GCU Forum - August Sales and Charts

Janet_134086 Gold Member artist Posts: 610	Re: August Sales and Charts Reply #15 - Sep 1^st, 2009, 5:53pm Thanks Tom, I am still psyched about the bulk 25 card sale, it was from my Island painting. WhooHooo.... Janet Lee
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Tom_133317

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Posts: 2169

Re: August Sales and Charts
Reply #16 - Sep 2^nd, 2009, 6:03am

OK, so I just ran some calculations for GCU's August sales. Great numbers!

Cards sold in August was a new monthly record, up 42% over July 2009 and up 16% over the old record set in April 2009. Also cards sold per day in August is up 90% since January 2009 (almost double!).

Orders were up 31% over July and 22% higher than the old record set in April 2009. Orders per day has more than doubled in a year.

Cards per order is 2.65, gradually increasing from 2.4 in 1Q2009.

Congratualtions GCU!!!!

ps: Although this is great growth, keep in mind that GCU is still a start-up company and trying to survive. By the time they pay the printer, the artists, and computer/facility costs, there isn't much left to pay for the salaried programmers, the reviewers, and the support staff, let alone Mindy and Nasser. Sales still need to increase for this venture to be self-sustaining imo.

We are all in this together, and I am confident that we will all look back at these early years and be proud of what we've accomplished together. GCU has a goal to make a huge impact on the $7B/yr Greeting Card Industry, and they want to see many of us artists making a living off of our card sales. That will be so cool! It's a honor to be part of it.

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Corrie_131338

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Posts: 1611

Re: August Sales and Charts
Reply #17 - Sep 2^nd, 2009, 9:22am

Since we're one of the "big boys" Cheesy

we'll chime in to say that when checking our numbers, we've done better in August than July (we agree with Tom, a terrible month). Comparing August 2008 to August 2009, we've done better. How much of a percentage, we can't share because (confession time) my partner and I both stink at math. Don't bother to try and explain; algebra is a blank slate that leaves us weeping in frustration. But we made more commission, hurray!

Corrie
http://www.corrieweb.nl

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Sue_132963

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artist

Posts: 1224

Re: August Sales and Charts
Reply #18 - Sep 2^nd, 2009, 11:04am

Hmm. My figures don't really parallel yours Toms, which is unusual.
My sales for July 09 were only 1/4 of what they were in July 08.
My August 09 sales were a bit better than July's for 09 and nearly 3 times what they were in Aug. of 08.
I must admit that GCU has not had much attention from me this summer, and will most likely continue to have less of my time than last year.
I still love GCU, but I have gone back to school in the persuit of my MFA in Creative wiriting. It will take me some time online and at my great-age that is a bit daunting. None the less, I am looking forward to the journey.
So, like the folks at Weight Watchers, you guys will see less of me around here. But hey, perhaps what you do see, will only be the 'new and improved' Card Art From The Heart.
Good luck to all my artistic friends at GCU. God bless us all, everyone.
Sue

Quote from Tom_133317 on Sep 2^nd, 2009, 6:03am:

OK, so I just ran some calculations for GCU's August sales. Great numbers!

Cards sold in August was a new monthly record, up 42% over July 2009 and up 16% over the old record set in April 2009. Also cards sold per day in August is up 90% since January 2009 (almost double!).

Orders were up 31% over July and 22% higher than the old record set in April 2009. Orders per day has more than doubled in a year.

Cards per order is 2.65, gradually increasing from 2.4 in 1Q2009.

Congratualtions GCU!!!!

ps: Although this is great growth, keep in mind that GCU is still a start-up company and trying to survive. By the time they pay the printer, the artists, and computer/facility costs, there isn't much left to pay for the salaried programmers, the reviewers, and the support staff, let alone Mindy and Nasser. Sales still need to increase for this venture to be self-sustaining imo.

