Looking for feedback again please..

Tudorp

Big guy with a lil' uke..
UU VIP
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
3,321
Reaction score
37
Location
East Texas
I would like to know your thoughts.

I hope I am not turning away potential customers. But, that said, I do not want to become simply a ukulele warehouse. A Cosco of sorts of the uke. I have about 12 cool ukuleles in inventory at present. I sold one already and have a deposit on another. I have so far only shipped the one. I get inquiries, but not sure if it is turning buyers off that I tell them it isn't ready to ship quite yet. In a week or so it will. But, as many see that as bad news, I just don't want to ship one that I am not 100% comfortable that it is playing as it should. I want to not just set them up, but I also want to play it for a few days afterwards to be sure it is set up as I would want it set up. I like to spend time with each, because I may see something the next day that I missed the day before. They all go through this. And when I am feeling the uke is playing as it should, and sounding as it should. Then, I feel good about putting it in someones hands to enjoy. So far I am 1 for 1. The guy that got the one I have shipped, absolutely LOVES his new uke and says it plays and looks like he paid twice the price. That makes me feel good (but also makes me feel I should charge twice the price hahha..j/k) But, I want to maintain that.

Is this a bad thing? Or do you want your uke as fast as possible? Or would you rather be patient and feel better that the seller is doing his/her best that you have a great experience when you open up your prize?
 
I thought about this for a couple minutes and my first impression if a seller told me that a product wasn't ready yet would be that either they don't have it, or something that is wrong is being fixed. Also, it seems to me that many people want to think they are the only one who has really played a new instrument, so people knowing you want to play it for a week might turn some people off.

I appreciate the care you are putting into setting up your instruments. Perhaps it might be ideal to list them when they are ready to ship. I think many people, myself included, do want to know that when we buy something, it is ready to go, and is on its way immediately. I don't know if it is cultural or what, but I HATE to wait. Lots of others feel this way too, given the amount of posts that talk about the agony of waiting for shipping once a purchase has been made.

Just my thoughts....hope it is helpful to you. By the way, is there a brand name for your ukes? It seems to me that most of us like some sort of label or stamp inside the soundbox to identify a uke.
 
I can only echo what has been said above.

If someone told me it would take a week to get a uke in good enough shape to sell, I would come to the conclusion that if it needs that much work, I don't want it.

This Isn't saying you should stop spending that time, but you need to treat any ukes you wouldn't send out tomorrow as not being "in-stock".
 
I would say it's best to have them ready to go when you put them up for sale. For most dealers who do a proper setup it's not such a long process.

When I use to set up guitars:
-File down the nut and bridge where needed
-Make sure all the frets are even (file and redress if necessary)
-Perform any neck adjustments (Guitars you usually have a truss rod, otherwise I used a space heater)
-Overall check of the instrument to make sure the tuners are all nice and tight, no defects, etc...

This usually took somewhere between 20min and 2hours depending on the level of work needed but more often it was less than an hour. Much longer than that and it usually meant there was a more serious problem with the instrument so I can see why telling anyone it will be a few days to setup would be a red flag.
 
Yeah, I have to second that. Any uke that needs more work than I can do in about an hour, maybe two (and I'm pretty slow at this stuff), is probably something I wouldn't want to begin with, even if somebody else did the work.

There is only so much you can do from outside of a finished uke. On anything but the most extreme case I can tweak the nut and saddle, even compensate the saddle, and touch up any sharp fret ends in less than an hour (and, as mentioned, I'm slow). Even if I have to level the frets a bit that only adds another hour unless they were so bad that I need to recrown them because some became too flat on top.

Honestly, I wouldn't have much use for a uke that I had to put even that much work into (to the point of crowning the frets) for the simple reason that I figure if the exterior stuff I can see and fix are that bad, what does it say for the interior stuff that I can't see?

So far, I haven't had to go so far as leveling the frets on any uke I've owned, not even a cheap little Lanikai. Any uke that did need the frets leveled would get pretty short shrift from me for the reason mentioned above.

If you're having to put that much work into these things then I'd be concerned for two things. One, you aren't going to make any money in the end unless your time is worth zip. And two, I'd be real worried about what I couldn't see and fix that might come back to haunt me some day.
 
First off it is your company and your reputation. Do as you see fit and are comfortable. Maybe rephrasing the response as "please allow seven working days to process your order" . They don't need to know that you are going over it with a fine tooth comb, you are just "processing" the order. That might even make your company look as though it is bigger than a one man operation too :)
 
I agree with the above.....don't advertise until they are already boxed up and ready to go.

