Would you pay to have a handwritten letter sent to someone as a gift?

[vindicatorx]

No, and the pricing for them is ridiculous. This is a terrible idea.

[Warwithin]

I might do it if if was cheaper, I have horrible handwriting >.>. Seriously a child's is worse than mine.

Do you have any idea of a price that sounds more reasonable?

[Zogarth]

Seems not so personal to have someone write a personal letter. I would do it myself.

[obdigore]

If it is good calligraphy and you are rewriting/tidying the letter I wrote... maybe?

Of course if you are getting good paper and ink, and doing the calligraphy so you can see that it's written and not typed, you might have an entry into the niche market.

That said, I believe there are already places that do this.

[Tradewind]

I am selling artistically enhanced dickbutt caricatures for $34.99.

[Post]

I am selling artistically enhanced dickbutt caricatures for $34.99.

I'll take 7.

[Tradewind]

I'll take 7.

How would you like your dickbutts portrayed?

[kattarina]

I wouldn't pay for it. Like many have said, a letter would hold alot less meaning if it was written by someone else.
You could find a market in things such as weding invitations and things of the sort.
Also, your site looks realy nice

[Post]

How would you like your dickbutts portrayed?

Is renaissance an available option?

[Deleted]

No, because I can write my own notes, quite preety to say the least. To pay for someone writing a letter would be one of the most lazy things one could do, I mean you care so little about that person that you don't even write the letter yourself!

[Warwithin]

If it is good calligraphy and you are rewriting/tidying the letter I wrote... maybe?

Of course if you are getting good paper and ink, and doing the calligraphy so you can see that it's written and not typed, you might have an entry into the niche market.

That said, I believe there are already places that do this.

That's what I'm gathering as well. I think I should do some discovery on Etsy and see what's already being done.

[Pool of the Dead]

I'd rather just send them a dick in a box.

[Ebildays]

You've just linked proof that the market is saturated with such ventures. 2,700 providers, and that is only those on Etsy.

Entering a saturated niche market is rarely a good idea, and if your product is no different to anybody elses in that market then it's an absolutely dreadful idea.

Knowing whether a business has a decent chance of survival is basic business training, and this proposal has "No fucking chance!" written on it in 10 foot high letters - you can have the letters written in calligraphy if you want.


A friend of mine makes personalised pet bowls, it may have a lot of competition (850 on Etsy), but at least there is a largish market for it due to the amount of odd bods that worship their four legged flea bags. https://www.etsy.com/search?q=person...ef=auto1&all=1

It has the two ingredients that every business needs to succeed...demand + idiots willing to spend money on tat.

All you need after that is a product and marketing, which aren't easy, but the latter will be much easier to do than flogging handwriting services to a nation of people that can write.

I'm not suggesting they sell personalised dog bowls - as Natalie would rip my bollocks off if she found out I gave her competition - but it's that sort of thing which has a chance to succeed.

Your friend is in a saturated market as well if you just do a google search. You can even get those from petsmart or amazon so his chance of succeeding is just as good as your friends. Not to mention that alot of personalization services offer a whole range of personalized items than just pet bowls. Also you have the do it yourself kits and items that people can buy to do the same job for cheaper.

I would not buy a letter writing service but I would buy a service that would make me custom handwritten "Thank You" cards or info cards for the right price. I make a ton of gift baskets and jewerly, there I times when I would have loved to have custom handwritten tags or items lists. My handwriting is horrible and I love the look of calligraphy. Plus buying something written by someone else is not going to cheapen the hours or days I spend making jewerly for someone or the effort I put into making a nice gift basket.

I'd rather just send them a dick in a box.

I think it is against the law to mail yourself.

[Kalis]

Your friend is in a saturated market as well if you just do a google search. You can even get those from petsmart or amazon so his chance of succeeding is just as good as your friends. Not to mention that alot of personalization services offer a whole range of personalized items than just pet bowls. Also you have the do it yourself kits and items that people can buy to do the same job for cheaper.

