Smurfs,
You certainly haven't angered anyone. Especially if you have found a way to offer a product at a reasonable price.
All we have ever asked is total truth in advertising.
Our members are some of the most experienced consumers in the world. They want to know exactly the fiber content of the fabric in their Kilts. They want to know the actual weight of the fabric in their Kilts. They want to know that the product they buy is precisely what the seller is saying it is.
We have seen so many resellers of the products of the Sailkot, Pakistan region. They all make the the same claims with the same pictures and the same wording. But when the product is actually compared to other known products the ones from bulk resellers always seems to be different from what was stated on the website.
We on this forum know that some of the companies from Sailkot have moved their entire operation to Scotland. Where before they advertised "Designed in Scotland" they now adversite "Made in Scotland". These two statements may be true, and usually are. But just because a company moves its entire operation to a different location but continues to product the exact same product does not give us the information we need to make an informed decision.
Even though a Kilt is sewn in Scotland does not change the product. It can be the exact same product that was produced in the original country.
What you are seeing in this forum is not anger that you can sell a product less expensivly than another. Heck we could all do the exact same thing you do. I get at least 30 emails a week from the same suppliers you are using offering their product to me at the same price you pay.
If I wished I could do exactly the same as what you are doing.
And many people around the world are doing just that.
Answer the email from these suppliers, lay down their money for an inexpensive website and start flooding the market as quickly as they can with the same product.
Over and over we have seen this and it has been proven time and time again to be the same product. You can perhaps begin to understand the many on this forum are wary and distrustful of these claims.
We have welcomed sellers of the Pakistani Kilts in the past. We would welcome more. If only they stated openly and honestly what it is they are selling.
If I may suggest;
Take actual photographs of the products you are selling. Do not use the same photos used on other websites. Do not use the photos sent to you by your supplier. Take your own photos and show us the exact product you sell.
Weigh the fabric you are selling. Weigh it in accordance with the industry standard method and post the actual weight of the fabric in the product you sell.
The accepted method is: The weight of 1 fabric yard of fabric in ounces where 1 fabric yard = 36" long X 60" wide or 2160 square inches.
If all you have are made up Kilts and not fabric then carefully measure the length of fabric in one of your product along the hem. Then measure the product from Hem to top of waistband. Multiply length by height to get the total square inches of fabric in the product. Divide that by 2160 to arrive at the fabric yard equivalent in your product.
Then using a postal scale weight your product in ounces.
This will give you a very good approxomation of the actual weight of your fabric.
Then post this weight, not the one given to you by your supplier.
Then determine the fiber content of your product. A simple burn test is the accepted method to determine fiber content. You can find a discription of a burn test here
http://craftydaisies.com/2007/04/04/fabric-burn-test
If you do not have access to samples of the standard fabrics used in Kilts then I would suggest you visit another Kilt shop or a Highland Games with some of your actual product. Lay your product on or next to actual Wool, P/V, and acrylic fabrics and photograph them. Post the photos as visual examples for comparison.
List the actual fiber content of your products, not the discription given to you by your supplier.
This way your potential customers have some real information to base their buying decisions on.
Compare Apples to Apples and Oranges to Oranges. Be honest in your advertising. Give your customers a fair and honest product for their hard earned money.
Do this and and you customers and members of this forum will buy your product. I can guarentee it. There is a market for inexpensive Kilts, There is a market for Acrylic Kilts. There is a market for knock-about Kilts.
But because we see the same claims, the same photos, the same advertising copy over and over again we are suspicious when yet another comes along. We've been burned before.
The saying "Once burned, twice shy" is real.
I think and hope you will be able to see that we are not angry. We want to support another supplier of Kilts to the world.
All we ask is honesty in advertising.
I have tried to contact you through your website but you only list an automated email form.
Here is my phone no. If you wish to talk about anything I have said or wish to discuss or ask questions about this world we call Kilts, I will be more than happy to take the time to speak to you.
250-386-5458.
Last edited by The Wizard of BC; 4th May 09 at 10:57 AM.
Steve Ashton
www.freedomkilts.com
Skype (webcam enabled) thewizardofbc
I wear the kilt because: Swish + Swagger = Swoon.
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