Scrappers - I'd love to hear your opinion..

[MeanLaureen]

Some of you guys already know this but for those that don't, I work for Hallmark Cards, Inc. Not just as an employee of one of their franchises but as a manager of one of their corporate stores, so I get to see and have input in new product before it hits the shelves for all to see.

Over the past year, Hallmark has made a big thing about their "Instant Scrapbooking" product and will even be extending it out to a special promotion for Christmas this year.

How do you scrappers feel about Hallmark's "instant" product? I guess for those that like to make all of their embellishments, it would feel like cheating, because you would want your book to be originally yours.

I know a lot of people balk at the price of the instant albums ($50.00) but when you consider that you are getting 20 embellished pages, its not too bad.

So as a scrapper, would you ever purchase and use one of these instant kits? I just have to think myself that my company might be missing the mark on this because to me it seems like the biggest part of enjoying scrapping is the creating.

Your opinions?

Here is a link to the Hallmark Product. If you click on the albums it will show you a sample of what the inside pages are like

 

[marlynnp]

I would say that we should not be your target audience.


The product looks nice and I think the price is fine. This should be marketed to those people that aren't creative or otherwise inclined to spend the time scrapbooking like we do ~ but want something more than the ordinary photo album.

 

[patchchild]

I have to agree. For people into scrapbooking, we generally enjoy the time it takes to gather the pieces and assemble it just right.

It's kind of like paint by numbers. They're fun if all you want is the final product, but they don't appeal to painters.

 

[MeanLaureen]

I was just curious because someone from the company said "scrapbookers are going to LOVE these! It will make their lives so much easier". When they said that I thought of you guys and my first thought was you guys seem to enjoy creating the pieces yourself the most.

Seems to me they are in a tough spot - real scrappers aren't going to want to cut corners, while people that are new to scrapping or never attempted it before will not understand or appreciate that the price is a good value for what they get.

I'll give it a year

 

[sconnell]

$50? Wow. I don't think I would spend $50. Here is my thinking:
1-While the product looks nice, $50 is a lot to spend on a photo album. And since the individual elements don't mean that much, it is esentially a scrapbook-style photo album. (Now, I'm not really cheap when it comes to scrapbooking, as I often buy Creative Memories scrapbooks and products.)
2-When I scrapbook, each element on the page is thought out and placed by me. Some time and thought has gone into it, thus every page is special.
3-Now, I have occasionally bought a small pre-made album or pages that were basically done, but the cost was hard to beat. And even then, I did do some additional customizing.

So, I've said all of this to say: no. I wouldn't buy this product for $50. I would if the price was much less and would be more likely to buy them at a more reasonable price if they were "nearly done" with coordinating items to add on.
HTH.

 

[tigger95]

wow, 50$? I personally wouldn't buy it, but I tend to like to pick my embellishments myself. Looking at the inside of the books, they aren't very "exciting". The embellishments aren't eye catching really. I guess I'd rather see it "in person" if you know what I mean. On the other hand, people who want to give a nice gift, it might work for them. kate

 

[ksjayhawks]

I personally would not buy it for $50. My dd and I did a few predone albums to commemorate the holidays for her grandmothers and motherinlaw, but we went to target and bought the $15 ones. We got three for the price of one hallmark. We added a few things and they were done. Perfect for what we needed.

I think they might appeal to a person who wants to make a special gift for a special birthday, event, etc but doesn't want to take the time or effort or doesn't like to scrapbook as we do. All they have to do is add pics and they are done. However, I do think the price is too high, even for that. JMHO

 

[Jotash]

I think it's a nice idea, but agree it's a bit on the expensive side. That being said, if I had a good friend that was getting married or having a baby I would consider it as a shower gift. I know a lot of people that look at my scrapbooks and tell me they wish they could do that but they don't have the time and really don't know how to get started. This might be a jumpstart to get them into it, although I have also seen other "kits" less expensive that could do that too. I guess I'm on the fence without seeing the quality in person instead of on line.

 

[MeanLaureen]

Thanks for all of the replies I was thinking along the same line of you guys but since I have toned myself out from believing the "corporate spin" they put on all new merchandise, I thought I would find out if I wasn't alone.

In person, the quality does seem pretty nice and Hallmark post bound albums can't be beat but to non scrappers, that isn't going to get them past the price tag shock.