I would not buy a letter writing service but I would buy a service that would make me custom handwritten "Thank You" cards or info cards for the right price. I make a ton of gift baskets and jewerly, there I times when I would have loved to have custom handwritten tags or items lists. My handwriting is horrible and I love the look of calligraphy. Plus buying something written by someone else is not going to cheapen the hours or days I spend making jewerly for someone or the effort I put into making a nice gift basket.

I said she has a lot of competition, but she also has a market due to the millions of dog owners in Britain, whereas this is limited to weddings (already taken care of), as part of a gift basket (already taken care of), as a note on a bunch of flowers (already taken care of), or as rare one off "Thank You" cards that the vast majority of people would write themself if they don't send an email/text.

The market for this is extremely limited, already saturated, can be done by people themselves or on their computer, available over the internet from thousands of others, on the highstreet by established retailers, or by a random child that has done an art class.

His chance of succeeding is not as good as my friend's is, and you can argue the toss all you want, but business ideas are not equal just because you want them to be.

Your claim that you'd buy them because you make gift baskets and have horrible writing isn't common, as most people won't make a gift basket during their lifetime, except perhaps in primary school - most people who send a gift basket buy them, get the note written by the company selling the basket, and get them delivered through that company as well, so why on earth would you think that people would say no to having the card written and request a third party to do so at additional expense and complication? If the two of you teamed up it might be a semi-viable business, but not as a standalone venture.

You're advocating that someone invest their time and money in a crap idea. Please stop.

[Warwithin]

Your friend is in a saturated market as well if you just do a google search. You can even get those from petsmart or amazon so his chance of succeeding is just as good as your friends. Not to mention that alot of personalization services offer a whole range of personalized items than just pet bowls. Also you have the do it yourself kits and items that people can buy to do the same job for cheaper.

I would not buy a letter writing service but I would buy a service that would make me custom handwritten "Thank You" cards or info cards for the right price. I make a ton of gift baskets and jewerly, there I times when I would have loved to have custom handwritten tags or items lists. My handwriting is horrible and I love the look of calligraphy. Plus buying something written by someone else is not going to cheapen the hours or days I spend making jewerly for someone or the effort I put into making a nice gift basket.



I think it is against the law to mail yourself.

To be blunt, what's the price you were envisioning? i.e. "I would pay x cents / dollars per handwritten letter" or whatnot.

[Ebildays]

I said she has a lot of competition, but she also has a market due to the millions of dog owners in Britain, whereas this is limited to weddings (already taken care of), as part of a gift basket (already taken care of), as a note on a bunch of flowers (already taken care of), or as rare one off "Thank You" cards that the vast majority of people would write themself if they don't send an email/text.

The market for this is extremely limited, already saturated, can be done by people themselves or on their computer, available over the internet from thousands of others, on the highstreet by established retailers, or by a random child that has done an art class.

His chance of succeeding is not as good as my friend's is, and you can argue the toss all you want, but business ideas are not equal just because you want them to be.

Your claim that you'd buy them because you make gift baskets and have horrible writing isn't common, as most people won't make a gift basket during their lifetime, except perhaps in primary school - most people who send a gift basket buy them, get the note written by the company selling the basket, and get them delivered through that company as well, so why on earth would you think that people would say no to having the card written and request a third party to do so at additional expense and complication? If the two of you teamed up it might be a semi-viable business, but not as a standalone venture.

You're advocating that someone invest their time and money in a crap idea. Please stop.

First off you are not going to get handwritten calligraphy on a computer they are not the same. Your friends idea while good does not have anymore of a chance to work then his. Yes, there are millions of dog owners in Britain but

A. How many of those are going to buy a personalized dog bowl?
B. Choose to buy one instead from the many places in the mall or department stores.
C. How many people that want one will just make their own because it is very easy to do.

