Q Talk

[Spurt]

On 5/5/2014 BonnieBelle said:

On 5/5/2014 millieshops said:

Doesn't surprise people like me who have cut way back on shopping for wants in favor of needs. I charge almost everything I buy and one quick comparison of my statements for 2014 compared to 2013 and especially to 2012 tells me I've made huge changes in my shopping life. I had read recently that we seniors tend to buy less and less as we age, so that explains part of my lessened buying. I've been retired for 14 years now and more and more realize how little I truly want. And those credit card statements bear that out - the vast majority of my buys this year are for supermarket and car expenses.

ITA. That's my life at this point in time. Just as the economy went down the drain in 2008, I had two kids coming of age driving and going to college so a HUGE change for us, less income and A LOT MORE expenses!! One more year for my last to finish college, then I will be so glad when they both have real full time jobs and paying all their own bills!

Hi Bonnie.....yep kids will certainly bust the budget....my brother put 3 through college and then quickly down sized after they all graduated so they couldnt move back home... Oh and BTW good luck on them finding FULL time jobs---I have a friend whose daughter graduated 2 years ago and all she can find is part time jobs---she had to take 2 part time jobs and said she may never get a job that would be sufficient for her to live on her own....

[Spurt]

On 5/5/2014 stevieb said:

Right Spurt, it's the broken record syndrome... It worked once so let's keep playing it until the record warps... Yes, the orbs are nice, so let's present them regularly and then morph them into larger orbs and smaller orbs and outdoor orbs and less nice 'Mason' jar semi-orbs... Let's do endless lit fake plants... Let's NEVER do anything new, different or innovative with our home design department... And let's send the Marm out there every so often to preach to us about a throw, or a vinyl ottoman and then act as though it's all the second coming of Martha... Whatever...

As for jewelry, also true. All the home shopping folks have rushed to see how much faux 'fine' jewelry they can foist out there... Mystery metals, and loads of fake diamonds, white spinel, black spinel, crystals, whatever... Most of the stuff being hawked on HSN and SHQ just screams cheezy and meanwhile the Q is content to be merely bland... If it isn't selling, THEY are the reason why, not just the economy, which has become a convenient excuse for them to increasingly do everything on the cheap...

HSN jewelry gets cheezier and cheezier.....and their sales hype is as bad as QVC's, as the HSN try to pass it off as if they were selling the crown jewels....

If I want good FASHION jewelry at good prices I shop Nature's Jewelry or a local artisan store here.....quality silver and reasonable prices.....

And Im sure the QOH's quality will take another down turn and prices will no doubt go up, since she sold out to Xcel Brands the same company that owns Issac and Liz Claiborne NY.....hmmmm moms seems to putting her eggs in one basket.....

[californiadreaming]

HSN's quality has really deteriorated in all categories of merchandise.

[scotnovel]

It is true that HSN's total sales were down 1% but for HSNi (the parent company) sales were actually up 1% for the quarter because Corenerstone, one of the companies operated by HSN had a 5% increase in total sales. Cornerstone includes such online and catalog companies as

Ballard Designs, Chasing Fireflies, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Grandin Road, Improvements and TravelSmith.

However perhaps more importantly overall gross profit decreased 2% which means costs rose faster than sales leading to less profit overall.

[stevieb]

On 5/7/2014 SPURT said:

On 5/5/2014 stevieb said:

Right Spurt, it's the broken record syndrome... It worked once so let's keep playing it until the record warps... Yes, the orbs are nice, so let's present them regularly and then morph them into larger orbs and smaller orbs and outdoor orbs and less nice 'Mason' jar semi-orbs... Let's do endless lit fake plants... Let's NEVER do anything new, different or innovative with our home design department... And let's send the Marm out there every so often to preach to us about a throw, or a vinyl ottoman and then act as though it's all the second coming of Martha... Whatever...

As for jewelry, also true. All the home shopping folks have rushed to see how much faux 'fine' jewelry they can foist out there... Mystery metals, and loads of fake diamonds, white spinel, black spinel, crystals, whatever... Most of the stuff being hawked on HSN and SHQ just screams cheezy and meanwhile the Q is content to be merely bland... If it isn't selling, THEY are the reason why, not just the economy, which has become a convenient excuse for them to increasingly do everything on the cheap...

HSN jewelry gets cheezier and cheezier.....and their sales hype is as bad as QVC's, as the HSN try to pass it off as if they were selling the crown jewels....

If I want good FASHION jewelry at good prices I shop Nature's Jewelry or a local artisan store here.....quality silver and reasonable prices.....

And Im sure the QOH's quality will take another down turn and prices will no doubt go up, since she sold out to Xcel Brands the same company that owns Issac and Liz Claiborne NY.....hmmmm moms seems to putting her eggs in one basket.....

And speaking of jewelry, royalty (along with the other sterling designers) is ONCE AGAIN soon to be among we mere peasants... Aren't we excited...

[alarmclock]

First quarters are usually a bit down, especially in a bad economy and right after the holidays. No big deal.

HSN has the customer service QVC used to have and does not take two weeks to "process" an order. They have great hosts and they sell way more than electronics and beauty. HSN has the name brands QVC does not. They also do not gouge you with the shipping and handling.

I would like some specifics on what you think is so 'cheesy' about HSN.

[MathisFan]

The last thing I bought from HSN was a marcasite watch when Larry Muzzy was hosting. That was probably the early 90s. lol

We didn't get QVC in my area until 2004. Haven't bought many items from QVC either.

[Spurt]

On 5/14/2014 alarmclock said:

First quarters are usually a bit down, especially in a bad economy and right after the holidays. No big deal.

HSN has the customer service QVC used to have and does not take two weeks to "process" an order. They have great hosts and they sell way more than electronics and beauty. HSN has the name brands QVC does not. They also do not gouge you with the shipping and handling.

I would like some specifics on what you think is so 'cheesy' about HSN.

I bought some jewelry and it looked really cheap---better stuff at flea market....the jewelry was returned to HSN!

[stevieb]

For the most part, the only way I buy jewelry from dear Auntie these days is on final clearance... The prices are good and if I don't really like a piece I can still return it and since HSN does actually do clearance I also don't feel ripped off by having paid full price for it only to see it selling for a fraction of the cost... Agreed though, some of their jewelry doesn't float my boat. To me, it tends to be on the over-designed, somewhat gaudy side.

[alarmclock]

Spurt - So? Is everything any store sells up to your standards? Probably not and I am sure we can find junk at QVC.

I guess you forgot about that period a couple of years ago where they were selling cheap costume jewelry ad nauseum.

I am also guessing that you were not aware of all of the complaints on the Ripka stuff.

One piece of jewelry you did not like?

You are one tough customer.