pocketaddict
Full Member
Posts: 143
Dec 14, 2023 3:50:23 GMT
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Post by pocketaddict on Aug 10, 2025 4:14:37 GMT
With the prices people are paying for her kits. They are not getting free shipping. It's just built into the cost. They are certainly not operating at a loss. No one else charges the prices that she does. agreed for the $50 storyteller kits (though that includes the ~$15 for the class). less so for the $16/month SBTM kits. assuming shipping is at least $10 (or more if lots of add ons), not much margin on those. I find this convo interesting because like.. when you say no one else charges the prices like she does, who else is even left? freckled fawn sub went under, felicity jane sub went under, beautiful mess sub went under, gossamer blue sub went under, KP/paper person sub went under, studio calico sub went under.. heidi swapp is memory planning. like the only comparable subs I can think of (original designs/pocket cards) are elles studio and cocoa daisy, the former a bit too cutesy for me and the latter heavily heavily themed. I would not sub to either, even if cheaper, based on style; and I believe neither include class content or unlimited (free shipping) add ons. so if there was no AED, my only physical alternative is buying pieces of scrapbook collections, with fewer and fewer available every year, and even fewer "modern style" and zero pocket cards. so.. I'd rather they make a business decision with the long term in mind. and I do not think AED is swimming in extra cash for shipping partial orders on top of paying new tarriffs and whatever cut Inked is taking of the top too. like I really doubt it. obviously it sucks that they are a month late, but yeah. I'd rather they be late then blowing budget with multiple shipments of individual items (assuming full kits are still incomplete / missing individual items). to clarify I do agree that as/when all items in an order are available, the order should be shipped and not held. ETA: an alternative they could have done that is cheap to them is offering the late digital kits for free to physical subscribers. or hired temp help to ship during the week everything arrived. also I do agree the communication was poor, better transparency about all of this would help, about what went wrong and how they are preventing it (so that we know/believe it's being improved) |
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Post by justlisa7 on Aug 10, 2025 14:01:55 GMT
Today is reveal day - came up fast! I am hoping by the end of next week I have all July, August and September SBTM and my Storyteller Kit (super worth the money because the content and videos are so inspiring and I love them so much), and maybe by some miracle they’ll get the travel kit out also. Super hoping that December daily will all be in their warehouse before they show their pictures. And the ones that they’re not gonna have on time, they don’t even bother showing. If they get them after the boxing period, put them in the shop at a cheaper price. I love Christmas and the DD boxing period and adding to my cart - but I only want to add stuff they 100% have in stock. I hope they take this into consideration after all these delays and only offer December daily that is in the warehouse already. We shall see. I will be honest and say that I really enjoy AE scrapbooking products and it’s where most of my scrapbook money goes. They really are the only ones left that are my style since others have closed up shop over the years. I always say this, but I do miss studio calico in the days when they were awesome! I miss Felicity Jane, citrus twist, and gossamer blue also. Thankful I have so many kits I purchased still from them. I’ve been scrapbooking since 1996 and started with creative memories, lol but I do still love looking at those albums too. I feel like when I first started subscribing to studio calico many many years ago- I don’t remember the year exact, that is when my scrapbooking style changed and I started to journal even more, and AE also has changed my style to more meaningful scrapbooking .  so I guess, yes I will still keep ordering from Ali Edwards because I love her products, her style, and her classes. 🤷🏼♀️ |
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 10, 2025 16:57:20 GMT
