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Posted in Forum: Customer Service
Just now I went to “Shop items” for the 9-10 craft show starring Crafters Companion and I get G by Giuliana pants. Where is the list of items to purchase?
Monday was a great Craft Day! The TSV Cricut Maker 3 Bundle was hands down a can’t match anywhere value. Free shipping and ready to ship. Cricut even added its new 13” paper trimmer. That deal on the brand new portable Light Pad Go was so sweet. HSN really had the Cricut deals.
Crafters Companion offered a beautiful Sara Signature Mega bundle of watercolor images of snowy winter for its regular price. I went for it when I saw the actual snow globes. Very soft palette of watercolors. The Spectrum Noir TriBlend Aqua Markers were all bundled at a significant reduction. I just wish HSN had the TriBlend Aquas for the Mega bundle that are available on Sara’s website.
Anna Griffin has raised the prices on die sets, but the 3D technology is really stunning and much more costly to produce. That being said, the beautiful 3D Concentric Rose die set was for sale for $18+ and the $5 all day cart was offered. And the Sleigh and Carriage Slimline dies, smash hits for Christmas, we’re reduced to $27+. Some very good deals.
Diamond Press is going into larger format dies. Given their lack of embossing, they seem overpriced. The bats were available in a much lower price in a stand alone kit that sold out. Good value. They are really a hoot. Diamond Press keeps Halloween light hearted and kid appropriate, but also humorous enough for cuteness loving adults like myself. I’m grandkids ready with their collection this year. Their first ever boxed card kit is awesome for Halloween. It is good to see Diamond Press stretch itself in COVID times and be ready to ship right now.
For the regular naysayers who show up routinely here every Craft Day, I am not buying the trolling. You missed out of $5 all day ship, some great vendors, good values, and fantastic products. I do my homework when shopping crafts, and HSN is more than competitive.
I like Anna Griffin products as well as Crafters Companion and Diamond Press. However, when $5.00 shipping ISN’T offered I don’t spend near the amount of money I spend when they offer the $5.00 shipping. The prices have increased on crafts, let’s keep the $5.00 shipping please.
Posted in Forum: Crafts & SewingPlease stop raising the prices on the craft items. Crafters Companion, Anna Griffin, and Diamond Press have all been hit with price increases. Card kits from Anna Griffin are getting impossible to sell and make a profit when customers are paying almost $4.00 a card to make them! Diamond Press products went from $20.00/$25.00 a kit to $31.00. Plus you rarely offer $5.00 shipping anymore. I understand everyone has to make a profit, but when you add the price increases to the shipping costs, it makes it hard for us crafters to survive. Please reconsider your increases, and try to lower your prices. It would be greatly appreciated.
Posted in Forum: Crafts & SewingEarlier this year I bought the CC Sentiments stamps & cards collection and signed up for autoship for future sets to add to the binder. I recently received the first autoship called “Female Family & Friends”. 12 stamps total, all fairly large, great for the insides of cards. But, of the 12 4 of them are for grandmother, 2 for mothers, 1 sister, 2 general (no relation), 1 each for daughter, granddaughter and aunt. Not a single one for nieces! And why 4 for grandmothers? I best most of the people buying this are old like me and don’t have any living grandparents!
Very very disappointed in the selection overall for this set. I’m hoping the 3 future sets improve.
When Anna Griffin is presenting Cricut, she is not presenting her products. The TSV was the Cricut Joy and Anna presents that product for Cricut as the live rep from her studio in Atlanta. It’s what Cricut and HSN wants. Every second of Anna presenting Cricut is not “her time” for her product. In fact, Anna got very little time for presenting Anna Griffin Inc. products throughout the last event day, which was not a 24 hour craft day. Every hour that was scheduled for her alone had a huge amount of time for Cricut. Some of the items she was supposed to present like the Anna Griffin envelope dies were only mentioned in passing or not at all. They sold out anyways. All told, Anna Griffin got less than 50% of the time she was supposed to have for her product alone, which was three hours in total. Totally Tiffany, a subsidiary with Crafters Companion, and Sara Davies got more time than that on the day.
We can expect to see a lot of Cricut always! One reason is because HSN has short term exclusives with Cricut. Cricut did its world launch on this last craft day of the Cricut Joy Foil Transfer Tool on HSN and HSN was the exclusive retailer. Kind of a big deal, although HSN hosts seemed oblivious to that fact. Doesn’t matter because Anna Griffin sold it out with her presentations. Cricut is high value items and that equals revenue for HSN. It’s like selling Apple products. The CEO of Cricut has his pick of vendors to launch products. Anna Griffin delivers. Her studio and production exceed what can be done live in house at HSN. Yes, I said it. Cricut does not need HSN to launch its products. The big retailers will happily do it. But HSN needs Anna Griffin to rep Cricut live because she has the skills and technical know how to give a high end presentation. Just know that Anna Griffin Inc has no skin in Cricut. Two different companies altogether. Don’t confuse the two.
