Discussion of New Colors, New Designs

[hdavim]

Totally agree. I am really, really hoping TB reads our pleas to keep solaris around longer. For me there's nothing more depressing than to miss the only shot at getting a desired bag/item. However, since TB is so responsive to customer requests, I would think that they would at least bring back solaris for another limited edition run and hopefully the original shop bag at the same time so those who missed out yesterday could acquire one.

Maybe if they bring Solaris back, and as the original shop bag, they can post on the forum to make a first offer to folks here. Or email the folks who signed up to be notified if it comes back. I understand that might be a bit of work and no guarantees that Solaris in the shop bag will come back, but maybe that would work.
@Darcy , again thinking out-loud (and guessing smarter people than me have probably thought this too).

[pammy]

I wonder if an ordering system that reserves the items in the cart for a set period of time is feasible, like they do for show tickets at some places. I don’t know if that would work well for multiple items, would there be different countdowns for each item, but if the orders were fulfilled the next day so multiple orders to the same address could go out in one package, then folks could click and buy per item without the anxiety and fear that items would disappear from carts while getting more.
@Darcy , flagging so you see this; not asking for or expecting a comment or commitment.

I had asked Darcy the question whether the ordering system on new release days could revert back to having a cart where your items were safe for five minutes like in the old days. This is her response:

"I hear you @pammy and the last thing we want to do is add stress.

Our shopping cart doesn't allow us to modify the amount of time items are held in the basket. The "industry standard" is to not hold items in the basket because a lot of people add items to their basket but never checkout. That even happens during debuts. So, if we could change the cart to work that way, the bags might sell out even faster, but wouldn't actually be sold out 'cause they'd be stuck in limbo in carts; they'd appear some time later as in-stock again, and probably sell out again quickly, so it might just be a different kind of stress.

And in this case, offering these bags as pre-orders wouldn't help: the number of bags we're sewing right now are the production quantity that we currently have the capacity to make. So, whether they're already made bags or pre-order bags, they'd sell out (or not) at the same speed. We don't typically offer pre-orders around the holidays given the importance of receive bags in a timely way. We're still making both masks and bags, so that factors in here, as does our various safety measures (which of course come first but can reduce efficiency.) We do hope to offer pre-orders again next year!

The good news is that we'll be able to make additional production runs of all of these bags in early-mid 2021. *Maybe* as pre-orders, depending on the state of things. So, even if they do sell out, there will be another chance to order them."

So, unfortunately, that's not possible, which is a bummer. Honestly, I don't see a good solution to the new release day ordering dilemma. I wish there were.

But another thing to note is obviously things change quickly over at TB, because Darcy said in her response that even if things sell out, there will be another chance to order them. And it's true that there will be another run of original shop bags; however, not in the limited edition colors. That was another disappointment to learn about yesterday. But with most things in this covid world, I guess we need to get used to changes that are not always to our liking or preference. And to their credit, TB is doing the best that they can do under the circumstances, for which I am truly grateful.

[BradBot]

I had asked Darcy the question whether the ordering system on new release days could revert back to having a cart where your items were safe for five minutes like in the old days. This is her response:

"I hear you @pammy and the last thing we want to do is add stress.

Our shopping cart doesn't allow us to modify the amount of time items are held in the basket. The "industry standard" is to not hold items in the basket because a lot of people add items to their basket but never checkout. That even happens during debuts. So, if we could change the cart to work that way, the bags might sell out even faster, but wouldn't actually be sold out 'cause they'd be stuck in limbo in carts; they'd appear some time later as in-stock again, and probably sell out again quickly, so it might just be a different kind of stress.

And in this case, offering these bags as pre-orders wouldn't help: the number of bags we're sewing right now are the production quantity that we currently have the capacity to make. So, whether they're already made bags or pre-order bags, they'd sell out (or not) at the same speed. We don't typically offer pre-orders around the holidays given the importance of receive bags in a timely way. We're still making both masks and bags, so that factors in here, as does our various safety measures (which of course come first but can reduce efficiency.) We do hope to offer pre-orders again next year!

The good news is that we'll be able to make additional production runs of all of these bags in early-mid 2021. *Maybe* as pre-orders, depending on the state of things. So, even if they do sell out, there will be another chance to order them."

So, unfortunately, that's not possible, which is a bummer. Honestly, I don't see a good solution to the new release day ordering dilemma. I wish there were.

But another thing to note is obviously things change quickly over at TB, because Darcy said in her response that even if things sell out, there will be another chance to order them. And it's true that there will be another run of original shop bags; however, not in the limited edition colors. That was another disappointment to learn about yesterday. But with most things in this covid world, I guess we need to get used to changes that are not always to our liking or preference. And to their credit, TB is doing the best that they can do under the circumstances, for which I am truly grateful.

Ugh, this sounds like TB is trying to make the best of the crummy state of ecommerce. We see the same problem with things like concert tickets, gaming consoles or basically anything that is released with a limited supply. There are groups that will go in, scoop these items up, and then flip them online for a profit. It's frustrating and will only get worse.

