Trollbeads vs. Pandora :: Can't We All Just Get Along?

What is UP with the talk I hear about Pandora's latest so-called business initiative? Are they really trying to force retailers who sell Pandora to drop Trollbeads?!

Okay, folks. I'm taking off the gloves for this one. It's hand-to-hand combat now, and I haven't yet shared this ... but the time has now come.

Time for some serious Trollhound from-the-gut honesty. (Remember - you'll always get honesty at Trollhound.) See, generally speaking, I believe that your average person who hasn't yet succumbed to the dreaded, life-altering Bead Collector Syndrome (which I will lovingly call "BCS"), well, these people might actually (gasp!) say, "Who cares? What's the difference? A bead is a bead is a bead is a bead!"

The horror! The pain! Agony!!!

Well, as you might have come to expect, I'm going to express an opinion. While that little ditty ("a bead is a bead") might play out as somewhat true ... it's not actually true. Especially if you are talking about Trollbeads and Pandora beads. Or Trollbeads versus Pandora beads (which is just plain ridiculous - that "versus" thing). And, if you are like me, you even have a pretty doggone strong personal preference about which of those two company's products occupy most of the available space in/on your chains (or are responsible for those gaping holes in your bank account!).

My simple - yet very solid - belief is that there isn't really grounds for much comparison between the two companies.

Especially when you note that the products that you actually are able to buy from each company differs in a very vast way.

First, let's talk about glass.

Trollbeads' glass and Pandora's glass beads. Pandora's glass beads are ... pretty ... pretty boring. And limiting. If I've counted right, Pandora has an offering of less than 50 standard glass beads. Trollbeads' standard glass beads number around 150 ... and then they even release for public consumption (or for Trollhound's singular consumption!) an uncountable number of "Unique/One-of-a-Kind" ('OOAK") glass beads. These Unique/OOAK glass beads are almost always the most highly sought-after glass beads there are. They are sooooo cool (and MINE, if I find them first!)!

So let me remind you: this is my own opinion. I truly do find many of Pandora's metal beads (silver, gold, mixed) to be fabulously awesome! And, in spite of the fact that the wearer might be led to believe that there would be an all-out dog-fight on the bracelet, my beads seem to happily and peacefully coexist quite well ... right next to each other! And - grand shocker here! - I think they might even have become friends!!!

So, basically, I personally think Trollbeads glass beads just plain ROCK way above Pandora's glass beads. The end. Contest closed. And in turn, I will cheerfully give a highly-deserved nod towards Pandora's metal beads. I think that the metal beads are Pandora's brightest star ... and that, as a business mission, they should focus clearly and closely on that effort.

So, now I'm going to get to the real point of this posting.

I've been hearing A LOT of very unpleasant talk about Pandora and how they are becoming quite the little ... um, hmm... how do I put this? I got it! Whether they know it or not, they are now being viewed as the TOWN BULLY. It seems that they have begun to believe that they really are "all that." Well, they ain't.

I'm becoming concerned that, if we, as collectors of both Trollbeads and Pandora (and other brands), do not speak up, we might just find ourselves suddenly backed into a corner with icky beads being force-fed down our throats, while our wallets are gleefully raided by Pandora's wicked upper elite (who refer to themselves as "executive management").

What I am hearing is that PANDORA is actually forcing their retailers to DROP Trollbeads from their sales inventory. Meaning, close the account. As in telling their retailers something like, ''If you want to sell Pandora, well, nanny-nanny boo-boo, then you can't sell Trollbeads. And if you defy us, we'll go out and find some other retailer local to you, and we'll set up an account with them just so that we can promote them over you and cause you to have wasted all that $20M that you invested in our beads when you decided to become a Pandora retailer." (Okay, so I'm exaggerating that $20M thing, but you get the point.)

Now that just doesn't sound very nice, does it? Sounds like a kindergarten slapping contest to me.

From what I've seen, it appears that Pandora's leadership has begun to indulge in too much of their own self-generated hype. And with that over-inflated, puffed-chest, huge-market share, ego-lead belief, they now seem to be pointing themselves down that seductive path that always has a pretty front picture and a horrendous outcome.

I sense a very painful lesson of "suffering the consequences of your own actions or misdeeds" approaching.

Yo! Pandora!! Yoooo hooo!!!? Are you listening??? This is important, and I truly wish that Pandora's leadership would pay attention to the shouts of customers: CAPITALIZING ON MARKET SHARE DOES NOT MEAN YOU HAVE TO ABOLISH, DESTROY or STOMP ALL OVER YOUR "COMPETITION."

That is disgusting and repulsive. If they subscribe to that as a base of their business practice, how could any upstanding person keep wanting to do business with them?