With the prices people are paying for her kits. They are not getting free shipping. It's just built into the cost. They are certainly not operating at a loss. No one else charges the prices that she does. agreed for the $50 storyteller kits (though that includes the ~$15 for the class). less so for the $16/month SBTM kits. assuming shipping is at least $10 (or more if lots of add ons), not much margin on those. I find this convo interesting because like.. when you say no one else charges the prices like she does, who else is even left? freckled fawn sub went under, felicity jane sub went under, beautiful mess sub went under, gossamer blue sub went under, KP/paper person sub went under, studio calico sub went under.. heidi swapp is memory planning. like the only comparable subs I can think of (original designs/pocket cards) are elles studio and cocoa daisy, the former a bit too cutesy for me and the latter heavily heavily themed. I would not sub to either, even if cheaper, based on style; and I believe neither include class content or unlimited (free shipping) add ons. so if there was no AED, my only physical alternative is buying pieces of scrapbook collections, with fewer and fewer available every year, and even fewer "modern style" and zero pocket cards. so.. I'd rather they make a business decision with the long term in mind. and I do not think AED is swimming in extra cash for shipping partial orders on top of paying new tarriffs and whatever cut Inked is taking of the top too. like I really doubt it. obviously it sucks that they are a month late, but yeah. I'd rather they be late then blowing budget with multiple shipments of individual items (assuming full kits are still incomplete / missing individual items). to clarify I do agree that as/when all items in an order are available, the order should be shipped and not held. ETA: an alternative they could have done that is cheap to them is offering the late digital kits for free to physical subscribers. or hired temp help to ship during the week everything arrived. also I do agree the communication was poor, better transparency about all of this would help, about what went wrong and how they are preventing it (so that we know/believe it's being improved) I don't think saying KP, Gossamer Blue, SC necessarily went under. Kp totally could still be in business. She chose to stop creating. Not sure if GB was a financial decision or not, SC either. I think both of them just chose to stop making kit. Semantics aside there aren't a lot of monthly kits left, you are correct. Not just For Boys still had a kit, correct?? But there is SCT and other people doing kits with online classes. VB does kits and classes. Simple stories was until Jana stepped aside abruptly . I imagine they will regroup and figure out what they're going to do and hopefully will continue to do those. I think overall scrapbooking is just in a downturn right now for a lot of reasons. Ali Edwards has always charged exorbitant prices for her product. Someone here coined the term million dollar chipboard for her product. It is always been high compared to other people. Just because there aren't other companies doing monthly subs, you can still compare her prices to physical product you can buy at craft stores and see that her prices are high. She is in my opinion taking advantage of her subbers. She owes them something for these massive delays. I have no dog in the fight but it just irritates me that she and inked are taking advantage of their subbers yet again and people are making excuses and tolerating it. I think because they feel some sort of kinship with her. I mean if a department store or Target was holding orders Like this people would be having a fit. |
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Post by mom on Aug 10, 2025 18:51:04 GMT
With the prices people are paying for her kits. They are not getting free shipping. It's just built into the cost. They are certainly not operating at a loss. No one else charges the prices that she does. agreed for the $50 storyteller kits (though that includes the ~$15 for the class). less so for the $16/month SBTM kits. assuming shipping is at least $10 (or more if lots of add ons), not much margin on those. I find this convo interesting because like.. when you say no one else charges the prices like she does, who else is even left? freckled fawn sub went under, felicity jane sub went under, beautiful mess sub went under, gossamer blue sub went under, KP/paper person sub went under, studio calico sub went under.. heidi swapp is memory planning. like the only comparable subs I can think of (original designs/pocket cards) are elles studio and cocoa daisy, the former a bit too cutesy for me and the latter heavily heavily themed. I would not sub to either, even if cheaper, based on style; and I believe neither include class content or unlimited (free shipping) add ons. so if there was no AED, my only physical alternative is buying pieces of scrapbook collections, with fewer and fewer available every year, and even fewer "modern style" and zero pocket cards. so.. I'd rather they make a business decision with the long term in mind. and I do not think AED is swimming in extra cash for shipping partial orders on top of paying new tarriffs and whatever cut Inked is taking of the top too. like I really doubt it. obviously it sucks that they are a month late, but yeah. I'd rather they be late then blowing budget with multiple shipments of individual items (assuming full kits are still incomplete / missing individual items). to clarify I do agree that as/when all items in an order are available, the order should be shipped and not held.