I would have told your friend not to go into that business unless she is doing something new and fresh with the idea. And if you bothered to take time to look at the etsy listing you would see the ton of things people do with the idea beside your limited views and ideas. You are advocating that the OP not even try to because there are other options available to people but would you say the same thing to your friend? Because her business is in the same boat whether you want to admit it or not. It is like telling Google not to bother with making gmail because there are other email providers out there.

Starting any business is a risk and it involves doing a lot of research on how much of a market is out there for your product. A person is going to have to fight for their share of the marketplace as well, if you are not willing to do that you should not step out into that world. What I am advocating is for the OP to try if he thinks his chances are good. MMOC is not market research because most people here would not think to use that service or need to use it. But there is a world of people that would use it and may like his company over that of his competition.



As for what I would pay for it. It greatly depends on what I am paying for. What kind of paper is it on, type of ink, quality of work, and the size of the product. For small items I am not going to pay more then .25 - $2 each depending size and how much text is on the item. The more text on the item I understand I would have to pay more. If I wanted a larger framed item I would just have to go with whatever the price is given to me. If I thought it was worth it I would buy it.

[Warwithin]

First off you are not going to get handwritten calligraphy on a computer they are not the same. Your friends idea while good does not have anymore of a chance to work then his. Yes, there are millions of dog owners in Britain but

A. How many of those are going to buy a personalized dog bowl?
B. Choose to buy one instead from the many places in the mall or department stores.
C. How many people that want one will just make their own because it is very easy to do.

I would have told your friend not to go into that business unless she is doing something new and fresh with the idea. And if you bothered to take time to look at the etsy listing you would see the ton of things people do with the idea beside your limited views and ideas. You are advocating that the OP not even try to because there are other options available to people but would you say the same thing to your friend? Because her business is in the same boat whether you want to admit it or not. It is like telling Google not to bother with making gmail because there are other email providers out there.

Starting any business is a risk and it involves doing a lot of research on how much of a market is out there for your product. A person is going to have to fight for their share of the marketplace as well, if you are not willing to do that you should not step out into that world. What I am advocating is for the OP to try if he thinks his chances are good. MMOC is not market research because most people here would not think to use that service or need to use it. But there is a world of people that would use it and may like his company over that of his competition.



As for what I would pay for it. It greatly depends on what I am paying for. What kind of paper is it on, type of ink, quality of work, and the size of the product. For small items I am not going to pay more then .25 - $2 each depending size and how much text is on the item. The more text on the item I understand I would have to pay more. If I wanted a larger framed item I would just have to go with whatever the price is given to me. If I thought it was worth it I would buy it.

This might seem like a stretch, but hear me out and give me your thoughts. I know there is a group of people out there who enjoy getting letters. Granted the enjoyment is primarily from knowing who it's from and the emotions behind it, what would you think about a subscription service that sends weekly letters completely out of context for, say, $5 per month? People might be curious to see little snippets of people's thoughts. Maybe I'm just shooting blanks, but I'm more-or-less throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks.

[Deleted]

the point of a handwritten letter as a gift is, that I write it by hand, to show that i really care and take the efford of writing with my best hand, by myself. its totally different from sending flowers. i cannot pick roses whereever i may roam, so i have to order them, and get them delivered.

the letter thing, sry tosay that, is a nice idea totally ignoring the point of handwritten letters.

no matter what, it will still hit the market, cause 90% of the people are un-educated by our modern school system so they will miss the point as well and so youll make money as shit, so: proceed.

[Warwithin]

the point of a handwritten letter as a gift is, that I write it by hand, to show that i really care and take the efford of writing with my best hand, by myself. its totally different from sending flowers. i cannot pick roses whereever i may roam, so i have to order them, and get them delivered.

the letter thing, sry tosay that, is a nice idea totally ignoring the point of handwritten letters.

no matter what, it will still hit the market, cause 90% of the people are un-educated by our modern school system so they will miss the point as well and so youll make money as shit, so: proceed.

