supplies

If I had to give a "shop philosophy" for my Etsy boutique it might read, "Keeping myself busy while keeping you stylish."  No where in my set of Etsy goals will you find, "be a millionaire" or "be the next Vera Wang."  I just really enjoy sewing and like to create items that are functional.

That being said, I employ great effort in the sourcing of my materials.  I need to get the best pricing and the best quality goods so everyone will be happy.  I'm not into wasting my time and I refuse to work with crap.

One thing I thought I had the best source on was the vintage jacquard ribbons I use for my guitar straps.  I thought the person I was buying them from (on Etsy . . . I'm not naming any names) was wonderful to deal with and offered reasonable prices.  She did disappoint me however when I started ordering in bulk, as demand increased for my guitar straps, and she wasn't offering a bulk discount and was a bit owly when I would ask for excess shipping charges to be refunded.

I did a bit of research and found a new source for trims (not on Etsy) and coincidentally, their inventory was EXACTLY the same as the inventory of my previous supplier.  It seems that although the two websites are unrelated and in different states entirely, my Etsy source has purchased nearly everything in this other inventory, marks up the price, and sells it for quite a bit more on Etsy.

Here I thought I was needing to raise the price on my guitar straps, which I have NEVER raised a price in over three years on Etsy, but I was clever enough to outsmart the fox and keep my prices low!

Hooray for research!  Boo to being a middle-man!  While I would never do anything to negatively effect her business, I am even more so on my toes when it comes to materials.  To the shop I previously ordered from I say, "Bad form."  And also, "You may want to remove the original packaging.  When I received the shipment from my new supplier, I realized it looks identical the same as how to the way you've been sending it."

There you have it.  My prices stay.  All is well in the shop this week.