Looking for honest feedback

I Googled "shaving websites us". Handlebar did not appear in the first 6 pages, however, sites in England and Ireland did appear.

I recall buying from Handlebar years ago and tried to find for a 2nd purchase. Not easy. I had to include Thousand Oaks in the search to find you. Searching for "shaving websites thousand oaks" does get you on the first page.

Google has some tips to improve your search results (probably your biggest issue). I would carry a few products that have stockists on their website - Phoenix & Beau plus Grooming Dept for example. Next, post specials or new products on DFS. Finally, ask at colleges for student web developers - they may have good ideas and reasonable.

Final comment and related more to appearance and also my opinion: delete the out of stock limited editions and never to carry again products or at least reduce the number.

Gareth - I have acquired far more shaving gear than I can reasonably use, but still want to try new soaps and scents. So, instead of blind purchases of full soaps, I tend to navigate to purchasing samples. I think Maggards draws a lot of eyes on their website with the samples. I would consider this as well. If someone gets a sample from you and like it, they may be more willing to purchase the full sized item from you.

Another thing is to have sales and specials where your margins allow. Even a 10% off discount might bring some new customers your way.

All the best,
Steve

I will agree with some of the previous posts - in my case I just didn't know you existed. Sure I live in Greece so I don't often buy from US/Canada-based stores due to customs and shipping costs; however I have purchased items where customs is not a concern (e.g. soaps) or when you can only find them overseas. In these cases I go to online stores I know and/or directly to the product vendor. I seldomly check adds so I am informed of these stores either by discussions in forum threads or by google search. In case of TheHandleBar I don't remember finding you in either source of information. So perhaps you should increase your footprint in Google and your participation in shaving forums.

Let me just say that from this thread you seem a pretty decent guy - which I value in any kind of dealing with other people - and for sure I'll consider you from now on.

All the best!

Thank you for your feedback FSword . While I feel I'm fairly active on this forum (over 1000 posts), I do struggle with providing updates on social media outlets. It's something I've been working on. I recently started an Instagram page solely for updating customers on our products @thehandlebarsupply , because our main account is mostly for the barbershop I own @thehandlebarbarbershop . Whenever I update folks on Reddit's wicked_edge or shave_bazaar with my business, my posts are met with criticism or "downvotes" with no real explanation. I vividly remember over the holiday I posted something about free shipping on all orders, and I got down-voted hard into the negative numbers. An hour or so later one of my competitors posted a very similar thread promoting a discounted holiday shipping rate on all orders (but not free) and that one got upvoted along with praise and comments. They have die hard customers there.
I try not to let things like that get to me. I try hard and do my best where I can. And to my knowledge I haven't ever upset anyone, but I do get a but discouraged sometimes.

Whenever I update folks on Reddit's wicked_edge or shave_bazaar with my business, my posts are met with criticism or "downvotes" with no real explanation. I vividly remember over the holiday I posted something about free shipping on all orders, and I got down-voted hard into the negative numbers. An hour or so later one of my competitors posted a very similar thread promoting a discounted holiday shipping rate on all orders (but not free) and that one got upvoted along with praise and comments. They have die hard customers there.

Happened on this thread, and was sorry to see this, as my experience with your service has been impeccable. Online, some adults behave more childishly than kids ever would. Think of it this way – since they most likely don’t know you personally, it can’t be anything personal. Still rotten for the business, though…

MntnMan62  Thank you for your feedback. You're right that this post was was not meant to garnish attention, but I guess as a consolation this thread did work that way.
I do have a vendor section here, and I do post fairly frequently. I've had a banner ad here on the main site for the last 4 years straight, so If you're just now noticing my business then I guess that means my banner ad has failed to garnish your attention. That feedback is also vital to me. Might be time to switch up the design of my banner.

Where would the banner ad be? I use a phone, with Tapatalk, so it's probably not visible for me. I do peruse the BST, and recently got into the habit of hitting the vendor section. I would likely have seen it show up sooner or later (like this post did in the recent feed).

Edit: Found it down in the Ts for 'The Handlebar...'. Drop the 'The' and move halfway up the alphabet, lol. Just kidding.

Hahahah, trust me, I've thought about it!
If you're using a desktop computer the banner ads are on the first page. They don't show up on Mobile or Tapatalk.

I only now went looking at your website and I have to say you have some great stuff.  I specifically was looking at the soaps and creams and was pleased to see that you don't just have the common big name stuff but lots of quality artisan soaps and creams.  And your pricing seems to be where it should be.  I'm sure I'll be placing an order in the near future.

Whenever I update folks on Reddit's wicked_edge or shave_bazaar with my business, my posts are met with criticism or "downvotes" with no real explanation. I vividly remember over the holiday I posted something about free shipping on all orders, and I got down-voted hard into the negative numbers. An hour or so later one of my competitors posted a very similar thread promoting a discounted holiday shipping rate on all orders (but not free) and that one got upvoted along with praise and comments. They have die hard customers there.

Happened on this thread, and was sorry to see this, as my experience with your service has been impeccable. Online, some adults behave more childishly than kids ever would. Think of it this way – since they most likely don’t know you personally, it can’t be anything personal. Still rotten for the business, though…

I try not to take it personally. But it's hard not to when it comes down to your livelihood. Reddit is very cutthroat, as I mentioned there are serious fanboys over there for certain vendors. If a different vendor posts, many folks behave like that vendor just did something wrong. It's silly. I know it happens directly to artisans as well. *Shrug*

If a different vendor posts, many folks behave like that vendor just did something wrong. It's silly. I know it happens directly to artisans as well. *Shrug*

I completely understand, and it really stinks when you’re just trying to make an honest living.

Pack mentality and hiding behind a nickname seem to enable some people to do and say whatever they wish. I’m sure we’ve all seen how if an artisan or a vendor takes a misstep, some individuals will hang on to that with the memory of an elephant, failing to see all the good that’s been done since the misstep.

All of this in the world of freaking wet shaving, of all things – something that’s meant to bring some joy into people’s lives!

No, people on the reddit wetshaving subs give the side-eye to artisans or vendors using the platform solely to try and make a buck off of the participants there. Participation and interaction in the subs are encouraged will go a long way in changing that perception. You may not like it, but that's just how it is. If all you post are "hey, buy this" or " look what we have for sale here" posts, that's just how the cookie crumbles over there.

No, people on the reddit wetshaving subs give the side-eye to artisans or vendors using the platform solely to try and make a buck off of the participants there. Participation and interaction in the subs are encouraged will go a long way in changing that perception. You may not like it, but that's just how it is. If all you post are "hey, buy this" or " look what we have for sale here" posts, that's just how the cookie crumbles over there.

I only post in the Bazaar, which is the Buy Sell Trade section... the entire point of that sub is to post items for sale.