The Truth of Things
It is by express that my photos are not re-touched in Photoshop to look perfect. I aim for the best image I can get with a camera, and that's it. Ask any photographer - it is more difficult to capture the details and get a good photo than to fabricate them through photoshop, especially shiny objects. What you see is what you get, and although it seems to be against all modern business tactics, I call that honesty. So yes, if you notice that there are tiny cosmetic mishaps, scratches and spots that aren't perfect in the photos- that's really how it is. The raw material arrives already like this, and I filter out the worst ones, but even the best of the best will have minor issues. I do everything in my power to send only the best cards I receive. In general, the cards look better in person than on camera because they are shiny and don't photograph well. That said - my father absolutely has a good point: the cards are priced low. How can someone trust a lower-priced product? And he's absolutely right. I thought for a while on it and decided; honesty is still the best policy. Inferior quality cards - easy to scratch, bend and destroy will remain at an inferior price point. Superior quality cards requiring more expensive machinery, more time and more resource costs will come at a superior cost. This is fair and honest. Hopefully if people read this, they'll understand and trust the price-point. Otherwise, I hope word of mouth does the job. It's not like I can handle a large volume of orders anyways, I'm all alone here.
I was a perfectionist before I had a child. Now not so much. If you show me pictures of major issues, such as dents or bends that were clearly from shipping or my own fault, I will refund or re-send at my expense, whichever you prefer, and in accordance with the refund policy. I take photos of the orders before sending them in case of shipping-related errors. But if you just changed your mind because there's a tiny scratch, I reserve the right to refuse. I am not a big business, I have no employees, no rooms for photo-shooting, no 8-hour days to perfectly retouch a photo or re-paint cards. The price of these cards doesn't even pay for the entirety of the labour that goes into them, let alone making the website, setting up the business, etc. Have you seen people selling a single card with some cute writing about a niece for $17 before tax? Preposterous! But then the bulk of the costs in retail is shipping and labour, so I understand it.
I cherish every good customer, and will do all in my power to give a fair deal to any good customer. I am a human being, this is a small, family-owned business, and I will treat you as well as you treat me. Send me an email if ever you have questions, a special order, special bulk deals for your business or event.. I hope that you have a good time looking at my wares and have yourself a great day!
Side note; I worked out some deals that profit you without damaging my bottom line (which means I'm trying not to be greedy):
For orders over $50: enter the code BIGSPENDER50 at the checkout
For orders over $100: enter the code PARTYTIME100 at the checkout
Another side note; I appreciate that you've read this far. If you're willing to put in the time to read about my business, I'll put in the time to give you a little extra service at no charge. If you send me an email with your order number, and ask for some simple customizations, I'll get back to you and see if it will work. For example; say you wanted one or two have a nice day cards with someone's name on the card, I can do that. If it won't take me too long. But I need it simple; for example in the email it could be:
"Hey dudeman! Can I get like the purple Have A Nice Day card I ordered to say 'Have A Nice Day, Angie!' ?
And like please bro, can I get the blue one to say 'Have A HORRIBLY Nice Day, Spudster' in big bold letters instead of the nice fancy letters ?
It's for my buddy! He'll get the joke."
Or perhaps a simple: "Can you make all of the Have A Nice Day cards say 'Have A Really Nice Day' please?"
Or for the more professional folks: "Hello, guy doing all the work. I'd like to know if there is a possibility for a bulk discount for a single card, I'm arranging a [insert fancy event here] and would like to have 25 of [insert desired card here]." OR "Hi! I'm a starving student. In fact, studying is just short for students dying. Would I be able to get some custom messages burnt onto cards as invitations to [insert D&D club name here] ?"
I can do that. But don't expect miracles, I haven't got a team of skilled tradespeople and a fleet of laser burners here.
It's just me and my laserpecker2.