Archie's Grobags (Inner pocket opinions please)

i think he was being funny

lpg I think you can improve it. Think about who you're trying to sell it to. You're asking people to spend £160 on a bag - that's fine, things are worth whatever people are willing to pay for it, but the people who'll buy it will undoubatably be quite intelligent people who make a lot of money. You really have to work at persuading people that it's worth spending the extra cash with you..

Look at the alternatives - there are similar sized bags out there for cheaper. You've should think, when somebody is looking to buy a bag, what makes yours a cut above the rest?

What has your bag got that others don't?
A) Very customizable
B) One man company
C) Made in the UK
D) Supporting local business, environmental friendly materials, etc etc...

Use these to your advantage.

Agreed.

SMEEAR extra cash, ive been wondering what you mean by this
surely a rival pac is around £200, i was looking at one just tother day.
it wasnt built half as hard and it had not stayed waterproof

£160 for scott gets you a bag thats better IMO

You can get brand new Royal Mail bags for £25 and a plethora of other cheap messenger bags. Obviously they aren't as good but I agree with lpg you need to sell the extras/customisation/quality/features of these bags more.

Also I'm not trying to be a cunt, just trying to provide constructive criticism. I'm not a designer just pointing out stuff that I noticed. If your bags are as good as smear says then it doesn't seem right that you'd make small mistakes on your flyer. Does that make sense?

IMAGE REMOVED

I hope you go through the website with a finer tooth comb. After all it's your shop front so to speak. (book by its cover etc...)

I didn't spell check it. I'm guessing you did.

Yep - the flyer doesn't scream 'Custom Handmade Bags' like they should. People shouldn't have to read it to know what it's trying to tell say (well, maybe they should but hey people are lazy).

wayne, yer sacked...:)

:^ { ] }

that's not really fair.

going about it in the way tallsam did is not fair,he should have whispered it not scribble over in the way he did.obviously scott would appreciate everyones input but that was just harsh.

just to add in my tuppence,
really liked the flyer, saw it when it first went up and it really made me happy "bags that love ya back" - good line.
All the other stuff comes from this being a forum and people liking to discuss, debate and generally get their point of view across.
Obviously I'm slightly biased as I'm getting some Archie Gro Bags, so feel the need to defend and debate this issue. Tallsam and LPG make valid points but it is just a flyer to introduce the brand to the forum. Right now as far as I'm aware no one outside the forum actually even knows the bags exist, apart from friends and family of Scott not Scot - correct me if I'm wrong Scott.
So whilst your points are valid and respected, it would have been best to address those issues directly to Scott and Wayne, thats what the whisper is for.
Personally I think its great that we've gone from one thread where Scott was looking for a name, to another thread days later with a fully fledged flyer for previous bag with no name.

Jeez ppl are sensitive.

scott not scot ok...'constructive' critcism would have been to whisper to me any faults that you just 'happened' to notice....

This being a group forum I thought we'd all discuss this as we do bikes and other shit.

scott not scot ...to plaster a full size picture covered in scribbles of red like an angry teacher scribbling on a childs homework is not helpful to me....
I make and sell bags....if seeing a yellow line a micron out,or the shade of yellow hurts your eyes,then you have my humble apology.
thanks.

I scribbled all over it cause it was the quickest way to make my point.
I was trying to make the point that if I happened to notice it then others will. Some ppl are really anal about shit (I'm probably one of them but not that bad really). This flyer (for some ppl) will be all they know of your company before they decide to investigate further. First impressions are important etc...
I thought a less "bright" shade of yellow would work better and be a little easier on the eye.
You're only as strong as your weakest link and from what I've seen of your bags the flyer is the weakest link (meaning the bags seem great the flyer is almost there, just pointing out ways it could be better).

wayne_f14 tallsam

all your points are subjective except the text alignment
[and thats what happens when you're helping a fellow forummer out at 12.30 in the morn]

I never claimed they weren't subjective.
Props for helping him out I was just trying to help out too.

wayne_f14
do ya think a general deconstruction/ tyre kicking discusiion could be held as whispers to the relevant people. I think i answered LPG's concerns previously.

see my previous comment.
Perhaps yes but I was just trying to treat the flyer in the same way we'd crit a bike/product/event/whatever, as a community.

wayne_f14
Archie's grobags rock ! He's got off his arse and made something that's quality and there are people on the forum that are more thatn happy to help him and buy from him - feedback is brill and instructive but probably best kept as two way conversations not as a 'oooohhh I don't like the colour' shit kicker fest

From what I've seen of his bags I agree with you entirely they look great.
The fact that he's started this as a business is brilliant, the fact that the forum has rallied round him and in return got the bags they wanted is great too.
I didn't mean it to turn into a shit kicker fest.

Sorry. Didn't mean to offend. I'm tired and its late (here).

I really do think your bags look great. I wish you the best of luck.

Wayne: the flyer is great besides the things I mentioned (as you point out some are subjective and just my POV). Again didn't mean to offend etc...

You should put the flyer on your profile page:
http://www.londonfgss.com/account/269/

as there are numerous references to "Scott's bag" or similar. new ppl might read these threads and want to know more... you get the idea.

yeah the forum is great for that
if you Google smeear you get almost every pic i have even been near

obviously its an odd name though

ah, have a brew and put yer feet up :)

agreed
time for a chillax

Group hug...

Hi there Scott.

I like your bags, from what I've seen they look really good. I can appreciate you're busy so I was wondering what sort of waiting time you're currently working to?

Secondly does anybody happen to have a comparison pic of the 'archie' size? Trying to figure which way to go when I replace my large timbuk2. The 'theo' looks great and absolutely monstrous but might be just a tad overkill for my daily needs.

Theo and Archie

Great, thanks.

Forgot to ask can you do one for left bias i.e. carried over the right shoulder?

lpg You're asking people to spend £160 on a bag - that's fine, things are worth whatever people are willing to pay for it, but the people who'll buy it will undoubatably be quite intelligent people who make a lot of money. You really have to work at persuading people that it's worth spending the extra cash with you..

I was going to stay out of this, but what the hell... maybe your professional experience is rather different to mine, but I often find that the link between people's intelligence and earning capacity is tenuous at best.

No offence to Scott not Scot, but the relative intelligence of those considering buying his bags (having ordered mine already I include myself in this) is irrelavent. High end courier bags are a niche market, people buying them have a very good idea of what they want and frankly what the competition have to offer and at what price. On the basis of their build quality, their detailed design and the fact that as standard they come loaded with pretty much every conceivable feature, that most of the competition charge extra for, at £120 and £160 respectively his bags are a complete steal, something that I think is immeadiately obvious to his target audience.

No offence lpg but your implicit suggestion that Scott's Grobags are in competition with Timbuk2, Crumpler et al suggests you just don't get it, the bags you need to be comparing these with are Pac, RELoad, Chicago Wig, Bagaboo, I suppose Chrome and though less ornate I'd say even Zugster, in this company not not only do Scott's bags bare comparison, they're positive bargains. No small acheivement.

...and just as importantly, in my experience he's a nice and rather decent bloke. Scott not Scot, thanks for everything so far, can't wait to see the finished bag, good luck with the flyer (which I like) and the bags and I feel for you over the broken sewing machine.

round of applause

yay!

OK - fair enough. I really do support you and your business Scott - i was just trying to help you (in an aggressive kinda way). I've been watching 'The Apprentice' too much.

I apoligise, all the best.

Aw, I'm welling up. :-)

one big happy forum nice to see guys, nice to see

i'm sensing a lot of love in the room right now...