Precision Gem Members Only?

[MakingTheGrade]

So on Gene''s blog there''s a mention about him thinking of doing a Members Only page, but it might be restricted to repeat customers, I guess kind of a thank you to them by giving them a sneak peak at things.

Thus far I''ve only been an admirer of his work

Hope those of you who do get into his Members club let us in on the occasional sneak peak or two!

 

[Fly Girl]

I just got an e-mail from Gene that says in part:

"The new stones will be a bit slow coming since I am leaving for a rough buying trip to Africa soon. I hope to come back with a lot of new rough. The focus of the trip will be on larger stones, tsavorite, chrome tourmaline and other stones from East Africa."

MTG, with all these goodies coming along, I bet that pretty soon you will be a member of the club.

 

[D&T]

MTG- I too admire his stones... I''m thinking of saving up my pennies for one his gems once my wallet recovers from the hole I just burnt in it from my gem shopping spree this last week. so I''ll be keeping you company until then.

 

[T L]

Well since I''ve only purchased one gem from Gene, I guess I can''t be a member.

 

[loriken214]

I signed up and am about to logon and check it out.

Lori

 

[SapphireLover]

Ive not bought from him and he''s allowed me to be a member.

 

[Magenta]

Interesting! Mail sent as well.

Does it annoy anyone else that there''s no direct, or obvious way to get to the stones, from the main page anymore? Or is there, and I''ve just not been able to find it?

 

[arjunajane]

Hrmm..it seems he has also said there is a limited number of places left.
I guess it is fair that the places go to existing clients.
I''ve bought one gem, and was allowed as a member.

 

[SapphireLover]

Limited places? Now I feel a bit guilty about getting member status. But then again I''m never going to get to buy any gems if all the good new ones are only open to existing customers.

 

[Kismet]

Limited places? If that''s the case, he should have just sent an invite to his regular customers and kept quiet about it on his public website. It''s a pretty good way to tick off people by saying "come be a member" and then later backpedaling on it.

 

[arjunajane]

Hey guys - I didn''t mean to cause any issues.
But I didn''t relay any private info - it''s been there on the sign up page since I first saw it a couple days ago, which is visible to anyone:

"I''m thinking of closing the membership to a certain number, and then only customers who have made purchases will be given a Membership. The intent is to give established customers a first look as a reward for their business. Right now there are just a few initial membership spots left."

So I don''t believe there was any back pedalling..?

 

[mochi]

I have written to him a couple of times but have yet to hear from him regarding the membership. Oh will, although I have purchased a few stones, maybe I''m not entitled to being a member...

 

[Lovinggems]

Date: 6/9/2009 8:12:00 AM
Author: mochi
I have written to him a couple of times but have yet to hear from him regarding the membership. Oh will, although I have purchased a few stones, maybe I''m not entitled to being a member...

Mochi maybe he''s just busy with cutting or having computer glitches. I think the message means he will only give a limited number of memberships to those that haven''t purchased before, his existing customers will definitely be given memberships.

 

[T L]

Date: 6/9/2009 5:18:51 AM
Author: arjunajane
Hrmm..it seems he has also said there is a limited number of places left.
I guess it is fair that the places go to existing clients.
I've bought one gem, and was allowed as a member.

Sounds like some favoritism if you ask me, and not very good PR on behalf of Gene. I'm very disappointed in Gene for doing this limited member thing. I can understand unlimited membership so you can be part of newsletters and such. For example, I can't think of another gem cutter that does this type of membership. Anyone can be a member of JW's page. I didn't ask to sign up because I was sourly disappointed. I actually have only bought one gem from him, but I always looked forward to viewing his blog and the latest cut material. I missed out on many many beautiful gems, for which I would have been a repeat customer, but that is life. I'm glad someone else was able to get them and appreciate them.

Is Gene sulking about something? What made him do such a crazy thing, especially to Pricescopers that give him a great deal of business. Another thing about his website that drives me nuts is that the gem is not marked sold if you put it in your cart and buy it. Perhaps, instead of this membership thing, he should fix that, and make it more like Barry's website. In the gem world, I think it should be first come, first serve. This reward business, while it is nice for repeat members, it serves to distance additional potential customers.

 

[chrono]

I always look forward to seeing what’s new on Gene’s blog; it is sort of a good surprise to look forward to so I signed up as well because I like this feature. I assumed it would be an open membership like the ones offered by ACS, Gemscoop, Finewater (I don’t Tweet so that one’s out for me now), Gemtrader and a few others. I didn’t know there are limited spaces and now it is only to be for existing customers as a reward of sorts. I feel Gene should not have announced this on his webpage if he had not made up his mind then because it might cause a lot of disappointment and hard feelings among potential, new and long time customers. If space is limited, does it mean that a few club members have to be kicked out to make space for new customers who start buying a lot of his gems?

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I don''t like it either, I was thinking about contacting him about one of those new pieces of rough, but am now kind of hesitant. What is the point if it will be offered to other people first?

 

[arjunajane]

Hrmm..I seem to be one of the only ones viewing this from the other side.
If he decides to create a members only section - and for whatever reason - time, admin, eccentricity

, whatever - he needs to limit the number of memberships, than who should receive those if not existing clients? I know thats what I would do if I ran such a business, no?

I''m not really seeing the issue, except I do agree that the comments should''ve been left off the page until he had made up his mind completely about which direction he was going.
Let''s remember he did say "Im thinking of closing...."
so perhaps lets wait until the actual decisions have been made before we judge, yes?


Mochi - I agree, he is probably just busy. I think it took a couple days for my conf. to come through, don''t stress.

