Everyone on Steepster, PLEASE read this...
Also, if an online “difference of opinion” goes past like the 2nd response, it’s generally best to just drop it and let me know. I can say from general knowledge (and my own experience) it’s rare to really work through any difficult issues in a discussion forum. So it’s best to just drop it and not call attention to it.
And if you see a situation like this brewing, it’s best to not engage, since it will just add more fuel to the fire.
Lastly, (this goes for anyone this may happen to) if a thread gets locked please don’t create another thread to discuss the locked thread. Unless it’s an old dead thread, I’ll only lock things temporarily until I’ve had a chance to respond, so there’s no need to try and react before. Thanks everyone.
Just for the record, what is Steepster’s stance on creating a sockpuppet account just to perpetuate the drama?
We obviously don’t condone that. If you have any information about an account you might suspect of malicious behavior, please send that to me directly. But also keep in mind that things may not always be what they seem, no matter how obvious it appears, so it’s best not to make accusations. Instead, just raise the issue to me and I will address it.
I was in the process of reporting the sockpuppet to you when it was deleted, so I figured no harm, no foul. The name on the account was The Voice Of Reason, in case you didn’t catch it.
Also, I’ll delete my comments that had nothing to do with the post as well at the ones where I accused without proof.
@aisling of tea, thank you for that. I promise you, it was not me. Frankly, and this is a terrible confession, but frankly if I HAD created a sock puppet account I think I might have expressed just a bit more of the anger I was feeling at the time. LOL. But truly, I didn’t do it.
I’m a neophyte to this website, so I can’t speak to what things have been like in the past, but I will say this. In my book somebody selling something on a new platform(the essence of what this is, forget a moment about kickstarter and think about how you’re still paying money and getting tea) is not a bad thing. Especially if its being done because they can’t think of any other way to save their struggling business. In the end what it boils down to is if you want.
I’m not saying that you’ve done this. From what I’ve read you’ve made good on all Kickstarter rewards, so major kudos to you for that.
Posting a Kickstarter is quite different from posting a sale. As a website, Kickstarter is definitely more all-encompassing than posting about a sale to Steepster, as there’s a much wider potential audience. They’re a great way to test the waters on new ideas or to raise the capital for a limited edition product run, but they are no guarantee that the rewards will be produced, even if the project is funded. (I hadn’t realized that, but there have been a few discussions about Kickstarters recently about people not being able to afford the rewards and destroying goods or just not sending stuff out. The buyers/funders have no recourse.) As I said, I think that using Kickstarter for the Christmas sets was a great idea. You have a finite quantity that you’ll produce, you know in advance how many you’ll be making, and it’s a great advertisement for your business.
So I guess I still don’t understand how a one-time goal of $12000 in sales, less your overhead costs, is going to save your business. A month ago you needed $700 in sales to save your business. You have a current Kickstarter for $12000. Will you be able to reach your sales goals for the rest of the year, using your website? How will selling your teas for SO MUCH less allow your company to make enough money so you don’t have to do another Kickstarter? Will you be posting again like you did one month ago asking for help? That uncertainty does not inspire confidence.
Now, you don’t have to answer these questions or tell me how it’s going to work, because I realize it’s financial and not really my business. Those are just the questions that run through my head as I see you’ve posted again asking for help.
Well, the honest answer is that achieving this goal may NOT save us. We may get to the World Tea Expo in May and have our little booth get swallowed up by all of the other tea vendors there. I just know if I don’t TRY I’m going to be kicking myself for the rest of my life. In the last month, I’ve made some decisions about my future in the tea business, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time to poop or get off the pot. That’s why I’m doing this now. If it doesn’t work, I’ll very likely give it up. But I have a few strategies in mind that I am holding a bit closer to my chest.
I think in a way, the plea for $700 in sales and my dad passing away were a major wake up call for me, so I’m doing everything I can to make it work now.
As for that plea a month ago, honestly, I believe it was a combination of bad timing, the loss we had taken at the tradeshow, a vendor’s mistake, and the fact that we had just switched over to the .5oz pouches. (I have to sell more than twice as many of those to make the same money I was making selling 2oz. pouches. It might not have been the best decision, but I listened to people beg me for sample sizes for too many years to ignore it any longer.)
As for losing money on the 8-packs of iced tea vs. the singles, I really won’t be, like I said in my other post. I’ll save some of the details, but my HOPE is that by offering both the individual pouches and the 8-packs, folks will be able to try new teas and buy more of the ones they like, which is, I think, the way it should be. But truthfully, the cost of producing an 8-pack is only a little more than three times my cost to produce a single pack. It has to do with the cost of packaging and labor, really. I could go into a lot of detail, but I should probably keep some things to myself and I don’t want you guys to know what a nerdy number cruncher I am. =)
Just an idea, and I have no idea how the logistics or costs work, but as soon as I saw your post about the ice tea 8 packs, and that 52Teas would still be selling the singles, I was wondering why with the hot teas, 52Teas wasn’t selling both the half ounce sizes AND the 1.75-2 ounce sizes at the older prices. I love the idea of the half ounces, and I realize that there is the whole buy 3 get 1 free deal, but both options would be great, just like there will now be the options for single or 8packs of iced tea. But apparently if you are giving that up in March, it doesn’t matter. Sad to hear but I’m looking forward to seeing where 52Teas goes if it continues with someone else.
@Tea Sipper
Anne (LiberTEAs) is currently asking for feedback on that very issue: http://steepster.com/discuss/10249-whats-next-for-liberteas
I wish I could help you but I am looking for a job myself. Life is hard for lots of us in the world. I have to echo the sentiments of some others above that asking for your customers to “save” you is not in good form. People will generally pay money for a good quality product and it’s up to the business owner to figure out how to finance it and run it.
It isn’t easy running a small business, I tried it myself and folded after a few years because I couldn’t make enough money to pay my bills. But asking my paying customers to fund my efforts is not something I would have dreamed of doing in a billion years. I do wish you luck in making it all work but you might be wearing out your welcome with these efforts….
I started an online tea store last year in my country, and it really is a daily struggle. I’m making some progress but still far from being a lucrative business.
What I’m surprised is that you have been at it for 8 years and still it’s not working for you. I don’t want to sound harsh, or excessively pessimistic, but I think that’s plenty of time to show if an idea works or not.
I wish you the best of luck, I’ve failed at business more than once and know how it feels. The longest I could keep a company in operation until now was 4 years, but when it finally came off apart I was kind of relieved because it was so stressful and I was constantly worrying. Now I know that I should have quit sooner, and it wasn’t the end of the world.
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