Website review sought - comments invited

Get a free program like Zen Cart, it's not that bad to learn and you can set the various currencies and exchange rate to what you want and the customer chooses the currency.

Just a personal comment. I don't like jewellery that is one of a kind modeled on a person. In fact unless it's really professional photography I don't like seeing jewellery on a person. Get a good necklace stand, the cut-off bits of person are really offputting to a lot of people.

Good luck with the site.

-Su

These pictures in particular are a bit odd. In some, the picture above kind of blends into the picture below. Maybe it's because they are so close together or that there is no defining line between the pictures. It's a little odd because in some, it looks like we are seeing a bit too much of her breast when actually it's her chin from the picture below.

I am in that camp as well. Although the model has lovely skin (the first thing I thought when I looked at the site) I find that jewelry modeled on a person distracts from the jewelry itself. Those designs are lovely but I didn't remember any of them after leaving the site the first time... but I did remember that they were photographed on a lady with lovely skin, LOL!

I have recently updated this site and for ease of access it is now available through

and Also, to save on bandwidth I'm using Flickr to host the new images of sterling silver jewellery although the link is at the page above. Any suggestions on how to improve the appearance, functionality of the site welcome.

thanks

In message , Craig Cockburn writes

Beautiful necklaces and easy to negotiate web site. Nice big pictures for details.

I think the prices are low though. Not much if any profit with the cost of the beads and time involved. Do not sell yourself short.

I know I had problems trying to sell my jewellery down here in Derbyshire. It was predomitably mining area until a few years ago. People think because you make the stuff at home it should not cost much. They do not take the cost and here in UK the postage since one has to mainly use mail order to get supplies. Nor do they realise that we have to provide a well lit working area and have to buy tools. I refused to sell cheap because it is not fair on other bead workers who do it for a living. When someone asks a price and they say they could do it cheaper themselves I tell them to go ahead because I am not undervaluing my work.

Good luck to your wife and I hope she is successful. Shirley

but takes a long time to load. I put thumbnails on mine for a reason.

[...]

I'm with Shirley on this. I don't know what the current exchange rate is, probably on the order of 1GBP= 2US$, but I can't see how you can make the jewelry for that and (if you were doing this full time and sell all) make a living at it (admittedly cost of - especially staple - food is quite bit higher higher where I am than in the UK, assuming you have a Sainsbury's or Tesco somewhere close). I don't depend on making a living at it at this time, but it's unfair to those who do.

Aloha, Maren (in Hawaii) HiloBeads

In message , Maren at google writes

The beads are bought locally, not mail order.

The well lit working area was already set up from when she did artwork. It's a part time job in between looking after our three children and as a part time job would never be enough to live off. However, the silverware would be more expensive not only because of the raw materials but also because of the hallmarking costs.

We have a number of local supermarkets within walking distance if that helps.

In message , Craig Cockburn writes

Do you have your own hallmark? Shirley

Very Nice. For me, both of the links below loaded quickly.

If it is not to much trouble for you, I would make the thumbnails into links to the detail photos below. Detail photos show good detail and the thumbnails are a nice way to link.

When I went to the Scottish Artwork page, I found that some of the links open a new browser and the others opened in the existing browser. With the Celtic tree link you warn people of a new window. With the Celtic dog you do not.

I would suggest making them all the same. My preference is to open links in the existing browser, but a vote may prove using pop-ups is more popular. Always better to let your paying customers tell you what they like.

I am not sure that using flickr is saving bandwidth. Bandwidth is only important while the page is loading. It may save you money if you are running out of storage space on your server and the provider wants to gouge you for money to get more storage space. Having photos of all your products at one web site looks more professional (IMO).

It would be a good idea to find out why Maren at google said the pages loaded slow and I said they loaded quickly. You may want people to tell you about their internet connections so you get a feel if most of your customers are going to have slow loads or fast loads. Found out on some of the other newsgroups that many people are still using dial up. This information would be important to how you design your web pages. I use timewarner cable, but I am not paying the extra for their faster connection.

Henry

In message , Shirley Shone writes

Yes. When we did the registration we had to choose a hallmark pattern. However, we still have to send off to the assay office (or take them in) to get them actually stamped. I believe you can do this yourself but haven't investigated that route yet.

Craig

It may also save you money if you run out of bandwidth on your server. Depends on your webhost and account, but at least mine has limited transfer per month. I also have my images elsewhere, and for the time being while things still change on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis most of my pages. I find it easier to work with a familiar editor. Also, if I'd have to pay more for web hosting I'd probably have to raise prices.

may be the time difference. When I loaded the pages it was lunch time on the East Coast (of the US) and what we in Hawaii call pau hana time (time after work) in Europe. I've seen connections between Hawaii and Europe come to a screeching halt at some of those times. I'm probably close to as far away from Scotland as you can get, independent of which way around the globe you're going.

And of course here there's those people like me who check their email before work, check the weather, or make the occasional usenet post . Road runner is a shared connection.

For some people here that's the only way other than satellite.

Same here (at home).

Maren HiloBeads

In message , Craig Cockburn writes

I have my own hall mark registered at Sheffield assay office. The procedure was to stamp your own makers mark on before taking them into the assay office. They would then do the scrapings to test the silver and then stamp the silver, and assay office marks on.

The items are best to be sent before polishing in unfinished state as it is cheaper to have it done, than in the finished state. You will have to polish the scraping marks out when you get it back.

The last time I sent something I asked them if they would stamp my makers mark on because It was a gold piece and I did not want to spoil it. I had to mark the piece where I wanted the marks to go and they did it for me. I had to take my punch with the piece for them to do it.

I renewed my mark last year for another 10 years but it will be the last time because I will be 81 then. I no longer do silver work but kept it on just in case there may be a remote chance I needed it. Shirley

Uh and it's just cool to have a hallmark! lol! I thought that was so neat when you told me about it so many years ago Shirley.

It would load faster if you linked each thumbnail to a separate page with just that design on it.

In message , Vibrant Jewels writes

Yes it would, but it would take more effort on the part of the visitor and the total wait time would be longer. This way the larger images load whilst the user is looking at the thumbnails.