Ltl - I wouldn''t let that dissuade you - I''m pretty sure that Gene will continue to post his new rough in his blog, and everyone can keep ordering custom gems as they wish, correct?
Someone pls correct me if I''m wrong here..?

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I would hope so. I am still thinking about it.

BTW, totally off topic, but my jewelry box is finally shipping (it has been about 6 weeks since I ordered it). I can''t wait.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Ok, here''s the scoop.
I got flooded with emails to be members, and was up late last night creating accounts. I haven''t finished with everyone who emailed, and no one has been turned away.
The idea of a "Members Only" section is to allow people to see stones before they are offered to the general public. Well if everyone is a member, then there is no point in this. I would think you prefer that not everyone who comes to the site is a member?
Maybe the whole thing was a bad I idea, and I should go back to just listing the stones. It just seemed that several people where always missing out on stones, and that this would give them an advantage to getting a first look at new things.
At what point should the membership be limited? Should it be only for Pricescoper''s? These were questions I had.

"Membership has it''s privileges" is only true if everyone is not a member.

If the overall opinion is to scrape the idea, then I will tonight.

 

[arjunajane]

Gene, I get it, and I think you were on the right track.
Exactly, if everyone''s a member, nothing changes from how things are now - except more admin for precision, and I assume less time for actually faceting, no?

I vote to keep it, I don''t think you did anything wrong.

 

[Babyblue033]

Date: 6/9/2009 12:52:17 PM
Author: PrecisionGem
''Membership has it''s privileges'' is only true if everyone is not a member.

I guess I''m in the minority because this was sort of my line of thought as well...

 

[LtlFirecracker]

I think that people who are interested enough to want to see your stones before they come out should get a chance. I only buy a few stones a year, but do tend to buy them as they come (i.e. I don''t tend to request things custom).

But that is just my opinion, vendors are free to do as they choose, if it doesn''t work for me, that is life. I don''t take it personally. A private business is just that, and people are free to do as they choose.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I guess it depends on a lot of things, like how long ahead of time will Members get a sneak peek? A week? 2 weeks? Would the sold gems still be listed on the rest of the site? I would just be worried that since the gems already get snapped up pretty quickly, those of us who aren''t members will never get to be members if the best of the bunch never makes it to the website.

Hehe....maybe there should just be a Pricescope login, would save some admin time if we all used it. Assuming it wasn''t linked to any carts or personal data.

 

[Linda W]

I emailed Gene, to ask to be a member and I haven''t heard back yet. I love his stones and would love to purchase one in the future.

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 6/9/2009 1:20:47 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
I guess it depends on a lot of things, like how long ahead of time will Members get a sneak peek? A week? 2 weeks? Would the sold gems still be listed on the rest of the site? I would just be worried that since the gems already get snapped up pretty quickly, those of us who aren''t members will never get to be members if the best of the bunch never makes it to the website.

Hehe....maybe there should just be a Pricescope login, would save some admin time if we all used it. Assuming it wasn''t linked to any carts or personal data.

From his Member''s Only page---

"These new stones will be offered here in the Members Only page for 4 days before they are posted for sale to non members. Any upcoming sales will be announced here first, with the option to buy at the sale prices before the sale."

 

[Linda W]

I just saw Genes response, I typed too fast. Sorry about that Gene. And thank you FlyGirl for posting the new info.


Linda

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 6/9/2009 1:20:47 PM
Author: MakingTheGrade
I guess it depends on a lot of things, like how long ahead of time will Members get a sneak peek? A week? 2 weeks? Would the sold gems still be listed on the rest of the site? I would just be worried that since the gems already get snapped up pretty quickly, those of us who aren't members will never get to be members if the best of the bunch never makes it to the website.


Hehe....maybe there should just be a Pricescope login, would save some admin time if we all used it. Assuming it wasn't linked to any carts or personal data.

MTG,
I don't mean to speak out of term, but I hope I can answer in Gene's absence one thing - members will only get to consider the new stones for 4 days before they are listed for public consumption. Seems ok to me?
I know I only buy when I can afford it, which is not much lately - so if something shows up in mbrs only that I love but I'm broke, I'd be all too happy for someone else to grab it - at least than I get to see piccies.

I think this also relates back though to some sense of decorum around CS in general - if we all know that so-and-so has been looking for a very specific gem for many months, and it shows up in mbrs only - do we notify so and so with a shout out thread? Or, is it simply first come best served, and tough to them if they weren't on their game...?
I guess that was really a rhetorical Q, I don't really expect you to answer, lol..


ETA: and Fly girl beat me to it

 

[MakingTheGrade]

4 days isn''t so bad.

I''m not quite as familiar with how fast Gene''s stones sell, but I was thinking of what it would be like if Barry had a members only page, I feel like I''d never even see half the stones he cut!
I can see both sides of the argument, it''s really up to how he wants to run it.

 

[movie zombie]

repeat customers are a known factor which has to be a plus for him and as a repeat customer i think a reward for early viewing is a nice gesture. gene is a great guy to deal with re stones and he wouldn''t make a change to policy if it weren''t necessary. this may be one way of making sure that those seeking info aren''t tieing up his inventory only to back out of sales.

glad i decided to check pricescope today and saw this thread! making sure i''m on his repeat customer list!

mz

 

[T L]

I vote against it. I don''t like it, and I don''t think it will help him gain additional potential customers. Besides, we all know that Gene, as well as Barry, willl sometimes email a potential customer with a stone, which is fine, but if all the good merchandise gets purchased before anyone has had a chance to see it other than members, then all we''re looking at are the older stones. I want to see everything, even if I don''t get a chance to buy it, I can email Gene and ask him if he has something like it. I don''t think this is a good move on his part and it ruins all interest for me coming to his page. I also would feel bad having a membership when it was limited to only a select few.