Odd observation - people don't want personalized per economy?

[Dmitriy Kumets]

Howdy,
So here's an odd observation that I'm wondering if others are seeing. People are not wanting stuff personalized even when it's included in the price.
I've been selling some business card cases and the such with cute stuff or logos on them and people are buying. When I offer the same exact turn around time with personalization they almost always say that they'd prefer it as is.
My main theory is that in this bad economy, people don't want to look like they spent a lot of money on something custom made. The other theory (which is scarier) is that personalized goods are falling out of favor.

Has anyone else observed this?
-Dima

[Mike Null]

Dmitriy

I have long held that personalizing doesn't necessarily enhance a product. There are some items that were designed to be personalized but often personalizing an item may not improve it one iota, in fact, it may make the item less attractive.

When I sell a personalized item it is almost never for the buyer but for somebody else. I have never had anything personalized for myself.

[Dan Hintz]

Another possibility... maybe it's a gut reaction? In tough times, people don't want to spend as much money on personalization. Even though you're offering it to them at no additional cost, their knee-jerk reaction may be "NO EXTRAS!". I bet you would get a few more yes's if you called them up later and said "I'm putting your item in the machine now... are you sure you don't want it personalized at no charge?". That gave them time to think about it, reduce the knee-jerk reaction.

[Darren Null]

Practically speaking, if you personalise an item -particularly with a name- with any design; the owner would have a harder time selling it on, should the need arise.

I ALWAYS burn my laptops. Doesn't stop ***** stealing them (2 so far), but you'll have a lot easier time in the police station when the phone number on your business card and the laptop you're claiming is yours match. Plus I live in hopes of an honest eBay buyer.

[Frank Corker]

.... I bet you would get a few more yes's if you called them up later and said "I'm putting your item in the machine now... are you sure you don't want it personalized at no charge?". That gave them time to think about it, reduce the knee-jerk reaction.

Dan surely this would be encouraging them to give you more work. My thoughts are that if they don't want it engraved when they were offered it for free, great! I'd be inclined to offer it at the same price as you are doing at the moment which you have included free engraving, offer engraving at an added cost. Some people do prefer to pay for 'extras' to be done.

I agree with a lot of comments that have been put on here regarding personalisation, it's definitely a personal choice for the buyer. I also know now that it's not as popular as I thought it was going to be, after 4 years, most definitely not!

[Steven Wallace]

I am seeing the same as being posted here. I get a very few customers that want their names or initials on the firearms or on the original stocks or grips. Even then when doing the aftermarket stuff, they may want a discreet monogram or none at all because unless you're a celebrity it does not add any value. It in fact, takes away value if you are selling the item. That doesn't mean that I don't get to personalize their property but not with names or monograms.

[Darren Null]

In a recession, gun handgrips that don't take fingerprints would be hot sellers.
=8-)

[Rodne Gold]

Personalization = spelling mistakes and the chance of things going pear shaped...I would rather NOT do any personlization at all....
I as a consumer also dont ever have the desire to put my name on stuff...often spoils the lines and design of the article IMHO... in fact you should be honoured that the customer wants it as he saw it..I mean would you want your name on the back of your Aston? :) He obviously thinks its perfect sans the name.

There are however much bigger markets than engraving names on knick knacks , theres the whole club/corporate awards thingy and that is not gonna fade away even if the "having your name on stuff you own" market shrinks .

Having owned a jewllery shop in the past , I can tell you the "sentimental" market will never die , but the lasers don't do what a rotary will in that market , engraved is forever...Lasered often isnt.

In my case , over here in South Africa , the Black folk have names that defy "English" spelling logic and are extremely difficult to proof read , stuff like Nqoynxile Matquxetabta - we always have problems with lists of names like that , even supplied electronically..(hang on , that name is wrong , here's the revised list)

[Dave Johnson29]

stuff like Nqoynxile Matquxetabta

Well, that's easy for you to say Rodney! :D:D:D

Sorry Dan, I couldn't wait.

[Mark Ross]

Also some items, it would be hard to resell them or maybe not be able to get what you want for them. I am going to engrave a laptop for the first time, but its mine and I plan on keeping it a LONG time. How long is long? Well this new Toshiba is replacing a 1997 Fujitsu lifebook running Windows 98. A screming 90 MHz pentium, 250MB (That's no typo...250 megabyte) hard drive, 784kb (yes...KB) of ram...Paid about 1800 for it. Now, went to walmart and picked up a dual processor laptop with 3GB of ram, 250gb hard drive, free windows 7 upgrade, wireless built in and so on...$348 dollars.