One of life's best lessons is that competition that makes you better. If competition is gone, where's the motivation to improve on your own product? If you believe you are perfect, where do you go from there? Nowhere. And then we, as the customer, would suffer from the lack of innovation that is often spurred by competition.

THIS is where I believe that Pandora now is. And I feel that, as a company, they are on the very edge of making a very fatal turn. As a customer, I can honestly say that, if they jump into that pit of self-serving notoriety, stepping all over companies like Trollbeads (and any other bead companies) in the process, well, I think that they will suddenly and painfully find themselves neck-deep in quicksand. If that happens, I, for one, will not be throwing a rope or shedding any tears.

If you have no enemies, then it can be said that you consider no one to be your friend; if you have no friends ... you have nothing. If you have no customers ... you have no business.

I ask all fans of Trollbeads, Pandora, Biagi, Chamilia (or whatever your "bead of choice" might be) to stand together and let Pandora know that this is unacceptable. We all want to make our own choices, make our own decisions, and buy whatever the heck we want!!

This is a mess, and I fear that it ultimately may prove to be a business plan that will cause pain, frustration and irritation to all bead collectors. As customers, do we really want to support a company that disregards the fact that we like having the freedom of choice?

I am capable of making my own choices - and flat-out possessive of my right to do so. I don't want ANY company dictating what style I buy, what retailer I buy from, or what brand I buy. If Pandora keeps playing childish kindergarten sandbox games, I will refuse to spend any more money on their products.

Integrity matters more to me than any product. Everyone wants a choice, and we have fought long and hard to be graced with the options of making choices.

If Pandora chooses to take away our right to choose, by essentially eliminating their perceived competition, aren't the customers the ones who will actually suffer? Do you want to support that?

I suggest that, if Pandora wants to win over more customers, they should follow a typical and respectable success-drive business plan: make a better, more appealing product.

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Why don't you go ahead and send an email to the "head-dude" at Pandora? Let them know how you feel about Pandora messing with your right to choose and trying to force Trollbeads out of business.

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Life and Trollbeads: What's It All About???

Well, folks, here I am. For better or for worse.

Sorry for the really (really!) long delay, but I have had a very busy life lately. Like with my real life. The one that supposedly pays the bills. Yes, Trollbeads are my true love and are the joyful part of my life, but they don't pay the bills. (As a matter of fact, so far, they've just added to the bills!!) So, commitments elsewhere have made it so I,unfortunately, haven’t had the time to write anything here that could be interpreted as interesting – by me or anyone else.

What’s the latest? Well, right now I am working on updating two websites with major changes; and I am also building three new websites from the ground up. (My passion and specialty in life – other than Trollbeads – is web and graphics design.) So, why am I sharing this? Because the best part of working on the two new website is that one of them is a Trollbeads website! With that, you can best believe that I am having THE time of my life!

As for my opinion about the new "Winter 2008" Trollbeads release … well … I think they are absolutely SPECTACULAR! But … I only have three so far. I have the Green-Turquoise Silver Trace, the Turquoise-Purple Chess, and the Turquoise Feather. And, well, the only reason I have those three at all is because I ordered them through Trollbeads Denmark. It seems that there’s been a tiny bit of a delay for some reason on the US distribution, but I have been told by a couple of US Trollbeads dealers that TrollbeadsUS is working as hard as possible, and shipping as fast as it can and that I will be getting all of the beads I order very soon. Which, for my order, means A LOT of beads. What do you expect? It's hard to be patient, but I have a LOT OF FAITH in TrollbeadsUS and Lund, and I know they are doing their absolute BEST to get the new beads out. Me first! (Okay, let's be fair ... I'll wait ... like everyone else!)

While I have been busy with my own life’s real challenges, I also want to confess that I am unbelievably and absolutely amazed -- and way more than a little disappointed -- by a certain “Trollbeads Rumor Gossip Mill” topic. I’ve tried my best to ignore it, but that doesn't appear to be much of a possibility anymore. I think that the time has finally come for me to acknowledge the ridiculousness that is circulating.

From no fewer than FOUR sources, I have heard that people think I am Louise Rogers. (Louise Rogers owns and operates “TrollbeadsGallery.com.”) You know, I’d actually say that I've been “accused” of being Louise Rogers, but the fact is, since I think that Louise is a fabulous business woman who has had great and much-deserved success in her life … the terminology of "being accused” of being her would actually be an incredible compliment to me. (Not so sure how she'd feel about people thinking she was ME, tho!) Louise Rogers has never shown me anything but the most wonderful side of life; and she is a true joy for me to work with – and buy from. She is the ABSOLUTE ULTIMATE PROFESSIONAL – almost to a fault. It’s my very extreme experience as an "Internet shopper" that has led me to classify her as someone who often gives above and beyond what is "necessary." Occasionally, that trust can come back to bite one in the butt.

