bad).
My point is, and will continue to be, that Windstone needs to do with Windstone needs to do to stay in business and I’m always going to 100% support their right to make decisions that enable the company to keep going.
It doesn’t mean I’ll always agree with or like the decisions – BUT, I will try to understand and accept them.
I’ve let this thread sit and mull in my mind for awhile. I have to admit, my first response was along the lines of ‘omg, nooooo!’ – because I figured that of course my top five choices would be unattainable, since I certainly don’t have the funds to bid mega-bucks for baby unicorns on ebay.
However.
With time and further considering of all sides involved, and I read each and every comment too. I have come to the conclusions…
1/ I am ok with the idea of auctioning off first (five) picks from the group set.
2/ I am also ok with pulling five unis and auctioning them off seperately.
(That said, I would prefer the first option, I’d actually be amused to see how much someone would be willing to pay for that priveledge, and I think it would raise more funds than the second option). Windstone needs the funds, and they should do what they NEED to do.
3/ I am NOT ok with an overall price increase on the grab bags. As it is, I think $120 is too high, considering the gamble of getting one of the plainer pieces that aren’t popular. Many people get pieces they aren’t really fond of as it is. (Of five, this has only happened to me once, and it was a popular piece. I just don’t like orange. :P) At least if you get a popular piece, you can trade it. If you get the plain one… that becomes harder. And shipping costs have to be considered, too, repeat-trading gets really expensive!
4/ And.. haha. I feel like I’m being singled out… yah, that’s my grab bag baby on ebay for $350. But it is there for a reason: We could use the money, fer shure. But I like the little fellow. So I agreed to list him, but at a high price. If I get that price, I won’t feel so bad having to sell him. So there, now you all know the ‘why’ behind the crazy $350 GBB. 😛 I know he probably won’t sell, but if he does, it’ll help pay the bills. I can’t bring myself to put up any of the other three, I like them way too much. (They were all grabs, no trading on them.)
I honestly dont mind if Windstone take a few out of the batch and sell them seperately on Ebay. They’re simply Ebay items and it’s been done with leftovers before.
It does rub me the wrong way with “picks” being autioned for a GrabBag though. It is essentially giving people with a lot of money privilages when I thought GrabBags were more for people who can’t afford the more expensive Special Windstone products.
Just taking 5 out of the batch for Ebay before a class photo still gets you more money… and I believe no drama(?)
I think there is a fair chance the price will be raised on this batch regardless of the first five picks/random five picked by Pam coming out.
I don’t think that’s unreasonable really – even the less popular grab bags resell for a bit over retail typically. But I too hope they don’t go super high.
I’m not 100% sure I’m interpreting what you’re saying correctly, but it sounds like basically: “people should be able to disagree with a business decision without being made to feel like they want to hurt the company”.
I don’t think that’s anyone’s goal (to make you feel bad).
My point is, and will continue to be, that Windstone needs to do with Windstone needs to do to stay in business and I’m always going to 100% support their right to make decisions that enable the company to keep going.
It doesn’t mean I’ll always agree with or like the decisions – BUT, I will try to understand and accept them.
Hi Kiya, Your interpretation is spot on.
Thank you for clearing that up! Mentions of selfishness were slung around more than I thought… proportionate to directly requested opinions, and I sat on my hands several days before posting again.
I agree completely that Windstone needs to do what it needs to do to stay in business, and their right to make decisions in order to stay in business, should be respected. (whether or not I agree with those decisions)
So with the air cleared there, the main disagreement running through the thread seems to be the level of agreement or disagreement with the proposal in the first post. Which on the bright side, is near unavoidable in an opinion thread.
So for the sake of raising funds, (and seeing if there’s a alternative method a bit more agreeable), here’s a rehash of the ideas I’ve seen. Apologies if I’ve missed someones thoughts.
Auctioning off 5 Unicorns to be Handpicked by Auction winners
Advantages: Unicorns already made/minimal labor. Gets big spenders involved.
Disadvantages: Removes 5 of the more unusual/desirable from batch, reduces luck/chance factor appealing to financial lightweights who find Ebay/special items section cost-prohibitive.Auctioning off 5 Randomly chosen unicorns (with individual pictures)
Advantages: Unicorns already made/minimal labor. Maintains luck/chance factor of GB.
Disadvantages: Removes 5 from batch, and is less interesting for big spenders, meaning less profit.Showing class photo, seeing which ones people flip for, then painting/auctioning bigger unicorns in that color scheme, which are then Ebay auctioned/sold in special items section.
Advantages: Exciting, Gets big spenders involved. Maintains GBs as-is
Disadvantages: Work of creating bigger unicorns, potentially unknown levels of chaos.Auctioning/selling ‘custom’ unicorns or Poads which match GB’s people already have.
