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Any one seen the new issue of Stamp It Cards? Has 18 Fun Birthday Design written across the top. Any how on page 14 is a "Welcome Little One" card. The Onesie Stame source reads: "A Little Love set by Stampin' UP! was only available to stamp party hostesses as part of a 2004 promotion. Check out online auction sites such as www.ebay.com to purchase the set." How rude!
PaperCrafts asks that designers submit projects using images that are likely to be available within a year of its acceptance. At the time that project was submitted and accepted, the designer, who is NOT an in-house designer for SU! evidently neglected to pay attention to that factor.
(For this express reason, I try to take extra care NOT to submit projects that feature sets like SAB sets, until they have made the main catalog. This ensures they will likely be available for at least one year.)
Then, PaperCrafts accepted it, and overlooked the fact that it was a limited time only set. By the time they'd gone to press, they had to put some type of disclaimer, because they did not have any info at press time that the set would be available in the coming SU! catalog, which it is.
This is unfortunate, because those who are not familiar with SU! will go pay some ungodly price for the set on Ebay and not realize they could merely purchase the set from a demonstrator at regular price because it IS currently available in the catalog.
And, if I were SU!, I'd be outraged that a reference directing consumers to shop Ebay for it is printed there, as, like I mentioned, the set IS available in the main catalog . . . :(
Needless to say, there will always be "editing oversights" that occur in the publishing industry, and once it's in print, well, what else can be done? You have to wait until some other issue to print a retraction or correction and by then, it is far too late for the consumer . . .
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
I actually called and spoke to an editor of papercrafts about that very thing. At first she told me that I was wrong and the set was retired. I directed her to the exact page in the current catalog where the set is available. She told me that they prepare their magazines about 6 months before the release date. She thinks that AT THAT TIME the 2004-2005 Idea Book & Catalog hadn't come out yet. So when they called Stampin' Up! to confirm the availability of the set (which I'm guessing is their standard practice), SU told them the set was unavailable. So they sited Ebay as a source since AT THAT TIME it was no longer available through SU.
She never really apologized for the oversight and her tone was a bit defensive although polite. In her own way she told me there was nothing they could really do about it since the magazine was prepared ahead of time.
I think they should be more careful since Stampin' Up! is a major sponsor of the magazine.
I think as demos we need to take this one step further.
Not only is SU! a major contributor to this magazine's advertising, but many sets have been offered up *prior to* their release to the demos and the general public. This means that actual *STAMPIN' UP!* employees have submitted conceptual artwork for consideration, most assuredly with Stampin' Up!'s blessing. I think that we need to rally Stampin' Up! to discontinue *ALL* advertising and *EMPLOYEE-SUBMITTED* artwork until a formal apology is made. Paper Crafts magazine can put on a face of "high and mighty--we stand by our decision..." but there is strength in numbers. I for one do not appreciate their cavalier attitude. This has *GLOBALLY* hurt the business of too many of us to count.
~ Kaylyn
__________________ Hi...My Name is Kaylyn...I'm An Alphaholic.
[B]
As a non-demo...yes, you should say this here. I agree that referring stampers to ebay is a slap in the face to all demos, and considering the number of projects that Stamp It and Papercrafts have published with discontinued stamps listed, either they should double-check their stamp availability after the main IB&C comes out (it's once a year, people, this isn't rocket science) or simply list SU as the source and let the demos explain if a set isn't available. I think SU should have asked them to do so. Honestly, I'm not surprised that you weren't able to get satisfaction from the person you spoke to, since it took me 4 phone calls and quite a bit of being shuffled from one person to the next to get some information they'd printed illegibly in their magazine last fall.
Papercrafts/Stamp it...widely available, but not the best.
Further, I think threatening to boycott a magazine is a very negative approach, and I would expect SU! leadership to be cultivating an ongoing positive relationship with publications that include SU! material gratis.
...I think threatening to boycott a magazine is a very negative approach, and I would expect SU! leadership to be cultivating an ongoing positive relationship with publications that include SU! material gratis...
Good of you to be that way. Glad that living in hurricane-wracked Florida you have enough business that any eBay referral (or two, or ten, or twenty...) won't hurt you. Most of my Florida friends *still* haven't recovered sales from last fall. Here is a little food for thought: how many people, once they log on and have "found" a retired set are going to stop there? Why deal with a demo when you can have the virtual anonymity of eBay?
Any company that is receiving "gratis" work for publication from Stampin' Up!, who is supporting who? I don't buy Stamp It, Birthday Creations, or Paper Crafts for the stimulating prose...I buy it because of the Stampin' Up! products that are featured. But if this entity is not going to support *my* efforts [and by *my* I am referring to **ALL** demonstrators en masse] then I have no business supporting their business. Period. You speak as if it is SU! who needs the magazine...I *WHOLEHEARTEDLY* believe the magazine needs Stampin' Up!--both for the samples *and* for the advertising dollars.
And I believe that the company I represent is not going to tolerate a blatant referral of customers *away* from their independent sales representatives. By their claim that they are "...cracking down on the eBay problem..." I don't believe that they will (or should) tolerate this blatant anti-referral any more than I will.
Is a boycott strong? Absolutely. Does it work? Absolutely. Should SU! take such an approach lightly? Absolutely not. But for me to stand by and see *my* business [again, by *my* I refer to *ALL* demonstrators en masse] blatantly referred to eBay and *not* both report it and voice my objections to it? Well that is irresponsible and it silently condones the behaviour of those who use the eBay forum illicitly in the furtherance of their business. It also puts SU! in control of their advertising dollars.
