Social Media - That was an eyeopener

donna255 said:

Pss! I got a survey today from QVC about selling children's clothes, toys etcuke:

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No way! I can imagine the prices and children grow so fast, would you pay £30 for a dress that's worn twice then too small? My sister has had 5 kids and their clothes were either hand me downs from the eldest or bought from the charity shop. You would (or maybe wouldn't) be amazed at the lovely designer children's clothes, hardly worn, that you can pick up in charity shops for a song. Her kids never looked like they were wearing second hand clothes either.

CC

I got the survey about them selling childrens toys and gifts too but Q will never do it well. Trends for the latest toys move so quickly, one minute something is the must have toy/gizmo and the next minute something else is the must have toy/gizmo, all in a matter of weeks.
Q are still bringing out items which must have been in the warehouse since the year dot and if their idea of stimulating trendy toys are the mardles and that noisy pad thing ( I forget what its called ) then they are way behind the times.
I have 2 grand daughters and the youngest loves Smyths toy store which is not far from where they live but whenever we visit the last favorite toy is now old hat and something else has taken over. Quite often it`s the small quirky things which they all want such as those fidget spinners which were a must have last year or tiny little rubber figures in lucky bag type packaging etc etc. One minute kids go mad for them, next minute they`re consigned to the bedroom floor.
QVC will never keep up and their prices and stock will never compete, let alone their ridiculous p and p and slow delivery.

donna255 said:

Pss! I got a survey today from QVC about selling children's clothes, toys etcuke:

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I can see a great market for children’s clothes that can be worn once for a special occasion then returned under the MBG.

There’s no way children’s clothes will ever work, they had one of those fleece novelty children’s wraps £14.99 and they had them in the Home and Bargain for £4.99, men’s jumpers were £40, there’s no way my husband would pay that for a jumper, neither would any other fella because they ended up in clearance. QVC need to remember the vast choice consumers have now, also QVC overheads are huge so I doubt anyone would pay the price for American imported kids clothes, woman may buy themselves to the odd piece but are more practical when it comes to children’s clothes. QVC really smacks of desperation now, if they want to carry on then offer capped postage, Paypal, more stringent checks with returns, free returns because if they don’t I can’t see them lasting much longer.

In the first few years on air they did sell toys.

grovesy said:

In the first few years on air they did sell toys.

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I've only been watching since 2009 and I've noticed even in that time a noticeable drop in the number of different products they sell across all departments. Nowadays, with so many different online retailers, I think the toys would have to be staples that don't go in and out of favour in a few months.

While they’ve been sl@gging off the high st, they’ve failed to notice that there’s a wider choice of stuff to buy in bricks & mortar shops and other websites, with the benefit of lower pricing and cheaper postage than when they started broadcasting. They have completely failed to do effective market research, which is the backbone of all companies.

ERICS MUM said:

While they’ve been sl@@ging off the high st, they’ve failed to notice that there’s a wider choice of stuff to buy in bricks & mortar shops and other websites, with the benefit of lower pricing and cheaper postage than when they started broadcasting. They have completely failed to do effective market research, which is the backbone of all companies.

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And they've missed the point of why you keep offering slow selling products... Customers go in looking for one specific product...but now they are in your shop, looking at what else you sell!
By eliminating so many departments and products they are removing reasons to go in in the first place. Q forgot how customers shop. Yes women in particular browse, but not if we don't have a reason to cross the threshold in the first place!

candycane said:

No way! I can imagine the prices and children grow so fast, would you pay £30 for a dress that's worn twice then too small? My sister has had 5 kids and their clothes were either hand me downs from the eldest or bought from the charity shop. You would (or maybe wouldn't) be amazed at the lovely designer children's clothes, hardly worn, that you can pick up in charity shops for a song. Her kids never looked like they were wearing second hand clothes either.

CC

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I have two daughters who grew up wearing clothes from Adams, they were well made, cheerful & exceptionally good value for money & I wish the company was still in business. I now have three grandchildren, our older daughter wouldn't dream of buying second hand clothes for her two & spends a fortune on clothes that last a few months at most. However, our younger one buys a fair amount from a local Barnados shop & her daughter wears the most gorgeous outfits often bought for less than £1, at 15 months she doesn't care about what she's wearing as long as she's comfortable.

Spending in fashionable items for younger kids before all the social pressures kick in is a flood errand, in my opinion. Why not start them young with a taste for individuality rather than conformity? Plus the money saved can go towards the extras kids need, whether that is trips or outside hobbies. The only thing I would have brand new are the shoes.

grovesy said:

In the first few years on air they did sell toys.

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The very first thing I bought from QVC was a Santa Express toy train with track and station and other little bits. Got back from the pub about 11pm and I remember Dale selling it and saying "almost gone". I got it for my nephew who was about 2 at the time (he's now 27!) and he absolutely loved it and played with it forever. Then 4 more brothers came along and they all loved it as well and it wasn't so very long ago it went to the charity shop so yet more kids could play with it. It cost about £20 and all the fun they had with it, well it was actually priceless.

CC

maymorganlondon said:

Spending in fashionable items for younger kids before all the social pressures kick in is a flood errand, in my opinion. Why not start them young with a taste for individuality rather than conformity? Plus the money saved can go towards the extras kids need, whether that is trips or outside hobbies. The only thing I would have brand new are the shoes.

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Totally agree.

Been watching that save money programme with Alex Jones and Steph (McGovern?). The way the idiots on it waste money on branded clothes for their kids is unbelievable. The younger kids don't give a crap about brands. It's all about parents bragging IMO.