Are there other forms of writing that you might want to have someone else write for you other than letters?

[Kalis]

First off you are not going to get handwritten calligraphy on a computer they are not the same.

That misses the point entirely.

The choices aren't handwritten calligraphy or nothing, they are innumerable, and the most common choice that people would make is sending an email/text, then writing it in their own handwriting, then printing something off a computer, and that pretty much dominates the entire market, and it is free.

After that you have people who buy the services, which is so far down the scale of people as to be virtually no market at all as a standalone product as people often have a "Thank You" note as part of another service.

Your friends idea while good does not have anymore of a chance to work then his. Yes, there are millions of dog owners in Britain but

A. How many of those are going to buy a personalized dog bowl?
B. Choose to buy one instead from the many places in the mall or department stores.
C. How many people that want one will just make their own because it is very easy to do.

They aren't similar business concepts: on the one hand you have people who buy a standard bowl versus those willing to pay a bit more for a personalised bowl, and on the other you have people who can send a message for free versus paying someone to write a message.

The competition for the letter writing business is virtually cost free, her competition isn't, and pay vs. pay =/= free vs. pay. You can make a living on the laziness of others, but not at everything.

A. People want personalised pet bowls, there is a market for it - some pet owners are strange, and there is enough of them for it to be feasible. She makes money, not enough that I would do it, but she makes a living.

B. That is her competition, and most businesses targetting a large market accept that.

C. Her products aren't that easy to make without a kiln, which she has access to.

I would have told your friend not to go into that business unless she is doing something new and fresh with the idea.

Then you'd have been wrong, which doesn't really say much for your business acumen. She went into a large market, it was a risk, but she has succeeded.

I wouldn't buy from her, as I think they are tat, nor would I invest in her business as I don't think it has much scope for growth. It's a 1-2 person venture at most, and she won't be driving a Bentley anytime soon.

And if you bothered to take time to look at the etsy listing you would see the ton of things people do with the idea beside your limited views and ideas. You are advocating that the OP not even try to because there are other options available to people but would you say the same thing to your friend? Because her business is in the same boat whether you want to admit it or not. It is like telling Google not to bother with making gmail because there are other email providers out there.

You don't have a business perspective on this, you have a personal perspective on it, which is the problem that so many startups come up against. Stop thinking as to whether you would buy the product, and start thinking whether enough people would also buy the product to make it profitable.

If this person wanted to start a business as a hobby, then I'd say go for it - they'll probably cover their costs, get to write in calligraphy and receive the occasional thank you from their customers to make them feel good (one of my aunts makes jam for that reason, and she enjoys it) - but this person isn't proposing a hobby venture, it is a proposal for a proper business.

It's absolutely nothing like Google creating gmail, unless you don't realise that Google had a huge readymade marketing platform. This person doesn't have that platform, and it would have been a waste of resources for Google to use that platform to market an idea such as this.

Starting any business is a risk and it involves doing a lot of research on how much of a market is out there for your product. A person is going to have to fight for their share of the marketplace as well, if you are not willing to do that you should not step out into that world. What I am advocating is for the OP to try if he thinks his chances are good. MMOC is not market research because most people here would not think to use that service or need to use it. But there is a world of people that would use it and may like his company over that of his competition.

You've heard someone say that starting business is a risk and are just repeating what you've heard without understanding it completely - starting a viable business is a risk, starting a non-viable business isn't a risk, it's commerical suicide...this is a non-viable business.

- - - Updated - - -

This might seem like a stretch, but hear me out and give me your thoughts. I know there is a group of people out there who enjoy getting letters. Granted the enjoyment is primarily from knowing who it's from and the emotions behind it, what would you think about a subscription service that sends weekly letters completely out of context for, say, $5 per month? People might be curious to see little snippets of people's thoughts. Maybe I'm just shooting blanks, but I'm more-or-less throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Your mum might like that, but it would be a bit hearltess to charge her for the pleasure.