Also, any positive feedback you can get from past buyers might make potential buyers feel more confident about purchasing your (relatively unknown) product.
 
Aloha Tudorp,
As in any business starting up, you want to do things right and feel comfortable your product going out is the best it can be...no problem with that..Always best to get a good reputation first and
always...in the end, it will pay off dividends...hell with the initial slow start...do it right and words spreads fast....Good Luck in your business venture...MM Stan
 
I can't add much more to what has already been said, but another question springs to mind if I was a potential buyer. If you are spending some time playing it in..... when does "new" become "nearly new?"

Good luck in your venture.
 
I personally would prefer not buying a ukulele that has been played for a week. It would make me feel as if I was getting a used instrument, while still paying for a new one. Just my opinion.
 
First, the others have just about answered this from a typical buyers standpoint. But, I think that there is another aspect to consider. Another of our number, who happens to own one of the most respected uke companies on UU, does things a bit similar to yu, Tudorp, but on a larger scale. Consider one of the "factory made" ukes that we all love, Mainland Ukulele. These ukes are built in a factory in China & shipped to Nashville, IN, where Mike & Tookta do all of the setup, etc. before shipping out to the rest of the world. Here's an article that gives a little snippit of this:

http://ukulelereview.com/2009/01/07/mainland-ukuleles-a-new-shop-in-nashville-indiana/

Before I hear, BUT "that's not at ALL what Mainland" does!!" - I KNOW that, but I think its similar & in this instance , Tudorp is sort of operating like that. He gets these ukes in from a "factory" in the far east & is doing the setup++ similar to Mike & Tookta do for their line of ukes. Perhaps, those who about know Mainland from when it first started out could chime in on how that was at the time. Now any of us who have ordered ukes direct from Mainland knows that you can order the tuners you want & well as strings and even have Mike put in a MiSi P/U. He probably doesn't have a bunch of every type of tuner already installed or MiSi either & I'd bet that when he was first starting Mainland, there was a time when he had some relatively small number of ukes "not quite ready to ship" like Tudorp does.

I'm not saying this is the next "Mainland", but I do think that we are seeing maybe the start of yet another legitimate uke owner/seller/proprietor. Maybe he's asking the wrong people. Perhaps the folks that may be able to answer these questions are the ones who have started similar endeavors - I'm thinking that perhaps Tudorp, talking to Mike of Mainland, or Mike at Uke Republic, or Mim of Mim's Ukes might give a more realistic perspective.

Hope this helps! (And Hoosierhiver, if you are listening, I am sure that I really don't know everything that goes into a uke worth of the Mainland name, so I hope I haven't in any way stated something detrimental to Mainland. Its just the best example of what I think Tudorp is doing on his beginning scale.)
 
All this feedback is invaluable. Actually, what most of you are saying, is in fact what my concern is. Because I was first a consumer/buyer/player. And like most, when I make the decision to pull the trigger on anything, I am ready for it to happen. That said, if a seller is upfront with me, I don't mind waiting in order to let that seller do the right job, so I know when I get it from him, it is the best it is going to be. MY biggest peeve, is ordering something, and not knowing the status, or being fed lines to pease me. So, yeah, I am concerned with all of that. But, from my perspective, and being a former business owner in a completely unrelated field, I strived to treat customers, as I wanted to be treated when I am a customer. I was honest, and upfront. I would even blow a sale in order to be sure the buyer was going to get what he wanted. If I could not provide it, I wouldn't try to push something I had to meet the need, I would simply be upfront and tell them that I could not offer what you need, and then provide them with assistance on them getting what they needed. To me, customer service way outweighed in priority over sales, or profit. Many times if something didn't work out, I would take a loss, rather than dump a white elephant on a customer. I enjoyed an empecable reputation with that. In fact, when I retired, and closed my shop, there was damn near an uproar in my small community with concerns that they were loosing a respected, and ethical business in the community. Man, I had people calling me, and pounding on my door not to close the doors. Pain in the butt, but flattering as hell. I am proud of that. I want to have the same reputation here with this venture. but, I can not ride on my past reputation, I have to build it new, and earn it, just like I did in the other industry. I guess that is why I am being so anal about not shipping a uke until I would buy it myself. I am just concerned it is turning off buyers, because I can see why it would. Another reason it is taking so long, is because this is brand new. I suddenly ended up with 14 or so ukuleles in my lap, that I will need to put through QA gauntlet, and set up. They are not needing an over the top amount of work to get right, but they do need bridge and saddle work, and I have a dozen of them to do. So... I can't work that fast.. lol.. Another thing is, these are new, from a factory overseas that I want to grow MY faith in. This is another reason why I want to play them and let them settle into their new setup. To be sure they are gonna STAY set up. As I move along, and gain the trust in the builder, I will be able to spend a couple hours with a uke, and feel it's ready to ship. So, I am also building a trust myself in my supplier. All that, equals, a buttload of ukes that I am learning, knowing what they will need, and what they will not need. So, yeah, it is taking a couple weeks to get one ready to go. I am hoping all of them will be ready by this coming weekend. But, then I will have the next batch to run through the gauntlet. Eventually, it will be get uke in, set it up, post it for sale. Not quite there yet.. But, I am working on it. I just hope I am not turning off potential buyers while I go through this new to business transition, because I don't want that reputation either..