I don't know what the engraved tool market is like anymore, if sellers like MAC and Proto offer it for free or not. The only things I engrave are for the kid so if she has her Ipod stolen she might be able to identify it in a crowd etc.

[Mark Winlund]

stuff like Nqoynxile Matquxetabta - we always have problems with lists of names like that , even supplied electronically..(hang on , that name is wrong , here's the revised list)

This happens with us as well. We service a large university chock full of foreign names. When it is spelled incorrectly, it is always our fault, even if we have an emailed list. "you're the engraver, you should have known better or called us before you engraved it!"

Mark

[Dan Hintz]

I wasn't suggesting actually calling them back and offering the free stuff, I was merely making the point that they may have changed their minds about accepting the freebies if they had time to let it sink in. When I walk onto a car lot, I immediately have my guard up... if a salesman walked up and said "If the next words out of your mouth are 'I'll take it', the dealership will give you the car of your choosing at $3k off of invoice". Because I have my guard up, the next words out of my mouth are going to be "What's the catch?" The deal could have been real, but I was guarded going in, and therefore susceptible to turning down anything that seems too good to be true. Because of that, I lost out on a good deal.

[Michael Hunter]

By definition, free stuff has no value!

Offering free engraving just undermines your own skill and business.

In addition, people are more likely to look for faults if it's free - but if they paid top dollar then, (again by definition) it is perfect.

[Dan Hintz]

Offering free engraving just undermines your own skill and business.

In addition, people are more likely to look for faults if it's free - but if they paid top dollar then, (again by definition) it is perfect.
I disagree with both of these statements.

People are more likely to look for faults if they paid top dollar for an item... they're more forgiving with free items because, well, it was free. If I buy a $20 pair of shoes I expect the stitching might not be perfect... if I pay $120 for a pair, there had better not be a single stitch out of place.

I also don't feel that offering something free undermines either my skill nor my business. My business does not suffer because I gave something away, and it has the potential to bring in more orders if it catches the right eye. If anything, it improves my skill as I get more practice/experience.

[Scott Shepherd]

I also don't feel that offering something free undermines either my skill nor my business.

Visit a sign forum and you'll get slammed on that one. There are countless threads where people have designed something for free in hopes of gaining the customer, only to see the customer take the design and go to someone cheaper. It's usually someone posting on a weekly basis with that type of story and the elders there who have been in the graphic design world and sign business for a long time, all say the same thing- give it away for free and it has no value.

I never believed them until recently.

[Tim Bateson]

I do that very same thing. If I cut an intricate cross, the cost of any engraving/personalization is already included in the cost - free.
I don't charge this way on all items, but my rough rule of thumb is if it's primarily a vector job, the engraving is free. If it's primarily an engraving job, I charge. No devaluing of services at all.

[Rodne Gold]

Scott , in both signage and engraving , the guy offering free design (and I do it ALL the time) goes in with eye's wide open. It's a bet we take , small investment in time vs the Job.
One cannot possibly sell a sign or a custom designed series of awards or custom promotional item etc without a touchy feely physical visual presentation in some format.
If my customer is intending to spend 1000's of $ , they will not do so on my word or hope that it will be what they want.
This is the nature of the beast - you show ,maybe you get the job.
There is always a small % of the customers who pimp your design out tto the lower bidder.. you just eat that.
We send designs out in a format no other sign guy can use - IE JPEG etc and add a copyright watermark , all engraved and fabricated samples have our name engraved on it.
EG "this plaque presented to "Toker Bros..the leaders in recognition" type of thing.
I can tell you this , if we had to charge a customer for this service after they declined the job , we wouldnt get our money or it would be real difficult to do so . No customer will pay up front for a "quote" or design (and to be frank , neither would I) and if we had to implement a policy such as this , there are a 100 lean and hungy competitors that would step into the breach.
It's the cost of doing business in this field.

[Dan Hintz]

Visit a sign forum and you'll get slammed on that one. There are countless threads where people have designed something for free in hopes of gaining the customer, only to see the customer take the design and go to someone cheaper. It's usually someone posting on a weekly basis with that type of story and the elders there who have been in the graphic design world and sign business for a long time, all say the same thing- give it away for free and it has no value.

I never believed them until recently.
I'm not talking about handing random people free stuff, I'm talking about offering free "extras" when an order has already been placed. If I have time to spare, an extra 5 minutes to etch someone's name in the corner of an object is no big deal, and with the right person it may bring me more business.

[Dmitriy Kumets]

Wow - all good points... both on the perceived value of personalization and on the "why ask for extra work?" question.

I guess when I first started it seemed like personalized goods was the way to go (photos, nameplates, etc) but live and learn.