Should be interesting to see how much they will sell the special Christmas album for this year. It replaces the recordable album promotion from last year which was $12.95 so if they can keep the price down.. maybe we won't be sitting on a bunch on 12/26. And if we are, I'll let you guys know when they get marked down to $1 so you can score some

 

[sconnell]

Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about! I'll buy them when they go on sale!

 

[scrapcreator]

I agree - scrappers aren't the target audience, so it definitely has to be marketed to those who want more than "just" a photo album. Now whether they are willing to pay the current price tag is a whole other question.

I have heard a couple of co-workers talk about getting one of the Hallmark albums. They just don't have the time right now to scrap, but they want their pictures in a scrapbook style album.

Jeanne

 

[bubbasmom99]

I agree that scrappers like us are NOT the target audience. However, there are many people out there who trust the Hallmark name and will pay that price for the album, for the ease of putting their pictures in an album, or so they can call themselves "scrappers".

Most of us scrap, not only to put the memories to paper, but also for the creative outlet. It would not be as fun to have those pages pre-made for us.

I personally would rather have my photos stored for years (in photo safe boxes of course) until I have a chance to scrap the "right page" for myself... rather than put them onto a pre-made page, just because it saves me time. Does that make sense?

 

[Samantha]

$50? Wow. I don't think I would spend $50. Here is my thinking:
1-While the product looks nice, $50 is a lot to spend on a photo album. And since the individual elements don't mean that much, it is esentially a scrapbook-style photo album. (Now, I'm not really cheap when it comes to scrapbooking, as I often buy Creative Memories scrapbooks and products.)
2-When I scrapbook, each element on the page is thought out and placed by me. Some time and thought has gone into it, thus every page is special.
3-Now, I have occasionally bought a small pre-made album or pages that were basically done, but the cost was hard to beat. And even then, I did do some additional customizing.

So, I've said all of this to say: no. I wouldn't buy this product for $50. I would if the price was much less and would be more likely to buy them at a more reasonable price if they were "nearly done" with coordinating items to add on.
HTH.

I agree 100%. I love to scrapbook and I love the time it takes to put together an embellishment! When I do my pages, they are all my own, with my own artistic style and flair.
While this product looks very nice and has great packaging, $50 is a lot to spend. I could think of hundreds of different things I could buy in my LSS for $50!

 

[disneyfreakk]

I think it's a nice idea, but agree it's a bit on the expensive side. That being said, if I had a good friend that was getting married or having a baby I would consider it as a shower gift. I know a lot of people that look at my scrapbooks and tell me they wish they could do that but they don't have the time and really don't know how to get started. This might be a jumpstart to get them into it, although I have also seen other "kits" less expensive that could do that too. I guess I'm on the fence without seeing the quality in person instead of on line.

I agree with this response! I would buy a wedding or baby shower gift such as this. I dont think $50 is too much, but then agian I tend to go overboard when shopping.

 

[RealMickeysGirl]

I think your target audience will be those people who will hire someone to do their scrapbook for $20 per page - they would see the premade book for $50 as a bargan and a quick way to get their pages done with little effort by them.

Just my opinion.

 

[MissBubbles]

Kind of expensive but a nice idea for a newbie, someone who doesn't have time to scrap or to make a gift album for someone. I wouldn't buy it for myself though.

 

[peapod1]

those are kind of cute, maybe I should get my mom one. She'd like that since she's got all kinds of pictures laying around.

 

[Madi100]

I personlly wouldn't buy one, except maybe to catch up, and then $50 is too expensive. Creative Memories just came out with something that is $46, I believe. It is a photo album that the pictures go in different directions and then there are journaling boxes. I've bought two of those to give as gifts. Both for parents. They are easy to get pictures organized in, and you don't have to spend a lot of time on it. Now my sister bought an album like Hallmarks for about $10. I'd buy it for that.

 

[JandJ]

I agree with what everyone has said. I use CM albums almost exclusively and by the time I add page protectors, paper, and other embellishments, not to mention the cost of developing the pictures (thank goodness for on-line developers!) I'm sure each album is a couple hundred dollars, but I made it myself. That's important to scrappers. Whoever said "scrapbookers will love this" was off-target.

Along the same note, I love the photo organizer box Hallmark had earlier this year - it's beautiful and practical! I have the big and small organizer boxes from CM and a couple cheap ones from local stores and the Hallmark one is still the best one I've gotten!

 

[Sabrina90744]

I think its great especially for new scrappers. It is a lil pricey, but for new scrappers who have to go out and all sorts of supplies it might even out.