Shop Insurance - some help please

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I

Indivijewelistic

  • #1
    Sorry to keep firing questions at everyone and being of no help to anyone else (sheepish smile). I am a new business start up so I don't have any experience to share, but it is so invaluable to get this kind of free advice.

    I am trying to get quotes for shop insurance. My business is a shop that sells beads/tools for jewellery making - you can also make the jewellery while you are in the store.

    Could anyone recommend good (but cheap :D) shop insurance?

    Any help much appreciated.
     
    T

    TheGuru2010

  • #4
    It really does depend on the sector but on average your shop insurance should be about £25 ish a month (dependant on trade) so i dont think you did to bad at the £30 per month - but again this does depend on what cover you have been given.

    Again these figures are out of the air (based on experiance)

    But for £25.00 a month you should look to get the following included.

    Public & Products Liability
    Employers Liability
    Business Interuption
    Money Cover
    Stock Cover (Again this is dependant on the cover amount)
    Contents including Fixtures & Fittings (Again this is dependant on the cover amount)

    Some insurers may even chuck in some personal accident cover.

    The prices for a small SME have really come down if you have a good shop around & use a quality broker who should have markets with most of the leading insurers.
     
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    A

    arcon5

  • #8
    We have a shop that does exactly what your doing here in Lincoln. They have been around a few years and just moved to some slightly bigger premises closer to the city center. They seem to be really popular.

    Not sure what type of packages your going to offer but they do a gift basket that contains a selection of beads, some elastic and some budget tools - all for a £10. Will be fantastic with christmas coming up!
     
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    A

    arcon5

  • #9
    Another thing - about your website this time...

    .. I really like its design and you seem to have alot of categories which is particularly good for this type of product. But one thing I hate when use ecommerce websites is when they don't display products until you have found a bottom level category. So maybe display products below the sub-categories for all the categories shown.

    Hope that makes sense..
     
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    I

    Indivijewelistic

  • #11
    Yes, I will do some kits from £4.99 to £35.00 for the ultimate beading kit.

    I promise not to plauge you too much about it, but it is so handy to have some feedback on the webiste.

    Do you mean where it says GLASS BEADS, it would be good to list underneath bicone, pearl, faceted, square etc. If you could do me a favour and take another look, I have changed it right now, please click on BEADS AND PENDANTS and I have listed the categories under GLASS BEADS - is that what you meant?

    Unfortunately this style of website won't do a drop down list or one to the side, but it is £29 per month all in and you can make changes to it in seconds!
     
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    A

    arcon5

  • #12
    Indivijewelistic said:
    Do you mean where it says GLASS BEADS, it would be good to list underneath bicone, pearl, faceted, square etc. If you could do me a favour and take another look, I have changed it right now, please click on BEADS AND PENDANTS and I have listed the categories under GLASS BEADS - is that what you meant?
    Click to expand...


    Correct. Even when I click on 'beads and pendants' on the homepage display products from all cats including 'glass beads' 'charms' ect.

    Indivijewelistic said:
    Unfortunately this style of website won't do a drop down list or one to the side
    Click to expand...

    Personally, I hate list boxes with categories or products. I want to glance around the website and see what I want, not scroll down a list.
    Scrolling down a list also assumes you know what your looking for. You will know what beads compliment what - when I am looking I am not armed with this info so just browsing at what I think would fit together... which is why having to go down your category hiararchy to view products is annoying. I don't have a preference as to whether I want glass or acrylic - I just want to see which look nice.

    Not sure how possible it is with your script - probably not possible without more inensive programming, but filter by colour would be great. Or a filter for making earrings or bracelets.
    Maybe even a 'To make a pair of earrings you will need: get the metal part --> select your beads' - as not everybody knows how to make what they want but would still like to do such so it just helps them select items and not worry that they have missed something to receive the products and have to wait while they order the essential item they have missed or didnt even know about.



    Also, I obsolutely hate contact forms! If I contact a company I want to know their email address and possibly also the name of the person responsible for handling your query. Place a contact link at the top also - or better more your actual email address. I don't want to have to search a website for contact info.


    At the top have a one liner so we know exactly what your offering rather than having to work it out. Something like the following would be fine

    "Supplying high quality beads and jewellry making kits"
    " Get you xxxx here"


    Also, I don't like the grey theme. Your products are luxury products and you should choose more vibrant colours. They grey looks depressing. I do't like white on grey either. Maybe have a vibrant colour in pace of the white and a different shade in the header o seperate it. Maybe see what some web designers around here would sugest..
     
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    A

    arcon5

  • #13
    Another thing, I really hate this line:

    "
    All our items are dispatched Royal Mail first class and the prices quotes include for the time to package the item and materials used. We cannot be responsible for tardy service from the postal service.
    "
    Click to expand...
    I would remove references to time & materials.
    More importantly:
    "We cannot be responsible for tardy service from the postal service."
    Click to expand...

    MUST GO IMMEDIATELY. You as the seller are responsible if the postal service you use messes up. You are obviously protected somewhat by postal compensation but consumers don't want to think that if the item is damaged or goes missing that they will suffer any kind of loss.

