by Just Precious on April 5, 2010 · 1 comment
As many of you know, I used to own an e-boutique. For 5 years it was my “me thing.” It was what I did. In addition, of course, to mothering and wifing and writing and blogging and PTOing and…
I had wanted to run a boutique since I was in college when I worked in a Greek/University store. I loved the social relations. I loved the creativity of dressing windows. I didn’t even hate inventory and shipping.
So, when Big was about 13 months I was looking for something to do. I mean, life was easy back then. I wasn’t working. Big slept 3-4 hours a day and I could only clean and do laundry and make dinner for some of that time. Plus, after being baby-life-crazy-focused for all the other hours of the day, I needed something for me. It was time to live a dream.
My goal, in forming Precious Personalities, was to create a boutique for hard-to-find items. My first two products were viral in their popularity, but once they were sold to the mainstream I moved on to find other hot products.
That was the best part of boutique-ing, you know? Getting to shop for others. I loved going to the shows in New York to find products and then buying them for others.
Fast forward to the present and with 3 kids, as much as I loved boutique-ing, I wasn’t in it. My heart, I mean. Shipping took too much time. Paperwork was a bear. I had to cut back. And I chose to cut the boutique (though, officially, Precious Personalities hasn’t been shut down. I still have stock taking up space in a basement closet. Want something?) It wasn’t an easy decision, but things are going for me in a lot of directions and, I mean, I have 3 kids now, you know?
So, I cut the boutique. And in doing so, I realized what I probably already knew: my favorite part of boutique-ing is shopping for others. Then, I heard about The OpenSky Project. OpenSky allows me to have a boutique where I pick the items I want to sell, set up my own store and sell them to you, my favorite customers. Then, after you place your order, I don’t have to do the work. I don’t keep the records. I don’t worry about shipping or inventory or any of that. I get to do my favorite part of boutique-ing, they get to do the work I don’t love, and you get my fine-eye for parenting and children’s products that are, just as they were in Precious Personalities, good enough to have and use in my home, and unique enough that you won’t find them at Target.
Introducing Precious Picks by Just Precious. Go. Click. Shop. There are only a few products right now, just like there were only 2 products when I first opened Precious Personalities. But it will grow. I’m going to wait to find the right products for my readers. The unique ones. The ones that you want to gift and get.
I also ask you to let me know what you think. Tweet me, e-mail me, comment to this post. Do you have new products that I need to carry in my shop? Do you want to work on a promo with me? I’m all ears and eyes (and typing fingers) over here. Even if you aren’t wanting to shop right now, please let me know your thoughts.
by Just Precious on December 23, 2009 · 1 comment
This week, while checking out Just-Precious’ stats, I noticed a large number of searches related to Precious Personalities. And it reminded me that I haven’t blogged about good ol’ PP in a while. Because. Its not there. Go ahead. Click on it.
Owning and managing a boutique was a dream for years. And when Big was about a year old I decided to make it happen. It was wonderful. I loved shopping for others. I loved finding new products that weren’t at the Big Box stores. I loved making people’s shopping experiences pleasurable. And I still do. And will always love to do that.
So why? Where did it go? Well… When you purchase a domain (that’s a URL), you purchase it through a site host. Which I did. Over 5 years ago. Sadly, my computer crashed about 2 years later with all of my records for Precious Personalities. And when it was time to renew the domain every password in my book wouldn’t get me in to my site host. Strangely, they didn’t offer a feature to send or reset my password. Infact, when I called and spoke to several people I was informed that while they still did host the domain, they had some sort of a problem on their end and couldn’t access my account. So whether or not my password was missing suddenly didn’t matter. There was absolutely no flipping way they could access it. And neither could I. Rather irresponsible, right?
What’s more, because they had ownership of the domain, even though they couldn’t access my account, they could still send me e-mails stating that I needed to renew and could “park” my domain.
Now, parking my domain is very kind of them. Really. No one can just grab it because it belongs to them. Even though the name has been copywritten by me, the domain belongs to the site host. And if anyone (ie me) wants to own PreciousPersonalities.com you have to go through the site host that I went with 5+ years ago. 5+ years ago, this site host was consistently rated in the top 10 hosts. Ironically, now its difficult to find them on a site hosting listing. Hmmm… wonder why?
So, here’s the deal with Precious Personalities. I’m holding out. I’m waiting for the site host to unpark my copywritten title so that I can scoop it up through a (currently) more reputable host. Like JustHost.com (who hosts Just-Precious.com). Because I am simply not crazy enough to purchase my domain hosting through a company so disorganized that they can’t seem to access my account and do anything.
And then. And then I’ll have to rebuild Precious Personalities. From. Scratch. Which isn’t a job that takes a few minutes. No. Hours.
So, please. Bare with me. I have one outstanding order and the orderer knows that it won’t be delivered until February. Per his request. Otherwise, I’m not taking orders. I’m not filling orders. I don’t have a store or an e-mail address. And I’m sorry. Because I do love shopping for my customers and finding amazing new products to stock my shelves. Products you won’t find anywhere in the Big Box stores.
I do plan for Precious Personalities to be back. Eventually.
We’re excited to add the Stork Sak Claire Red Label to our product line at Precious Personalities. Loving this bag for its classic look that vompletely complements you year round.
Created as a gender-neutral (Dads, too!) backpack, it comes with a shoulder strap that can be adjusted to long enough to carry messenger style. Included in this brilliant design are specially designed stroller clips that attach to stroller handles, dual thermo-insulated side zip pockets to keep liquids hot or cold for five hours, two front zipped pockets, a large black storage pocket, zip top opening with five internal pockets, detachable key holder, inner detachable make-up bag, padded changing mat, wipe-clean lining and leather trim.
A bag that will be valuable infancy through toddlerhood, we’re introducing the Stork Sak Claire Red Label to Precious Personalities at a limited-time price of $95, with free shipping. It retails for $165.
