New CIM, Dare I ask?

[Trudi]

Mint chip is on my wish list!!

[Alison G]

Sorry if I'm rehashing an old thread here but it seemed daft to start a whole new one.

Can I first stress that I am a huge supporter of the British glass suppliers, Martin and Sean don't need to be told this, they're spending my life savings between them.

I really have a bee in my bonnet about these new CiM Limted runs, so much so I have emailed Cim's creator and she has taken my feedback and promises to come back to me after she deals with a very sad family situation.

Effetre Cobalt Blue is a very fair less than £3 per quarter kilo, so, pray tell, why is CiM Ltd Run Neon Blue, which is very similar indeed priced at £15.75 per 1/4 kilo? I know this isn't our retailers fault, they can only charge in line with what they buy at. I love Mint Chip, like Trudi, but not for £11.50 per qtr. I love Musk Melon, it's a lot like my beloved Dirty Martini but it's £11.50. The real head scratcher is Radio Flyer, a trans red which is £19.00!!

I'd love some of these colours and I hope Kathy can come back with some reasonable explanation for what I see to be price anomalies, but I certainly can't afford to buy them at that price.

[Glassy Lou]

I'll be watching this thread (and awaiting Kathy's response) with interest, but atm I'm with you Alison - I can't justify paying those prices, no matter how lovely the colours.

[Alison G]

It's just been pointed out to me that some of the previous standard line colours are also now on the Limited List does anyone remember if Ming, Chalcedony, Mink or Zachary was main line before? I'd swear Zachary and Ming were.

It's very sad but from now on I'll buy Dirty Martini because I love it so much, but that will be the only one, and as soon as another manufacturer does a duplicate I'm on it. Martin and Sean please keep your eyes open for me please?

[mariag]

I'm sure that all 4 were Alison

[Lynnybobs]

I'm also sorry to see the prices so high - not good in this economic climate. I thought the Ltd Runs were about batches that hadn't quite gone to plan but it seems they are becoming the norm. Is it a marketing ploy to get sales so we rush to buy I wonder?

[Calico Cat]

Is it a marketing ploy to get sales so we rush to buy I wonder?

Of course it is 

[helbels]

There's definitely some thoughts that this might be the case Lyn.

If you look at the standard CIM colours, and then at the closest Limited Run colour, there's often quite a price difference, even though one might speculate that the limited run is just an "off spec" batch of the standard colour.

In the long term, I actually think this is quite a short term business strategy.  For now, yes, people may rush to buy the limited run colour due to the principle of scarcity (humans tend to value things that are perceived as scarce more highly than readily available things).   HOWEVER in the long run, once people have got 10 bundles of green glass all of which is one shade different from the other, I think the novelty will wear off and people will simply no longer be interested.  Perhaps Kathy at CIM is riding the wave of maximum profit while she can.

Alison - apparently an email was sent advising that some of the standard colours are now also going to be limited run in the future.  I have to admit that I never got an email, but some people did.

[Lynnybobs]

In the long term, I actually think this is quite a short term business strategy.  For now, yes, people may rush to buy the limited run colour due to the principle of scarcity (humans tend to value things that are perceived as scarce more highly than readily available things).   HOWEVER in the long run, once people have got 10 bundles of green glass all of which is one shade different from the other, I think the novelty will wear off and people will simply no longer be interested.  Perhaps Kathy at CIM is riding the wave of maximum profit while she can.

Totally agree - we also perceive things that are expensive to be better (clothing brands & beauty products being prime examples). What if you find a shade you love but never will be able to buy again - its a bit counter productive.

[Pat from Canvey]

How about turning your CIM ordinary run rods into frit using this, http://www.fusionheadquarters.com/The_Glass_Eater_s/272.htm and then diluting the frit with clear in various proportions to change the tones. You then pile the frit into a vitrigraph kiln to produce rods that are similar to the limited run lines. The Warm Glass site   http://www.warm-glass.co.uk/simple-round-bead-mould-p-3617.html   has a short video of mixing a blue and clear frit to make simple rings using the round bead mold that they sell. I looked it up after one was offered for sale here. If you cursor down to the Colour de Verre's Simple Round Bead Demo you'll see the frit being mixed.
Any takers??? Sorry, it's just the way my mind works.

[Alison G]

This is the relevant portion of the email from Kathy Seamands of CiM

'A few years ago we were in the position to have to raise prices (rising costs of raw materials, rising costs of labor / cost of living in China, exchange rate changes). I asked customers & resellers how to manage this at the time. They suggested that I keep the prices for the regular Messy Color line the same and then I charge more for the Ltd Runs to make up for the difference. Because the Ltd Runs are such small batches then the prices have to increase a lot in order to make up the difference.

It has been about 2 years since I reevaluated this pricing strategy and am interested in what you think.'

I emailed them at the address shown on their website. As I said before, Kathy is dealing with a bereavement and a serious illness so is in China at the moment, but I'm sure she'll reply when she's back at work.

[helbels]

That's fair enough.  The thing is though, how come Effetre. Lauscha, Reichenbach etc are still able to offer the majority of their colours at a reasonable price?  Surely their overheads etc would be far more, being European based?  I don't get it.

[June]

I've got lots of effetre, vetrofond and reichenbach that I really need to start using, so this pricing strategy isn't going to work for me. £20 for a quarter of red for beads I don't even sell that often? I don't think so.

I hope things work out for Kathy soon, by the way.

[helbels]

I just ordered me some Lauscha to play with as I've only got a couple of their colours.  Should feed the glassy addiction for a bit!

[flowerjasper]

I am prob being a bit dim ,but I cant see the prices of any CIM on Tuffnels site?
can any one tell me how I can see the prices? I bet its cake batter thats the most expensive because thats the one I want !