    Change it to something like:

    "Deliveries are made via Royal Mail First Class. This service usually arrives within 1 day of dispatch but in some cases can take slightly longer. In the unlikely event of non-delivery or damaged items, we will try our best to rectify the situation without delay."
    Click to expand...
    Gives more confidence to the consumer.

    I sent out nearing a couple hundred items out via standard parcel royalmail and only have around 1-3 damaged or missing items a month. Not sure if I am just lucky or if this is about right so don't always believe the criticism of RM. Its far too easy for people to blame them.



    Every effort is made to ensure that the online postage rates are correct, however, should an error occur we will of course rectify it and reimburse where necessary.
    Click to expand...
    This doesn't have to be there. Charge your rate and thats it. Any extra covers packaging.


    If you wish your package to be sent faster then please email us at the time of purchase and we will invoice you for the required amount to obtain your choosen method of postage.
    Click to expand...
    When you email a business you don't know if it will take them 24 minutes or 24 hours to respond so by time its ben sorted it may be too late to get items to them by the date they wanted - so you already have an annoyed customer. Or if you do, you may issue an invoice and they are away from the computer for the rest of the day and cannot pay it. Have the option at checkout - solves it all and saves your valuable time.


    IndiviJewelistic - its really hard to pronounce. At least I think so anyway. Can you imagine saying to somebody "have you been to indivijewelistic - its sells beads and is near xxx"? Others may disagree though.



    Sorry if I have been too critical or if you disagree anything I have said. I do actually think it has alot of potential.
     
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    I

    Indivijewelistic

  • #14
    Thanks for that, it is really kind of you. I am going to put a bit more work into it and then send it out to the web designers as you suggest. I think you are right, looking at it now it does look a little grey and washed out, I will see what the colour options are.

    It will be possible to list items by colour, using one of the cateogries at the top, it doesn't use up any more items as you can copy over the items to other lists. As you say, it then gives another option for viewing the beads without seperating them into glass, acrylic etc.

    I also like the idea of the grouping of items to make earrings etc., but I think I may make up actual kits with instructions.

    Thank you for looking at it again, all much appreciated.
     
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    A

    arcon5

  • #15
    Also, if your paying £29 per month maybe look in to oscommerce - its free so all it will cost you is webhosting which will be under a fiver - LiquidSix are good and aligator host. There are some discussions around here about webhosting you may find useful.
     
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    I

    Indivijewelistic

  • #16
    I have made some changes to the website and added more colour where I can (within the contraints of the website). I have removed scurrilous remarks regarding the post office and in some cases reviewed whether the page really needs to be there. I set this website up when I was selling handmade jewellery and some things have been there since that time. I have taken on board the other comments and, having published these changes, will look at the site again.

    That is why it is really helpful to have someone look over the site with a fresh eye and you WANT them to be critical - otherwise I could ask my Aunty, she would love it if it was poo colour and had no images - she will still say it was 'nice'.



    So thank you very much indeed, you time and comments are much appreciated.
     
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    J

    Jonnyboy678

    Free Member
    Oct 30, 2009
    8
    2
  • #17
    You need to put a bit more work into you Terms and Conditions page. There are spelling mistakes and a number of duplications on it.

    I also don't like your conditions about the delivery, you page says the following..

    "Unfortunately, we cannot be held responsible for negligence or improper handling on the part of Royal Mail, Parcelforce or other delivery or handling agencies. In general, if serious damage has occurred in transit, compensation can be claimed against the handler. "

    If something is wrong with the parcel i receive from you and the goods are damaged then I would like you to be sorting this out for me, not me trying to contact the delivery agent for compensation.

    I also don't like the bit about the fact you sell the advertised items elsewhere as you basically say, and I am paraphrasing, that i might be better off trying to buy these beeds on Ebay as I might get them cheaper. If i don't buy them cheaper on Ebay but someone else does, that you may therefore have no stock of the item that I have purchased for a higher price through your website.

    What you currently have on your 'return policy' page, also does not meet DSR's as you say I have to return it 'within 2/3 days'

    Not trying to be overly critical with this post, hopefully just giving you another few pointers.
     
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    I

    Indivijewelistic

  • #18
    Many thanks for the pointers, they are all much appreciated. I am popluating the contents of each group, have changed the postal policy to refer people to the general terms and conditions and updated the GTC. The site is looking brighter (can someone tell me if I have gone a little ott on that one).

    Please don't think that you are being overly critical, because the more help I get at this stage the better the website will be and the less complaints I will get (or worse yet - lack of customers:().

    I am so impressed with everyones help that I think I will follow the suggestion and throw out a new thread asking for feeback on the website.
     
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    B

    bjbellchambers

    Free Member
    Apr 6, 2010
    30
    3
    Langdon Hills, Essex
  • #19
    We appear to have wandered from your original question about insurance. We have a wide range of insurers at our disposal including some exclusive deals and even guaranteed price match less 10% (subject to usual terms and conditions blah blah blah)

    If you would care to pm me some basic details about sums insured I will quickly call you backwith our best terms.

    And good luck I hope it works for you. I am relatively near to Enfield and I know that my wife and our girls would love to at least browse when you are open.
     
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