Diamond Painting Through the Chaos
You've waited months for a kit to be available, not sure why it has to be this one, but there are lots of people waiting on it, so it must be the most awesome kit ever. The release will be at 9 sharp. You get ready to add to cart, fingers cramping, waiting for the moment. SOLD OU|T, wait, what?
Your favorite artist has a new release coming, pre-orders are the best way to lock your copy in, right? Everyone else will wait for a release date, but you will get ahead of them but it will be 4 months, the production cycle, blah, blah, blah.
I don't remember it being this bad, I opened the store because there wasn't any real selection of gay themed art, somehow pastel rainbows once a year and a Love Wins graphic is about as enthusiastic as it gets for the gay diamond painter. I hadn't been consumed by the big money marketing, I wasn't really too excited about many of the choices, certainly not excited enough to wait 6 weeks for it to show up. There had to be a better way to diamond paint. And that though sparked it all, about 3 years ago, winter 2023-2024.
I wanted to build a store that was focused on the individual diamond painter, the gay men that hadn't been interested enough to even try it, the community that seemed to be consumed with anxiety over a scheduled release, missing out on a restock by seconds, sold out launches before the public even got a shot at them, and it has gotten worse, and I am more committed than ever to make sure an alternative exists.
An online community needs to have access to diamond paintings that are reasonably priced, dependably available, customized if possible, flexible with promotions and understanding of budgets and paydays and waiting until next month -- real decisions that most diamond painters have faced. The best interest of a company or its investors or shareholders is not the best interests of the diamond painter, and certainly if that person has the free will to buy when they choose, what they choose and how many they choose-- that just won't keep the profits growing, will it? That must be stopped and the rules will be made and the entire industry will follow along and soon all of the consumers are at our mercy and when we say buy, they will buy, no matter the cost or the frustration, they will because if they don't, they will never get another opportunity to win at this. They will be the only one that never got that one unicorn, the only one that can't post an unboxing because they weren't fast enough. Fear of missing out. FOMO It is loud, it is pervasive, it is practically engrained in how diamond paintings are bought and sold from retailers huge and large and small,, it must work, they are dojng it, and before you know it, we are where we are today, waiting on that new release drop at 10am sharp. For 2 hours, then it is over.
I can't find the numbers I believe exists somewhere, it may be in internal research or polling, and if it is as bad as I believe it to be, it will never be seen, it would prove that the entire kingdom is built on sand. It is not sustainable, FOMO by its very nature will burn itself out, drive the customers to another hobby or craft, and I would hate to see that come true, and if I have any way to provide an alternative, now is the time.
I've been saying "It's different here, let me prove it to you", with my massive budget, all 3 of you understood and nodded your heads, and now I'm going to double down and see if I can get that number up to 10. What is different. What does it mean to Diamond Differently? As simply as I can, here we go --
The fundamental way kits are marketed and sold here, how I treat customers, how the community support fits into the picture and how I hope you'll let me prove it to you if you choose to diamond differently.
- Each special order is made to order--primarily diamond type and canvas size--no one should have to rely upon whatever is left, or feel that they didn't get exactly what they wanted.
- In Stock kits can be ordered in a different size or diamond type, no option is off the table
- If the image appears on the website, the kit will not sell out. Every order will be made for you and you will get what you ordered. I do retire images if the interest is not there, no need to clutter the pages with images that can be removed without taking away someone's favorite.
