"Bicorne Miniatures Product Images" Topic

I find it frustrating to go to a site like this to browse for miniatures and find there are no pictures on the individual items. I looked for images of the Connoisseur and none showed , only the item description. Wonder if anyone else finds this an issue? I like to see the item before I buy it. It seems to me this impacts sales. Am I just ranting or does anyone else have this view when looking for items?

Just giving the company feedback that pictures on their site would be the best way to influence them, I would think. I do like sites that show pictures of items that I may want to purchase, but it is up to the business what it chooses to do.

If I can not see them, I don't buy them.

Too many nice miniatures out there to risk getting stuck with an inferior product.

It is an issue with me too. I had emailed to Bicorne miniatures and made a suggestion that photos will help their sales. They said we will do that in the near future. Checking back I still see no photos after two years. Too many other manufactures said they will have photos on their websites. Only one came through! I agree with Otto!

I think for the older companies, going back over their WHOLE catalogue and photographing every figure and putting it on the net… Takes up a whole lot of time. Time that should be spent sculpting new figures and processing our orders. Which may cost them more customers than they might gain.
Most companies are small 2-3 man outfits I think. Others are just 1 man band set ups.

New companies can whack all their output online as they go. The older guys you might be in for a long wait.

But couldn't they just ask for existing customers to send in photo's of their figures if they have them?

Could generate more sales if they are painted nice.

I recently bought some figs without the benefit of seeing them first and was hugely disappointed with them once they turned up, I won't be doing that again.

The argument of taking to long for pictures imho falls flat. I agree if you tried to do it all at once would be a long day or days, but spread out over a couple months would not be overly arduous. Simply put they are content with the current sales they are making and do not feel the compulsion do more or they would. Frustrating for us, but hey what can you do other then not buy. There are some companies like GMB designs flags for example that I buy sight unseen as I simply know it will be excellent(still prefer pictures though), but that's an exception to the rule. Generally speaking if I can't find pictures on the sellers web site or somewhere on the web then I'm highly unlikely to buy it.

Christopher

I dont even need pictures of everything. If there are pictures of some of the items i can infer that the rest are of similar quality. Just like online dating, if there is no picture you wonder what you are hiding.

Owen

I agree that it is time consuming, but I doubt that the guy sculpting figures is the same guy posting product pictures, so that argument about prioritizing time doesn't ring true.

Except that in some companies the man casting, sorting and packing orders as well as dealing with the telephone, reordering packing materials, sorting out new releases and chasing bills is the same man who has to take photos of old ranges and put them up on the website….

Mike

Except that in some companies the man casting, sorting and packing orders as well as dealing with the telephone, reordering packing materials, sorting out new releases and chasing bills is the same man who has to take photos of old ranges and put them up on the website…

Yup, if that guy is happy with the sales of the stuff with no pictures, he can carry on as before. BUT if he wants to stimulate sales of things that he's already invested in with about 1-2 minutes per item, I imagine new pics would do that. I've passed on companies and chosen others simply because there were no pictures. That's 400-500 bucks per year that went to someone else. I'm just one guy.

It's 2015 and we can do better. The percentage of gamers that is OK with no pics is declining every year. Newer/younger folks aren't as understanding as they didn't live in the good old days when you no one had pics and you sent in your order form and check.

Old school, new school. I even volunteered to do the photos for them, no takers. I guess they don't want to spent the money shipping out the miniatures. Even if you take a single figure or two that would satisfy some customers. With a digital camera there is really not excuse!

Do they attend shows? Salute? If so, which ones are you interested in?

Thats why I like Fighting15's, everything has a picture.

I imagine if the trader lacks orders then he will have time to take photos of old ranges, but if he is working flat out (as I am) then there is no incentive to spend time that could be used fulfilling orders…

This is an old argument and no one who wants pictures but doesn't understand how (and in many cases, why ) hobby businesses are run the way they are is going to accept the comments from the people actually running the businesses.

Oh, and 1-2 minutes an item to take, edit and upload pictures…. As if.

Mike

Oh, and 1-2 minutes an item to take, edit and upload pictures…. As if.

I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree on this front then.