ETA: an alternative they could have done that is cheap to them is offering the late digital kits for free to physical subscribers. or hired temp help to ship during the week everything arrived. also I do agree the communication was poor, better transparency about all of this would help, about what went wrong and how they are preventing it (so that we know/believe it's being improved) Nah......they gladly accepted money 2 months ago for some of us, and we didn't have a choice in the product coming late or not. Thats not ok. Im sorry for them that they are in a crappy position, but thats the cost of doing business. Sometimes you have to lose money on a release to make money going forward and keep your customer. And if Ali isn't happy with her relationship with Inked, then she should change it. And if anyone is curious, read some online reviews from previous employees about Inked Brands. Comments include: 'Its always a blame game and no one is a team'. And "Management is a bunch of immature grown adults who talk about each other to associates and then wonder why none of them have respect. 99% of the salaried supervisors in the warehouse sit and do nothing all. day. long. If you are a nepotism hire, you will be fine and protected but do not expect appreciation, advancement, support, or any help to make a liveable wage. So many workers do the jobs of managers but probably make less than half of what they make. The CEO does not care about the warehouse one bit. You are worthless and replaceable which is why 150 people have come and gone in the past several years. The culture is just so pitiful. This place is good if you need a small stress-free part-time job but is impossible to live on full-time. You could probably be a janitor for double the pay. Expect poor time management and a lot of sending you home. Some of the office workers are nice to the warehouse but some act like the owner and expect you to bow down. The job and place could be a thriving and lovable atmosphere but the direction and leadership is lacking'. And "the atmosphere is like being in high school, you have the popular kids who get raise and A LOT of time off, while everyone else gets treated like trash.' And I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this or not, but one review I read said they weren't paying their bills and paying them late. It was from a previous year, so maybe thats not the case now.....but it did make me wonder if they even had paid the tariff on time or if that was why everything was late. |
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 10, 2025 20:01:58 GMT
agreed for the $50 storyteller kits (though that includes the ~$15 for the class). less so for the $16/month SBTM kits. assuming shipping is at least $10 (or more if lots of add ons), not much margin on those. I find this convo interesting because like.. when you say no one else charges the prices like she does, who else is even left? freckled fawn sub went under, felicity jane sub went under, beautiful mess sub went under, gossamer blue sub went under, KP/paper person sub went under, studio calico sub went under.. heidi swapp is memory planning. like the only comparable subs I can think of (original designs/pocket cards) are elles studio and cocoa daisy, the former a bit too cutesy for me and the latter heavily heavily themed. I would not sub to either, even if cheaper, based on style; and I believe neither include class content or unlimited (free shipping) add ons. so if there was no AED, my only physical alternative is buying pieces of scrapbook collections, with fewer and fewer available every year, and even fewer "modern style" and zero pocket cards. so.. I'd rather they make a business decision with the long term in mind. and I do not think AED is swimming in extra cash for shipping partial orders on top of paying new tarriffs and whatever cut Inked is taking of the top too. like I really doubt it. obviously it sucks that they are a month late, but yeah. I'd rather they be late then blowing budget with multiple shipments of individual items (assuming full kits are still incomplete / missing individual items). to clarify I do agree that as/when all items in an order are available, the order should be shipped and not held.
ETA: an alternative they could have done that is cheap to them is offering the late digital kits for free to physical subscribers. or hired temp help to ship during the week everything arrived. also I do agree the communication was poor, better transparency about all of this would help, about what went wrong and how they are preventing it (so that we know/believe it's being improved) Nah......they gladly accepted money 2 months ago for some of us, and we didn't have a choice in the product coming late or not. Thats not ok. Im sorry for them that they are in a crappy position, but thats the cost of doing business. Sometimes you have to lose money on a release to make money going forward and keep your customer. And if Ali isn't happy with her relationship with Inked, then she should change it. And if anyone is curious, read some online reviews from previous employees about Inked Brands. Comments include: 'Its always a blame game and no one is a team'. And "Management is a bunch of immature grown adults who talk about each other to associates and then wonder why none of them have respect. 99% of the salaried supervisors in the warehouse sit and do nothing all. day. long. If you are a nepotism hire, you will be fine and protected but do not expect appreciation, advancement, support, or any help to make a liveable wage. So many workers do the jobs of managers but probably make less than half of what they make. The CEO does not care about the warehouse one bit. You are worthless and replaceable which is why 150 people have come and gone in the past several years. The culture is just so pitiful. This place is good if you need a small stress-free part-time job but is impossible to live on full-time. You could probably be a janitor for double the pay. Expect poor time management and a lot of sending you home. Some of the office workers are nice to the warehouse but some act like the owner and expect you to bow down. The job and place could be a thriving and lovable atmosphere but the direction and leadership is lacking'. And "the atmosphere is like being in high school, you have the popular kids who get raise and A LOT of time off, while everyone else gets treated like trash.' And I wasn't sure if I wanted to post this or not, but one review I read said they weren't paying their bills and paying them late. It was from a previous year, so maybe thats not the case now.....but it did make me wonder if they even had paid the tariff on time or if that was why everything was late. Gee, they couldn't possibly be talking about April could they? She has always come off as a mean girl who is stuck in the high school mentality. |
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TXMary
Pearl Clutcher
And so many nights I just dream of the ocean. God, I wish I was sailin' again.