Advantages: Gets big spenders involved, Maintains GB’s as-is
Disadvantages: Need to be made, potential aggravation for Melody.Raising price of GB’s
Advantages: Fair for Windstone, partially offsetting GB aggravation
Disadvantages: Possibly cost-prohibitive for those on budgets.Selling ‘rescue’ Windstones
Advantages: Already made, advantageous for those on budgets, and people like rescues. Skirts the GB issue entirely.
Disadvantages: Labor of individually listing damaged critters, concern of getting mixed up with regular Windstones on secondary market, unless well marked somehow. (ginormous permanent ink explanation on felt, perhaps?)Just want to say that of this batch, only two are really unique (i.e. there are no others that look even remotely similar). One is a very odd zebra/pinto/something that looks a bit like modern art and IMO is very ugly. The other is a leopard print uni. He is the only leopard in this batch, but there have been several leopards in previous batches. The next “rarest” are the rainbow appaloosas and rainbow quaggas, but they have been very common in past batches and they don’t seem very popular anymore. For everything else, there are at least several similar looking babies. There really aren’t any in this batch that strike me as being overwhelmingly unique or fancier. About half the batch is lava/lichen-themed and the other half is leaf-themed. Within the leaf half there are several different types of leaves. Autumn leaf, winterberry, ice leaf, etc. The lava/lichens more or less look the same to me, just different colors for each one. Oh, and there are quite a few rainbow tigers sprinkled in as well
Unless someone picks the leopard or the ugly chimera uni, All 5 winners would need to pick all the same type of uni to potentially wipe it from the batch (i.e – all 5 people would have to pick a winterberry, or all 5 would have to pick a rainbow tiger, for there to be no winterberries or tigers left). Most of the unis in this batch are very different from the unis in any previous batches, so IMO its most likely that the 5 winners would all be attracted to different themes. One person might pick a lava or lichen, another an autumn leaf, another would pick a silver leaf, etc. I would be very surprised, with all of the completely new patterns in this batch, if all 5 people went for the same type of uni.
I say go for it. Whatever they need to do to get what they need to keep running. I won’t be able to bid tho… But if I ever win the lottery… WATCH OUT! lol
I say go for it. Whatever they need to do to get what they need to keep running. I won’t be able to bid tho… But if I ever win the lottery… WATCH OUT! lol
Just a reminder– while I appreciate those that think Windstone should be “the ones to profit” on items, we have a forum policy not to make those that resell Windstones for a greater price feel bad. In short, it’s part of our “all is fair in love and eBay” policy and I DON’T think anyone at Windstone frowns at the resale prices and thinks “we should get that money instead of the re-seller”…
I know it can be frustrating for some, and I understand, but it only ever leads to fights! So please refrain. It is the owner’s right.
I can only speak for myself but I am delighted if any of my pieces sell for more than the ebay price. Yes, it’s less money that “might” have gone to me and Windstone, but moreso, it means that my work is still valued and gives me courage to paint more! 🙂
In closing, my ‘selfish’ comments were really born out of frustration of my personal experiences of grab-bags past. I have had to personally deal with some nasty situations and I saw some of the worst of some people come out in those (private) situations and it really made me jaded. I’m sorry if I implied that any of the opinions here were selfish. The feedback from these discussions is invaluable.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comOh! One more thought. If you guys are frustrated with the price increase on these Grab Bags (if they DO go up), please understand that the folks at the factory are just trying to make a living wage off of their time invested. That said, these ARE pretty detailed and that takes time… and I understand the frustration at paying more than before for a grab bag item. In this case, I bet if there were enough squeaks, Melody could do a batch of something much more simply painted (with less time invested) in the future…
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comSounds like I would have a hard time deciding to pick a favorite anyway ^_^ I say got for the auctions. It’s worth a try anyway in my opinion.
Got a busted Windstone?
drag0nfeathersdesign@gmail.com
*OPEN for repairs**SEEKING GRAILS*
Arc-en-ciel Emperor
Siphlophis Male Dragon
Calypso Hatching Empress
Ivory Moss Sitting Baby Kirin
Tattoo Mother Kirin
Emerald Tabby Male Griffin
Tie Dye + Orion Hatching Royalty
Indigo Rockfish + Flame Tabby Little Rock Dragons
Dragon Quail + Obsidian Frost Old Warriors
Betta Sun Dragon + Male Dragon
Dreamscape, Orion, Poison Dart, Fireberry, Spangler + Tigerberry DragonsOh! One more thought. If you guys are frustrated with the price increase on these Grab Bags (if they DO go up), please understand that the folks at the factory are just trying to make a living wage off of their time invested. That said, these ARE pretty detailed and that takes time… and I understand the frustration at paying more than before for a grab bag item. In this case, I bet if there were enough squeaks, Melody could do a batch of something much more simply painted (with less time invested) in the future…
I thought this deserved to be quoted.
If there’s anything about each grab bag batch that I’ve noticed – it’s that Melody amps up the creativity and the detail every single time. Every batch that I’ve seen is worth more than the last due to extra detail alone, in my opinion.Commission spots are currently closed! Please message me for details.
Please visit My Webpage to see my art and PYO's that I've done in the past!
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