We are all in this together, and I am confident that we will all look back at these early years and be proud of what we've accomplished together. GCU has a goal to make a huge impact on the $7B/yr Greeting Card Industry, and they want to see many of us artists making a living off of our card sales. That will be so cool! It's a honor to be part of it.

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Susan_Alison_132784 Junior Member artist Posts: 98	Re: August Sales and Charts Reply #19 - Sep 3^rd, 2009, 12:17am Thanks for taking the trouble, Tom. Your figures are most encouraging - even given the wild difference in styles between artists, which is presumably balanced out by the wild difference in tastes between customers. Susan
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Linda D._131645 GCU Newbies artist Posts: 36	Re: August Sales and Charts Reply #20 - Sep 4^th, 2009, 6:04am Quote from Tom_133317 on Sep 2^nd, 2009, 6:03am: OK, so I just ran some calculations for GCU's August sales. Great numbers! I find these stats really interesting and helpful. But.... I know we can get "our" stats, but how do you get the company stats?
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Tom_133317

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Posts: 2169

Re: August Sales and Charts
Reply #21 - Sep 4^th, 2009, 6:29am

Quote from Linda D._131645 on Sep 4^th, 2009, 6:04am:

I find these stats really interesting and helpful. But.... I know we can get "our" stats, but how do you get the company stats?

Hi Linda,

Thank you for your note. I derive the GCU data from the top selling categories report. I do this to see if my own results track with the company's, plus I think we Artists need to know how the company is doing. Perhaps Nasser and Mindy will give us an update from their perspective as we all like to hear how things are going and what we might have to look forward to in the coming months.

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Linda D._131645

GCU Newbies
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Posts: 36

Re: August Sales and Charts
Reply #22 - Sep 4^th, 2009, 9:18am

Oh yes, the Top Selling Categories, Roll Eyes

haven't really looked in there. And they are updated every 30 days .... I see. Too bad they weren't already totaled so you didn't have to add them up (it would be nice to be able to sort them by month/date too like in other stats areas), but nice that you provide a handy summary. Yes a great idea to see how the company is doing compared to our own stats. Thanks!

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Bobbi_138061 GCU Newbies artist Posts: 14	Re: August Sales and Charts Reply #23 - Sep 5^th, 2009, 1:18pm Thanks for your post. I am relatively new here, and wondered how others were doing.
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Tom_133317

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Posts: 2169

Re: August Sales and Charts
Reply #24 - Sep 5^th, 2009, 4:37pm

Quote from Bobbi_138061 on Sep 5^th, 2009, 1:18pm:

Thanks for your post. I am relatively new here, and wondered how others were doing.

Hi Bobbi, and welcome. You have a cute set of cards. Best of luck to you. One thing I did notice, though, is that the module header text color in your store is black and doesn't show due to the brown module header color. You can modify these in the third tab under admin>>look and design>>store colors. Click on PICK next to module header text and it will bring up a color palette. One caution - do not change the module border size also shown on this tab. It needs to be 1 or it will mess you up royally.

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Bobbi_138061

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Posts: 14

Re: August Sales and Charts
Reply #25 - Sep 5^th, 2009, 5:06pm

Quote from Tom_133317 on Sep 5^th, 2009, 4:37pm:

Quote from Bobbi_138061 on Sep 5^th, 2009, 1:18pm:

Thanks for your post. I am relatively new here, and wondered how others were doing.

Hi Bobbi, and welcome. You have a cute set of cards. Best of luck to you. One thing I did notice, though, is that the module header text color in your store is black and doesn't show due to the brown module header color. You can modify these in the third tab under admin>>look and design>>store colors. Click on PICK next to module header text and it will bring up a color palette. One caution - do not change the module border size also shown on this tab. It needs to be 1 or it will mess you up royally.

Thanks for the welcome and suggestion. I think I fixed it.

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Tom_133317 Gold Member artist Posts: 2169	Re: August Sales and Charts Reply #26 - Sep 5^th, 2009, 7:07pm Looks good Bobbi! TOM
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