Posts: 3,410 
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Post by TXMary on Aug 11, 2025 21:05:46 GMT
This was the canned response to my conversation:
Hi,
You have received a response from JasmineH in your conversation "RE: All orders since June 11, 2025" (#147397):
Hi there, Thank you for reaching out. Our team has no additional information regarding shipping at this time and I apologize. Because there have been not updates, it is likely not everything has arrived at our warehouse in the expected timeframe. I am so sorry for the delay, and can guarantee that there will be communication sent as soon as possible. I would imagine that everything will begin shipping next week, including the August monthly orders. Again, any communication will be shared as soon as our team receives information that we do not currently have. Your patience is tremendously appreciated during this time. Best, Jasmine
***I got a shipping notice today finally but it's for the June and July stuff that's been sitting in the warehouse and doesn't include any of the travel collection. So why have they been holding on to it for two months for June and one month for July? I thought it was so they could ship it all together? And why didn't they hold onto it for another day or two and ship it with August?
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Post by justlisa7 on Aug 11, 2025 21:09:54 GMT
I received a shipping notice for my July and August SBTM kits from June and July orders, and my storyteller kit - plus my add-ons today. |
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TXMary
Pearl Clutcher
And so many nights I just dream of the ocean. God, I wish I was sailin' again.
Posts: 3,410
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Post by TXMary on Aug 11, 2025 21:18:54 GMT
I received a shipping notice for my July and August SBTM kits,and storyteller kit - plus my add-ons today.  My August stuff doesn't even show in my orders yet. There's another 6+ hours to add stuff to the order. I'm not adding anything else so they could just go ahead and ship that one too if they wanted.  |
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paget
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,461
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:39 GMT
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Post by paget on Aug 11, 2025 21:30:48 GMT
My June and July orders have shipped (or at least got the label). Progress! |
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Post by justlisa7 on Aug 11, 2025 22:15:13 GMT
I received a shipping notice for my July and August SBTM kits,and storyteller kit - plus my add-ons today. My August stuff doesn't even show in my orders yet. There's another 6+ hours to add stuff to the order. I'm not adding anything else so they could just go ahead and ship that one too if they wanted. I meant the kits. I should have specified June and July orders. Sorry for the confusion. My August order (September Kit) has not shipped of course. I super love the September SBTM kit. |
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Post by mom on Aug 11, 2025 23:37:49 GMT
I got a shipping notice on Saturday am….but according to tracking, Fed EX doesn’t even have it yet. So don’t assume just because you got a shipping notice that it’s actually shipped.
I’ve deleted everything out of my box for this months release. I’m not spending another dollar til this is worked out. I’m just done with it all.
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craftymom101
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,950
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Post by craftymom101 on Aug 12, 2025 14:08:43 GMT
My July order shipped today! I hope my travel box ships this week, as well.
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Post by lg on Aug 13, 2025 0:31:18 GMT
Just got an update that my travel collection has been shipped (and checked to confirm it has actually been received by UPS!)
International Pea so hoping USA peas have their orders on the way (finally)
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TXMary
Pearl Clutcher
And so many nights I just dream of the ocean. God, I wish I was sailin' again.
