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Subject: 
Re: A Community Problem (Was: Re: 10152 Update)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.lego, lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date: 
Fri, 24 Dec 2004 07:03:40 GMT
Viewed: 
11059 times
  
In lugnet.lego, Scott Lyttle wrote:

<snip>
   John,

You’re a business owner, we all know you do much of the shirts for the clubs and Brickfest. Let me pose a question. What if you made a “special edition” Lego-based T-shirt for some club or big event. Say the group wanting the shirts told you to make 200 shirts, and that’s it.

I would only ever make as many shirts as a customer would want:-)

   The shirt is so popular, it sells out in 4 hours. Some people got multiple shirts (maybe so they could sell them at a premium profit later), some didn’t get any. Those who didn’t get any get very upset and complain to the group that made the shirt.

Well, at this point, I, as the producer for the group would be totally out of the loop.

   The group caves in to customers, and requests you to make more to satisfy the general public, but they don’t have enough money to make any changes to the design at all--they’ve managed to get just enough to make the shirts.

You’re a businessman...do you take the money and satisfy the customer, or do you deny that group that’s waving money in your face? Or...do you take a hit and work with them, and change the design slightly with a bit of loss to you and your business? What if you couldn’t afford to take the small hit in profit to change the shirt?

I’m not sure a situation involving my business would be analogous. If a group comes to me and orders shirts, I produce them, I get paid. They want more, I produce them, I get paid. I haven’t really any business knowing what the group is doing with the shirts (giving them away, reselling, whatever).

If this group orders 200 shirts and promises a group that they will only make 200 and they sell them out and come to me for more, I make them no question. What they do with them is none of my business.

Now, if I produce 200 shirts and decide to sell them, and I say as a selling point that only 200 will be made, I believe I am obligated to restrict myself to that number, no matter how fast I might sell them out. Part of the reason that they might have sold so quickly could be the “promised” limitedness of the shirt. Though I might have screwed myself in terms of limited profit in the short term, my reputation as a business of integrity is far more important in the long term.

Even if TLC apologized and offered to buy back any of the extra 10152s that I bought, I wouldn’t take them up on their offer. I just want them to stick with facts and certainties, or let us know if plans are just plans and not set in stone.

JOHN



Message has 2 Replies:
  Re: A Community Problem (Was: Re: 10152 Update)
 
(...) You know what, at this point if I was head of marketting at TLC I would pull the new run from S@H and only supply them to Maersk. That'd make money for the company AND save their integrity (1). ROSCO (1) As percieved by a small number of AFOLs (20 years ago, 24-Dec-04, to lugnet.lego, lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
  Re: A Community Problem (Was: Re: 10152 Update)
 
(...) And I would agree with that assessment wholeheartedly, John. That said, if you said, "I can only produce 200 of these printed shirts because I only have 200 shirts of this colour, and I don't have the opportunity to get more shirts of this (...) (20 years ago, 24-Dec-04, to lugnet.lego, lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: A Community Problem (Was: Re: 10152 Update)
 
(...) John, You're a business owner, we all know you do much of the shirts for the clubs and Brickfest. Let me pose a question. What if you made a "special edition" Lego-based T-shirt for some club or big event. Say the group wanting the shirts told (...) (20 years ago, 21-Dec-04, to lugnet.lego, lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)

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