- The art that appears is available for a minimum of 2 years on the most limiting licenses, with a renewal that could continue indefinitely, forever on much of the art, the point being, they are not going away any time soon. There is a mix of art with AI roots, and traditional artists' work, not sure when that battle became a red line that some will not cross, but each contributing artist shown here uses digital software to finish an AI image and I do my best to verify and evaluate the diamond art rendering before publishing, in order to provide you with images that are not readily available anywhere else, that sometimes requires assistance from AI models for the conceptual framework, a far cry from the generative AI that I agree is not appropriate for diamond art rendering. Generative AI is cheap, human contributors here get paid for their works, it adds to the cost, but the lower rate of profits that I feel can sustain the shop and allow for growth absorbs the artist residuals keeping prices as low as possible. I may be the only shop owner that does not strive to maximize profits for the sake of profits. That alone makes it different here. I am retired and have retirement income, this store is not my livlihood, it is my passion,
- The use of promotional sales for a week or a few days is being gradually phased to a minimum and a stronger reliance on the rewards program to deliver the discounts and savings at any time you need it, you get to create your own sale, your schedule, no one else's. Free shipping requires 100 reward points. You get 250 for joining the program. Free shipping does not require a $75 minimum order, there is a threshold of $50 in place, but it is easily bypassed, especially on kit orders, most have free shipping built in, it is not a reason for you to over-spend, just for free shipping.
- Deadlines for orders, or delivery dates for event kits are dictated by a calendar, not an attempt to get you to order today. Advice on ordering for particular delivery outcomes is not a sales tactic, it is a customer service effort to make sure you are geting what you order when you need it. With more low cost event themed kits in the works, having access to a premium kit with an Amazon price or better is the goal. Holidays don't care when a sale happens, if you need to have something for a particular holiday, I can help you or at least let you know if it is possible to get it in time.
- Premium components, realistic pricing. There are certain things that were once reserved for a few companies, but now they are readily available from most of the manufacturers--since all kits are made in China, most canvas retailers can provide you with the velvety canvas, poured glue, resin square drills, some variety or selection of specialty drills, I make sure you get all of the above in every kit from $24 or $129 or more, you don't have to give up the premium parts just because your kit will cost under $50.
- No One gets banned from here for speaking up or making a public statement about a product or service that was provided. If there was a problem, I will work to resolve it, as long as we are both honest with each other, it would never get to that point. After more than 2.5 years, the number of banned customers remains at zero.
- No SMS marketing, minimal Email marketing, customer data is not shared with anyone. You typically don't need to know every single thing that happens in the store, I am well on the way to having a single page you can go to after the 10th of each month and see the entire new releases in one place, they will be discounted for 2 weeks from their release, making them all 15% off if you check on the 10th-15th of each month, Please don't set an alarm to make sure you are awake in time to order a kit from here. That is not necessary, in time you will unlearn that behavior. The store will be able to answer your questions when you're ready to ask by visitiing the new releases or the blog. You don't need 3 or 4 emails a day and I don't want to send them. Fair enough.
- I have been adamant about making events more enjoyable by raising the gift card amounts I give for drawings, $25, $50, even $100, the thanks when they are redeemed make it worth it, and assisting the event host's efforts to increase the community event excitement level, everyone wins.
- I am sure that other stores have no idea that diamond art emporium even exists, and there are a gazillion diamond painters that have no idea that diamond art emporium is different. I am on a mission to change that perceptiojn, I know I have 3, now i'm going for 10 more.
The only way you can be sure of any of these claims is to observe, ask questions, if you're adventurous, you might even try an order of a kit--pay attention to the process, what happens after the sale, what happens after the delivery, do you or did you feel pressured?, was it a more pleasant experience? I will try my best to prove that it is different here, I'll find a way to keep building the community base back up, 10 at a time if necessary, I think the best way for people to find out what it means to diamond differently, is to choose a different way to buy their kits, to know there is a different way is what I am aiming to achieve,
The transparency I try to provide may be more than you want to know, I certainly have no trade secrets to hide. Knowing why things are done a particular way gives you a better understanding and takes the skepticism out of the equation -- why is the sale onl,y 3 days? There may be a loan payment due, an advertising invoice coming, a dividend to pay. We don't know why, we are just expected to buy during those three days or we're goiing to miss out on something. I never want to sell something based on fear. This may be the most laid back store you've seen, I'm ok with that.
Thanks for reading, share this with any friends that may have stopped or given up, content creators that might be interested in featuring the store as a different way to diamond, that would be awesome.