Posts: 3,410
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Post by TXMary on Aug 13, 2025 1:51:19 GMT
Just got an update that my travel collection has been shipped (and checked to confirm it has actually been received by UPS!) International Pea so hoping USA peas have their orders on the way (finally) Mine shipped too. I'm in Texas. Tracking says it will be here Friday. |
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Post by justlisa7 on Aug 13, 2025 13:11:30 GMT
My travel order has also shipped and received at the post office with a Friday delivery date. My June/July orders were shipped Monday and are due Friday also. I am happy to have a great mail day! I hope everyone else is getting shipping notices too! |
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craftymom101
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,950
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Post by craftymom101 on Aug 13, 2025 14:55:45 GMT
My travel order has also shipped and received at the post office with a Friday delivery date. My June/July orders were shipped Monday and are due Friday also. I am happy to have a great mail day! I hope everyone else is getting shipping notices too! Both of my orders are expected Friday, as well! |
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Post by trixiecat on Aug 13, 2025 15:54:56 GMT
My travel kit is arriving today. I screwed up when I placed the order and realized my old address was in their system. I contacted them right away, as well as the day I received the notification it was shipping. They assured me it was being sent to my new address and it had been changed. Well it hasn't and appears it is going to my old address. ![]() |
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Post by stormsts on Aug 14, 2025 13:02:20 GMT
I received my July and August kits yesterday.
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kaybree
Full Member
Posts: 249
Jul 23, 2015 10:38:23 GMT
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Post by kaybree on Aug 14, 2025 15:21:34 GMT
A label was created 3 days ago for my June/July kits and they haven’t been picked up by UPS yet.  |
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paget
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,461
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:39 GMT
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Post by paget on Aug 14, 2025 15:32:53 GMT
My tracking says Tuesday- mine always take awhile as I am in WA.
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Post by cynipidae17 on Aug 14, 2025 15:41:08 GMT
My travel is supposed to be here Friday!
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Post by justlisa7 on Aug 14, 2025 21:00:38 GMT
My travel order was delivered today. I have not had a chance to open it but will this evening. June/July orders show delivery tomorrow. I am hoping maybe they get our August subs shipped tomorrow. That would be awesome! |
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TXMary
Pearl Clutcher
And so many nights I just dream of the ocean. God, I wish I was sailin' again.
Posts: 3,410
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Post by TXMary on Aug 15, 2025 2:53:50 GMT
My June/July showed they were coming today and the Travel collection was coming tomorrow but it all came today. I had a chance to go through June and July and it looks like it's all there. I'll open the travel box tomorrow.
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Post by justlisa7 on Aug 15, 2025 2:56:13 GMT
My June/July showed they were coming today and the Travel collection was coming tomorrow but it all came today. I had a chance to go through June and July and it looks like it's all there. I'll open the travel box tomorrow. So glad you received all your orders! I looked quickly at the travel kit and really like everything a lot. I also got the beach kit on someone’s recommendation here and love it too! |
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Post by janamke on Aug 15, 2025 17:15:54 GMT
My travel order came yesterday. I just now received the shipping notice in my inbox. Glad to see Inked is on top of things.
I like everything in the kit and add ons that I bought. My only gripe is the diecuts and paper with the film strip, the squares are RIDICULOUSLY tiny. I was thinking of adding small photos into those spots. NO way to do have the patience for that. So those are somewhat unusable for me. The sketch of the plane is so darn cute, might be my favorite.
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Post by justlisa7 on Aug 15, 2025 18:15:26 GMT
My travel order came yesterday. I just now received the shipping notice in my inbox. Glad to see Inked is on top of things. I like everything in the kit and add ons that I bought. My only gripe is the diecuts and paper with the film strip, the squares are RIDICULOUSLY tiny. I was thinking of adding small photos into those spots. NO way to do have the patience for that. So those are somewhat unusable for me. The sketch of the plane is so darn cute, might be my favorite. I was thinking the same exact thing about the film strips - I was thinking they would hold photos easy. I love everything else. And I will find a way to use that for sure still. |
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Post by justlisa7 on Aug 15, 2025 20:33:11 GMT
My August order shipped! I am really glad they are getting everything out, and hope others are getting their kits too. I misplaced my Tim Holtz mini stapler, so used my $10 coupon code for the orders being delayed to purchase a new one since it was on sale for $13.99 - now just cost me $3.99.  |
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so I guess, yes I will still keep ordering from Ali Edwards because I love her products, her style, and her classes. 🤷🏼♀️ 