Thanks for your feedback, because it confirms what I was thinking myself. I may just not make anymore available until I get my current stock ready to go, so I can fill an order as it comes..

Gmoney, your right. I do need to take ques from the folks that have done, it and doing it now that have the reputations that I hope to have someday. But, I also want and cherrish input from the people that are going to be playing my ukes.. To be truely sucessful, I feel ya have to have that connection, and know what everyone wants. I think that is how the mainlands, MGMs the Mimms, and others with offer ukes with awesome customer service and loyalty. They earned it. I hope to as well..
 
Last edited:
I would like to know your thoughts.

I hope I am not turning away potential customers. But, that said, I do not want to become simply a ukulele warehouse. A Cosco of sorts of the uke. I have about 12 cool ukuleles in inventory at present. I sold one already and have a deposit on another. I have so far only shipped the one. I get inquiries, but not sure if it is turning buyers off that I tell them it isn't ready to ship quite yet. In a week or so it will. But, as many see that as bad news, I just don't want to ship one that I am not 100% comfortable that it is playing as it should. I want to not just set them up, but I also want to play it for a few days afterwards to be sure it is set up as I would want it set up. I like to spend time with each, because I may see something the next day that I missed the day before. They all go through this. And when I am feeling the uke is playing as it should, and sounding as it should. Then, I feel good about putting it in someones hands to enjoy. So far I am 1 for 1. The guy that got the one I have shipped, absolutely LOVES his new uke and says it plays and looks like he paid twice the price. That makes me feel good (but also makes me feel I should charge twice the price hahha..j/k) But, I want to maintain that.

Is this a bad thing? Or do you want your uke as fast as possible? Or would you rather be patient and feel better that the seller is doing his/her best that you have a great experience when you open up your prize?

I wouldn't list the uke until you were ready to ship it. Most dealers don't list or advertise until product is ready to ship. That is my suggestion.
 
I wouldn't list the uke until you were ready to ship it. Most dealers don't list or advertise until product is ready to ship. That is my suggestion.

What haolejohn and others have said. A lot of how people feel about a product is perception, and you get to determine that to some extent. You could advertise that every ukulele you sell has been personally set up by you, but people who buy them don't need to know every detail about what that entails. Another part of the perception of the ukulele business is how responsive a seller is. For both Mim and MGM (and probably for Mike and Mike, from whom I have not purchased ukes), their ability to get a ukulele to its buyer fast has been an important selling point. So if an ukulele becomes available only after you'd done all the work on it you want to do, you get what you want (not selling an ukulele until you know that it's in the best shape it can possibly be in at the time of sale) and the buyer gets what he or she wants (fast delivery of the ukulele he or she just had to have).
 
I think there's also a standard time frame that people generally expect to have and instrument sent by if they are buying a new one that just needs a basic setup. If you tell your customers, "I have to do a setup job and give it a once over, it will be sent in 2-3 business days." I think most customers would not think twice. If you say it will take a week and you want to play it for a few days before sending just to make sure it's alright, people may be a bit more weary. Now if you were customizing each one for the customer with specific strings, tuners, nut and saddle material I'm sure most people would be perfectly fine with waiting a week or two.

If you want to put ukes up for sale that are not complete yet, just say they are available for pre-order with orders being filled within 7-10 days.

Sometimes it's just about the delivery of the message.
 
Top Bottom