On the one hand I'm happy for TB and I want the company to continue to be successful, but I worry this problem will grow with its popularity. One hope is that the volume is low enough and the market is niche enough that it's not worth the flippers' time.

[pammy]

Ugh, this sounds like TB is trying to make the best of the crummy state of ecommerce. We see the same problem with things like concert tickets, gaming consoles or basically anything that is released with a limited supply. There are groups that will go in, scoop these items up, and then flip them online for a profit. It's frustrating and will only get worse.

On the one hand I'm happy for TB and I want the company to continue to be successful, but I worry this problem will grow with its popularity. One hope is that the volume is low enough and the market is niche enough that it's not worth the flippers' time.

@BradBot , I hear you and feel your frustration. I fear there will always be flippers who purchase with the intent to sell at a profit. And I share your concern that this will continue to grow. With TB items, the only way to stop that is to create more inventory, bring back retired/rare items or colors, etc., and that’s just not feasible for a small company like Tom Bihn. I am hoping that the limited edition halcyon colors will stick around longer so there can be a few production runs of bags, thus limiting the frenzy of thinking it’s the one and only shot at getting an item.

[Awesomepants]

Keep in mind that if the cart held your items once you added them, you'd still have the problem of first-come-first-serve when it came to adding them to your cart. So the people with faster computers and faster internet still win.

There isn't a great solution until they are allowed to make bags at normal capacity again. They're doing the best they can and I appreciate the fact that they're communicating their pain points and being open with us and trying new approaches.

[Riverdaughter]

So true! Everything would disappear faster and some items would be stuck in other carts.

[Surrealle]

Holding an item in a cart for 5-10 minutes might not save other people who are waiting for it any stress, but it sure would help ease what is currently a frantic process of checking out (plus it would give you a chance to check that you haven't made mistakes, let you add other items, etc.) Not to mention I suspect the people who are there chomping at the bit for something on release day are highly unlikely to let that item expire out of a cart.

I for one would be all for it. Solving half of a problem is better than solving none of it, IMO.

[SLB]

I had the experience of a losing a bag mid-check-out, too. I thought something had gone awry -- I wasn't sitting still, I was moving through the process. And by the time I got to the pay page, the small sitka shop-bag was gone.

And if the gray-ed colors are any indication of what's to come in the next run, it's gone for the foreseeable future.

I've never had that happen before with any online vendor; it felt more like losing out to a last-minute bid on ebay. Unpleasant.

[Darcy]

Thanks for the continued feedback, everyone.

Re: the cart holding items... this is one where we'll just have to ask you to trust us (and Shopify!) that it'd cause more problems than it would solve. But, beyond that, it's also simply just not possible: we can't change our shopping cart to behave differently. We can't change our shopping cart to hold items.

We are discussing other ideas, though! We've had lots of them so far. And, of course, we're not the first U.S. manufacturer of nice stuff that people want to buy to face this issue... after all, the limits of domestic manufacturing combined with popularity are a big factor here. We want to be very thoughtful about any solution we offer, so I won't have anything to share anytime very soon, but we're working on it! And working on it in advance of the next debut.

Thanks for the blog post, Darcy (and the additional batching/ combination info in your post above)! I have to say I am very excited about a possible new knitting/ crafting bag debuting in 2021. My first TB purchases were a Swift, Little Swift, and a lot of accessories to go with them many years ago.

And thank you, once again, for making such wonderful face masks even though it means you and the crew aren't able to make as many new bags as you had hoped. We really appreciate everything you do for us and for those people you donate masks to.

Stay safe, everyone!

I am so glad you're exciting for the new knitting/crafting bag! We are pretty excited about it too. We're lining up the materials now and hope to make some prototypes (prototypes, not a full production run!) in the next few months.

[b1gsky]

There isn’t a single SCB available right now or showing as in production.

[gqb]

There isn’t a single SCB available right now or showing as in production.

I saw that too!

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[b1gsky]

I saw that too!

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They're back in production.

[Darcy]

Thanks for the heads-up on those Small Cafe Bags, everyone! I fixed that yesterday evening. I can't promise *all* of those specific color combos will be available in the next production run (especially since we wanted to perhaps offer some new options!) but the hope is they give the sense that there will be a number of options, even if it's not those specific ones.

[b1gsky]

Awesome, thanks @Darcy ! And new combinations, yay! I guess maybe the new Halcyon exterior? Btw, I would love to see more Cafe bags lined with Dawn. Deep blue/Dawn would be dreamy, or Ursa/Dawn or Black/Dawn... I like Cloud, but I love Dawn.

[gqb]

Awesome, thanks @Darcy ! And new combinations, yay! I guess maybe the new Halcyon exterior? Btw, I would love to see more Cafe bags lined with Dawn. Deep blue/Dawn would be dreamy, or Ursa/Dawn or Black/Dawn... I like Cloud, but I love Dawn.

I think black 525 / Solaris looked stunning in the makers bag, how about some more age in this combo? but I don't need another small cafe bag (do I? )

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