So, let me get straight to it, with no ambiguity: I AM NOT LOUISE ROGERS.

Why in the world would anyone ever think that? Why is there any implied mystery here? What I'm writing about here is BEADS, folks; I'm not sharing national secrets! WHAT is the DEAL???!!

“So,” you persist, “why don’t you say your real name on this blog?”

That is a question that is pretty darn simple for me to answer. Let me just give you the first three that come straight to my mind:

1. Once more, for the record: I AM A TROLLBEADS FAN. I am not a Trollbeads employee, either by hook or by crook. I am a graphics and web designer. Why are you here reading this? I bet it's because YOU are a Trollbeads fan. I'm not demanding to know YOUR name, either.
   
2. I am a very private, quiet and unassuming person. I despise controversy – I HATE IT – and I feel very strongly that my life is my life. I don’t mind sharing opinions, and speaking about something that has brought so much joy to my heart - Trollbeads. I certainly never suspected that my writing about Trollbeads would become controversial. That just frustrates and angers me. What is this about anyway??
   
3. I purchase a LOT of Trollbeads. And I don’t buy from just one source. And, no I won’t share who, where or why I buy from any particular place. Why? Because I feel very strongly that sometimes the best secrets are best kept secret. I would not want to every Trollbead Fan in the world to buy from my places!! No way! After all, it’s always a “first come, first served” song; and I buy a LOT of Unique Trollbeads. “But,” you say, "on your blog you talk about “TrollbeadsGallery.com …” Well, yes, you are right, I do. Happy to do so. And you might then consider that to be contrary to my claims of not wanting to share my sources. Well, it’s really not. Not at all. I browse TrollbeadsGallery.com very often and, while I do often buy Unique/OOAK beads from Louise Rogers, I actually mostly buy current Trollbeads from her.

However, the one POSITIVE side of the "fallout" from these ridiculous rumors, is that it prompted a lot of communication between me and Louise Rogers at TrollbeadsGallery.com; and as a result of our communications, we've become friends! So much so that I have NOW even started helping her with her website/s … and we actually both feel very blessed to be able to share in each others' love of Trollbeads.

The fact that we both have red hair is about as close as we get to being the same person! Other than that, I’m a foot taller and live 500 miles away; she’s married, I’m not; she has kids with kids, I have neither; she has cats, I have dogs … well, you get it.

I have been further honored to be included in a few communications with who I will refer to simply as “the powers that be.” That has brought a bit more light to the unfortunate rumors, and I’ve pretty much reached my own conclusion they are maliciously-created by a disgruntled and very miserably unhappy person. One who’s singular agenda appears to be retribution or to cause harm. Jealousy is evil has no place in an honorable life. I strongly feel that everyone should walk with caution and care for everyone else – malicious actions cannot be defended by any truthful manner. You know who you are. I challenge you to go ahead and try to look yourself in the mirror. Do you see a happy soul? Or do you see one who is only happy by bringing down others?

Fortunately, I’ve determined that the negativity that was apparently hoped to be the intended result is now being simply dismissed with a cheeky roll-of-the-eyes ... by all who are being included and brought into this circle of deceit. I find myself pitying anyone who is so unhappy as to try to cause such harm to others. It would be best for them to just turn now, and walk quietly away.

Happily, tho, even with all of this frustration, I haven’t become entirely jaded. I still truly feel that there is a very small percentage of people who are evil enough to stoop to such a low a level of behavior as this has proven to be. How sad is it when someone tries to impose their own unhappiness onto another.

Especially so when you realize that by their very nature, Trollbeads are really all about beauty. It’s a big BIG world. And there are a lot of Trollbeads fans.

Ultimately, I have found that most people involved in the passion of Trollbeads are entirely fascinating, kind, creative and very much "Unique/OOAK" in their own way! I have even been inspired to drive many miles to meet wonderful people with whom I have become “Trollbeads friends” with – through the Internet! – and it is absolutely fantastic. (You know who you are, TC!!!)

So, come on, folks, let’s treat each other well, okay? Stop this crazy hateful activity and get back to what it really is about. And, if you need a reminder, it really is about treating each other with kindness and compassion, allowing for errors and shortcomings (in others and in our own selves), and trying to create a more harmonious world for us all. Life is not really “all about Trollbeads” – although sometimes I allow myself to wish it was.

But you know, come to think of it ... I have recently been in a store that has a wonderful banner hanging on the wall:

It’s true!
She who dies with the most beads DOES win!

So keep collecting ... I’m way ahead, you've got a lot of catching up to do! :-)

That's why I'm a Trollhound ... I can sniff 'em out anywhere ...

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