But there you go. A fool and their money and all that.

candycane said:

The very first thing I bought from QVC was a Santa Express toy train with track and station and other little bits. Got back from the pub about 11pm and I remember Dale selling it and saying "almost gone". I got it for my nephew who was about 2 at the time (he's now 27!) and he absolutely loved it and played with it forever. Then 4 more brothers came along and they all loved it as well and it wasn't so very long ago it went to the charity shop so yet more kids could play with it. It cost about £20 and all the fun they had with it, well it was actually priceless.

CC

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CC, that was lovely.

Twilight said:

CC, that was lovely.

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Awwww, thank you. All the boys are lovely too (although all but one are now men!!).

CC

candycane said:

The very first thing I bought from QVC was a Santa Express toy train with track and station and other little bits. Got back from the pub about 11pm and I remember Dale selling it and saying "almost gone". I got it for my nephew who was about 2 at the time (he's now 27!) and he absolutely loved it and played with it forever. Then 4 more brothers came along and they all loved it as well and it wasn't so very long ago it went to the charity shop so yet more kids could play with it. It cost about £20 and all the fun they had with it, well it was actually priceless.

CC

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We bought that too CC and passed it on once my two got older. We had quite a few toys from Q when mine were little and only returned one item that was faulty withing the first few months. They sold stuff from the States I didn't see in shops or online here.

I can't see children's clothing being a viable line for them, but brands not accessible here might work if they factor in sufficient mark up to cover delivery and returns anything's possible. We took our two to Arizona just before the younger one's 2nd birthday; bought 2 extra suitcases over there and filled with trainers and clothes for them. Once they grew out of them I sold them at NCT* sales and made money on them! Happy days!

*You didn't have to be an NCT member to buy; only to sell. Their coffee mornings kept me sane when we relocated from Lancs to Sussex with one aged 18 months and 8 month pregnant with the next. I'd encourage all new mums to look into joining; there's no pre-requisite to being called Jemima or driving a Range Rover!

alter ego said:

Totally agree.

Been watching that save money programme with Alex Jones and Steph (McGovern?). The way the idiots on it waste money on branded clothes for their kids is unbelievable. The younger kids don't give a crap about brands. It's all about parents bragging IMO.

But there you go. A fool and their money and all that.

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Totally about parents bragging. Nail on the head.

candycane said:

Awwww, thank you. All the boys are lovely too (although all but one are now men!!).

CC

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And their big feet! :mysmilie_17:

Twilight said:

I have two daughters who grew up wearing clothes from Adams, they were well made, cheerful & exceptionally good value for money & I wish the company was still in business. I now have three grandchildren, our older daughter wouldn't dream of buying second hand clothes for her two & spends a fortune on clothes that last a few months at most. However, our younger one buys a fair amount from a local Barnados shop & her daughter wears the most gorgeous outfits often bought for less than £1, at 15 months she doesn't care about what she's wearing as long as she's comfortable.

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Adams did great kids clothing, so did Ladybird in Woolworths . Macays was good too. As my lad hated clothes shopping. When he got to school age he was happy in George clothing so cheap and cheerful. Then one day when he was about 13 I said let’s just pop into next and see if anything in there fits you....damn and blast, he found Men’s stuff to fit, and that started the decline into more expensive clothing. His is 27 now and loves clothes shopping, at least it’s his own money now though

Oh, the letter is causing problems again.

Can someone direct me to where it states on the QVC web site that if you return more than 50% of what you order they will monitor you and threaten to close your account.
I spend what I consider to be a reasonable amount of money with you and my returns are always sent back unused and in good condition yet you are threatening me with closing my account. Well perhaps you should get your presenters to mention this when they are keen to tell people about your 30 day no quibble guarantee. We want you to use it, wear it, wash it!
What absolute arrogance. Don't bother with the threats I will close it myself and then I'm going to the press. MAKE YOUR POLICY CLEAR

A number of replies to this deleted it seems(I did not see them), and someone started trolling her via PM on Facebook over this statement. She is still insisting she is going to the press over this. It has been pointed out it is in the terms and conditions when you buy from QVC and is different from the 30-day money-back guarantee.

Oh, it seems the person trolling her dresses like Abigail's Party!:mysmilie_19:

Wasn't that woman who was in Abigail's Party awful Audrey from Coronation Street? (not that I watch CS). Those AP type dresses were very popular as wedding dresses in the 70's. Thankfully I missed that as I didn't get married until 1984 :mysmilie_17:

CC

donna255 said:

Oh, the letter is causing problems again.

Can someone direct me to where it states on the QVC web site that if you return more than 50% of what you order they will monitor you and threaten to close your account.
I spend what I consider to be a reasonable amount of money with you and my returns are always sent back unused and in good condition yet you are threatening me with closing my account. Well perhaps you should get your presenters to mention this when they are keen to tell people about your 30 day no quibble guarantee. We want you to use it, wear it, wash it!
What absolute arrogance. Don't bother with the threats I will close it myself and then I'm going to the press. MAKE YOUR POLICY CLEAR

A number of replies to this deleted it seems(I did not see them), and someone started trolling her via PM on Facebook over this statement. She is still insisting she is going to the press over this. It has been pointed out it is in the terms and conditions when you buy from QVC and is different from the 30-day money-back guarantee.

Oh, it seems the person trolling her dresses like Abigail's Party!:mysmilie_19:

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I know it's silly season but would 'the press' be remotely interested? I've written before that on the rare occasion I'm tempted by something I look at the reviews & I'm still amazed by how much stuff people return. I wonder if they do the same with purchases from shops or if they get drawn in by the sales staff on the Q & then experience buyer's remorse