- A guy who runs a hobby business

I have to disagree with the vendors who do not post pics and make excuses that they are "too busy". You could be busier if you had pictures. Also have to ask if you know how much more sales you could have had. It's like asking someone to buy property sight unseen… would you like to buy some from me? Think not. I believe that those that have pictures do a better/more business. It may be moot to some business owners but I for one will not buy something I cannot see first. Just saying.

Sigh

You have no idea about how my business is run, my turnover, how many hours I work, my personal circumstances, etc.

If I am working full time why do I need to spend extra time taking photographs of ranges to generate more business I don't have time to fulfill?

Blackhat Miniatures is a semi-retirement business due to ill-health it is NEVER going to become the next GW, Etc.

I earn a living whilst doing something I enjoy – people buy my figures, even those that have no pictures (which, in my case is only a couple of 15mm ranges) and they will continue to buy them.

One day there might be photos when I have time to cast the packs, sort all the variants, clean them, wash them, photograph them, edit them and add them to the website….

Mike

Sigh back. I don't think anyone is telling you what to do. No one is assuming they know anything about your business, at least in writing in this thread.

The OP stated

Wonder if anyone else finds this an issue? I like to see the item before I buy it. It seems to me this impacts sales. Am I just ranting or does anyone else have this view when looking for items?

People who find the discussion interesting are discussing this.

When I addressed your personal point directly, I started with

Yup, if that guy is happy with the sales of the stuff with no pictures, he can carry on as before.

Then continued to discuss the issue in general.

And my answer wasn't aimed at your reply….

I didn't think it was aimed at my reply particularly. But might be a good time to get back to the OP question at hand.

Wonder if anyone else finds this an issue? I like to see the item before I buy it. It seems to me this impacts sales. Am I just ranting or does anyone else have this view when looking for items?

Yes I do. No, it's not just you.

So, we could point people back to Geoff at QRF's experiments when this was raised several years ago where he found that adding photos made no difference to his sales….

Mike

That's one way to do it. Or you could read potential customers opinions in this thread as to what they want?

I would say for experiments to be valid, they need a good sampling. Otherwise they are anecdotal evidence.

I imagine your current opinion will decide which one you will believe.

I believe that there are good reasons why businesses don't manage to add photos to their websites and that they shouldn't be dismissed as lazy, stupid, trying to hide something or out of touch.

If asked samples are usually available or there are pictures on other websites.

In Bicorne's case, they are under new ownership as of fairly recently so I am sure that the new owner will be improving the website when he gets a chance.

Mike

The OP stated: It seems to me this impacts sales

In our experience (nearly 20 years and thousands of customers) it has made very little difference to ranges with or without photos, i.e ranges without photos have continued to sell at the same rate as those with, and adding photos has not seen a significant increase in sales directly related to those ranges to which photos have been added.

Therefore on a man-hour basis it has not been cost effective to spend those hours taking photos when there have been other jobs (making new masters, remoulding, casting and fulfilling customer orders) that need to be done.

Not saying it's right or wrong, just passing on our experiences.

And with this new fangled interwebby thing, it may be possible for people to google for bicorne miniatures and see what images come up from people who already have them.

Personally, it has never been a particular issue to me photos or not, but maybe I am luckier than some as I tend to see the figures etc at shows.

So I can guess it may be annoying to some people not to be able to see what they are buying. But it seems the manufactures will cope.

And I know I have bought sight unseen – Old Glory cavalry packs, 30 figures in a bag, random variations. I survived the experience.

If people are really keen to see pics, and teh manufacturers are busy, why not start a thread asking if anyone has them and seing if they have pictures – that may help.

And of course whatever photo you take is the wrong one.

Should it be bare metal, washed, dipped, painted? If painted will they like the style of painting?

Bear in mind that photos can emphasise the slightest mould line, miscast or defect that may not be visible when you hold it in your hand.

I believe Bicorne changed hands relatively recently (end of 2014). The old owner was not that active in terms of marketing, hopefully the new one will be. Its a shame, as there are some real gems tucked away in the Bicorne, connoisseur and Firing Line ranges, but you need to know where to look.