These are my opinions. I'm not surprised that you don't agree with my suggestion for a boycott, but I will not apologize for my suggestion. We are talking a nationally syndicated print publication here that just referred millions of customers to a site which promotes unethical, illicit stamp set sales by far too many demos to be tolerated. What will happen if we don't stand up for what is right? ~ K
__________________ Hi...My Name is Kaylyn...I'm An Alphaholic.
[B]
I did email SU about it and asked them to impress upon the folks at Papercrafts the importance of not referring their readers to Ebay under ANY circumstances. In reality, Papercrafts didn't have to say anything about the availability of the stamp (although I'm sure they thought they were being helpful). I received an "acknowledgement" email back from SU so I assume they are handling it.
This was after emailing Papercrafts with information much like Consuelo left in her voice message but did not hear back from them. :?
There was a thread on this weeks ago in the Demo forum called "Annoyed with StampIt magazine." I can't remember who started the thread but the text of my email is in that thread.
Maybe if anyone who was bothered by the e-bay mention (and I definitely include myself in this group) would send a letter to the editor of the magazine, they might understand the magnitude of the issue and print a correction.
My beef with this issue is recommending ebay as opposed to just saying contact 1-800-stamp up.
I would think that if a publication was unsure of the availability of a product then saying nothing would be smarter than offerring a completely unrelated option such as ebay.
Ebay has really nothing to do with stamping in general. Just say, stamps by Stampin' Up!
That would be my vote and I'm considering contacting the publication and making that suggestion. I'm rather surprised that they actually printed that. Most other magazines that print where to find products like decorating magazines would never suggest going to ebay. They would just say contact the designer for product info.
I agree, Vera. That was the point of my email to Papercrafts. As a magazine, they have no responsiblity to make sure the particular stamp is still available - it's enough to give credit to the stamp company, like Stampington (e.g., Take Ten) does.
I wouldn't call it material gratis. It's a symbiotic relationship, but we carry a lot of weight. SU is a major advertiser in the magazine. SU demonstrators are a major part of their clientele. Stampin' Up! isn't a small company in the world of rubber stamping. I think it would be in their best interest to care how we feel.
My beef with this issue is recommending ebay as opposed to just saying contact 1-800-stamp up. I would think that if a publication was unsure of the availability of a product then saying nothing would be smarter than offerring a completely unrelated option such as ebay. Ebay has really nothing to do with stamping in general. Just say, stamps by Stampin' Up!
Vera: ***EXCELLENT*** point!! You're absolutely right - they have no more "responsibility" to make sure that I can find a stamp than does The Stamper's Sampler or Take 10...and *those* publications routinely show artwork that uses retired sets.
I am paused now to consider: the publishers maybe chose to exploit the Stampin' Up!/eBay *problem*? Make issue with the fact that sets are retired? I don't know...but in any case, it doesn't matter. The way they handled it was *wrong.* ~K
__________________ Hi...My Name is Kaylyn...I'm An Alphaholic.
[B]
I must point out a glaring (and harmful) error in your most recent issue of Stamp It! Cards. On pg 14 the "Welcome Little One" card uses the A Little Love set by Stampin' Up! The credits tell your readers that this was a promotional set last year and readers should look for it on Ebay.
While it was true that A Little Love was part of Stampin' Up's Sellabration promotion in Jan/Feb 2004, that set was included in the CURRENT 2004/2005 catalog and IS available for stampers to purchase through their Stampin' Up! demonstrator.
Stampin' Up demonstrators are not permitted to sell current sets on Ebay although some demonstrators choose to ignore the rules and do so anyway, which is harmful to all the demonstrators who follow the rules.
Before you direct your customers to Ebay, PLEASE verify that the set is no longer available through Stampin' Up!'s current catalog. I understand that there is a lag between when cards are submitted and when they appear in your magazine, but simple fact-checking is all it would take. Encouraging your readers to purchase current sets on Ebay is VERY VERY harmful to the business of thousands of Stampin' Up! demonstrators.
Before we go to SU with an all out boycot of PaperCrafts and StampIt please remember what family of magazines they are associated with. Those being Creating Keepsakes and Simple Scrapbooks and all CK publications for that matter. These are not small time mags you can bring to heel and as big and popular as SU is there are hundreds of other stamp companies out there and more popping up as we speak. SU is getting more coverage by being in these 4 mags than probably any other and if they sever their relationship with the 2 stamping mags they also do the same with the other 2 not to mention the reputation of being hypersensitive.
I do feel it was handled poorly however I'm not sure if this is the proper solution. I think a letter to the editor is a better way to go if they are inundated with response they will get the picture.
I think if anyone does contact the magazine, all that needs to be said is to just say stamps by Stampin' Up. That's all that is needed.
Also, pointing out that the ebay reference hurts demo's sounds like we are coming from a defensive point of view. Pointing out that ebay hurts the consumer (overpricing) is a more valid point for the magazine to consider.
With my customers, whenever someone mentions ebay, I let them know the true price of certain stamps and if the stamp is retired, I recommend splitcoast first. I don't make a big hullabaloo over ebay. I then invite them to my stamp camps where they can use my stamps.
I agree that blasting the magazine just hurts SU's carefully maintained reputation.
su stamp ad on e-bay in Stamp It!