As to Anna Griffin’s products, I am a vigorous consumer hands down. But I also like Diamond Press, Sissix, and of course Cricut. Different strokes for different folks. Go online to HSN. There are amazing vendors selling artists, sewing, and a world of craft products. Shop it and maybe you will see that vendor get air time. For me, I want way more live time for Anna Griffin products on HSN with knowledgeable hosts, and the huge base of Anna’s fans feel just as I do. HSN has Anna Griffin exclusively and HSN needs to deliver professionally.
I also am not a fan of Anna’s style or much of Crafters Companion either, but at least CC has more tools and mediums so it’s not all the same every time. While I’m not crazy about SOL (her images are just too big for my tastes and everything looks the same) at least they are a relatively new addition and it breaks up the monotony. They need to find some other small companies to feature.
Here is an article related to the topic…
Crafter’s Companion Unveils Mini Die-Cut & Embossing Tool
By Sarah Jane 06 Apr 2016 ShareTweetEmail
This Easter saw craft supplier business, Crafter’s Companion shake up the papercraft market with the launch of a new entry-level die-cutting and punch product called the Diamond Press.
The portable mini die-cut and embossing tool will be priced at RRP £29.99 and has been specifically developed to save customers money by combining two traditional craft products in one.i8
Crafter’s Companion expects its newest product to be one of the biggest launches in its 10 year history. The newcomer will follow a prestigious list of launches by the award-winning company that have included Spectrum, the Clevercut and Ultimate Pro.
As part of the global launch, Crafter’s Companion founder and sales director, Sara Davies unveiled the product on a special two-hour show on HSN across the US. The product launched in the UK on Hochanda over the Easter weekend and will now hit the shelves of retailers everywhere.
She said: “Over the last few years, we have listened to our customers and recognised a need for an affordable alternative to existing cutting and embossing tools currently available on the market.
“Designed to be simple and easy to use, we believe the Diamond Press will drive many new people into the craft market and also give existing crafters a new tool to add to their preferred craft product collections.
“Our goal as a business is to develop an assortment of ‘must-have’ crafting tools that make the lives of craft enthusiasts across the world easier, more rewarding and enjoyable. With this in mind, the Diamond Press is a welcome addition to our family.”
This is the latest high-profile launch for the company after it introduced the Signature Collection by Sara Davies and the official Downton Abbey papercrafting range to the market in the second half of 2015.
Crafter’s Companion has built its reputation by manufacturing and distributing crafting tools along with its own brand goods. Its products are sold online via its website, TV shopping channels across the world and through independent retail shops in the UK and Europe.
Posted in Forum: Crafts & SewingI was reading today about Diamond Press Company and I learned that Crafters Companion is the owner of DP. I just find this interesting when some of us crafters are asking for different representation of crafting companies, but we are being offered products developed by the same limited group. I like this line, but it would be nice to support other small vendors, especially during these difficult times. Just a thought…have a good healthy year
Posted in Forum: Customer ServiceHello,
I purchased item 751-500 Crafters Companion Nature’s Garden Chinoiserie Bundle for $99.95 yesterday. It is now $79.95. Could I please get a price adjustment back to my original form of payment?I also purchased item 751-506 Crafters Companion Create-a-Card Scene Dies Auto-Ship for $34.95 yesterday. It is now $29.95. Could I please get a price adjustment back to my original form of payment?
Thank you.
Crafters Companion has done nothing like this, it’s a first for Sara.
As an HSN consumer of crafting supplies who appreciates HSN for its shows, service, and convenience, the shipping and its charges are always on my mind. I grind my teeth on the high shipping costs especially with the 10.2% sales tax added to my shipping. I want HSN to succeed as a purveyor of crafting, and no doubt the shipping has added tremendously to HSN’s revenue. BUT all of the major crafting vendors at HSN sell online the same inventory for the most part. HSN is really competing head to head with its best vendors who have greatly reduced shipping or free shipping promotions. The craft vendors Crafters Companion, Cricut, and Anna Griffin each offer ways to get free shipping even with discounts on the items thru membership programs. COVID 19 has honed the ability to telecast for these vendors. Social media makes seeing the product easy now. What is the trade off for the consumer? HSN is faster, has a few exclusives for a while, the flex pays if you want, and the thirty day return as well as the program. That’s pretty nice. The crafting companies have a much better price without shipping charges, great customer service with even returns, excellent presentation of their products, and plenty of social media. What will HSN need to do to get its crafting consumer to purchase? Keep the shipping costs down, bundle up items for one shipping price, guarantee fast delivery, and get longer exclusives as the only seller of items featured. Remember, I want HSN to succeed. I love the 24 hour crafting days. I don’t want that to go away. HSN has a huge consumer base of crafters. Treat those crafters carefully. Add some new vendors like Tonic and Spellbinders who really can compete head to head with your current vendors. And finally, make it $10 or $15 for a 24hour cart for shipping. Do it every craft day. Find the balance.
Thank you so much. I finally found them.
Had anyone tried contacting crafters companion and got a response? I have tried a couple of times
Under Contact us on they’re website. No response.
Crafters Companion has tons of videos on YouTube. Search YouTube for Crafters Companion Create a Card and I expect you will find a ton of instruction/inspiration.
Crafters Companion website > menu > inspiration > get inspired! > video library > filter by collection > create-a-card
Hope that helps!