Pig in a Poke

I’ve already bought several patterns here, and half of them were unusable. That’s pretty annoying, because in the end you’re buying a pig in a poke. There’s no way to get a preview of the pattern. You do see nice pictures of the finished products, but the pattern itself is correspondingly thrown together with little care. It also seems that some sellers don’t make the effort to write clear and easy-to-follow patterns.

Sure, it’s not easy, but after all, these ladies and gentlemen do want money for them. There should be a cancellation option like in the Google Play Store. Within 15 minutes after purchase, you should have the option to cancel the pattern and get your money back. Maybe some kind of “preview” before downloading. And the pattern can only be downloaded if the customer is happy with the preview.

I can also open a book in a store and see whether I understand the patterns, and only then buy it.

Hi Alex,

Well, the 15-minute rule probably won’t work—after all, you can save a pattern in just a few seconds and still use it, but then claim you don’t like it and get your money back.

Maybe a preview of one or two pages, like Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature… but I can’t say if something like that is feasible. However, other platforms, such as Ravelry, don’t offer this either.

Best, Nici

Yes, something like that—for example, getting a screenshot of, say, half the pattern. I think that if you build in a technical hurdle, sellers might be more willing to put a little more effort into their patterns. After all, there are technical hurdles with stock photos.

I don’t know exactly how many patterns there are, but I can’t imagine that so many of them are unusable.
As has been discussed here many times, if you have problems with the pattern or are dissatisfied, contact the designer or CP.
In my opinion, unusable patterns are unlikely to have many sales and will have poor reviews—
you can check all of that before buying.
I don’t think screenshots of parts of a pattern are a good idea,
but I do think a sample project is a good way to show customers how your patterns are structured,
since everyone has their own style.
You can also check this out using the free patterns—I’m sure every designer here has posted something for free,
so as a customer, you can test whether you can work with them.

I was just about to suggest the same thing about the free patterns, because they give you a good idea of how each designer’s other patterns are structured.

This post gives me a bit of pause.

@AlexBijou : You’ve only been a member for a short time. But you’ve already bought “several?” patterns. Half of them were unusable. What was the problem? Did you contact the seller and ask for help? Did you actually work through all the patterns you bought, or did you just read them? Are the patterns from different shops?
For me, this raises question after question, all of which lead to one main point: Customers who may not have been crafting for very long are put off by statements like these. And many designers here don’t deserve that!!

Every responsible buyer tries to do their research before making a purchase. Reviews are certainly helpful, but so is—as the previous commenters have already mentioned—the ability to view free patterns.

Hi, I have more than one free eBook in the store, as well as a pattern eBook… I don’t want to show half of my eBook as screenshots. I’m not sure which patterns are supposed to be half-hearted, but my customers know that if something is unclear, they can message me. So far, I’ve only had one instance where I actually had to revise a pattern—I rewrote a pattern for professionals to make it suitable for beginners because a beginner had purchased the professional version.

I think if a pattern is unusable, you should contact the designer; maybe they’ll offer a refund as a gesture of goodwill.

Dear Alexandra, welcome to the ranks of the complainers and mudslingers (that’s what we call people here in Northern Germany who, even back in the sandbox, couldn’t think of anything better to do than literally throw dirt at their fellow human beings—out of envy, because they couldn’t build a great sandcastle themselves, and just to draw attention to themselves!)
 
Normally, it’s best not to react to such people at all. Especially on the internet. Because they see any reaction as a reward and a success. And then they dig in all the more.
 
I’m going to do it here anyway, but my response is actually intended for my fellow authors. They know exactly what I mean when I say it’s really hard to take insulting remarks like “slapped together without care” and so on.
 
Where are the reviews from all the satisfied customers that you’d need to balance things out? Those damn review fields—if only they’d never been invented. You sell hundreds of patterns, have 99 satisfied customers, and one mudslinger.
As a creative person, you’re unfortunately also particularly sensitive, and I have no intention of growing a thick skin!  But honestly, sometimes I carry that frustration around with me for days when yet another “clod” has been thrown.
What do I think of the suggestion to provide a preview of the pattern? Probably the same thing Alexandra will think of my suggestion to publish reviews in future only after the authors have had a chance to preview them.
 

@moniswolle

Well, well… text is missing :-)

Spot on…
but I’ve already gotten out of the habit of getting annoyed for days on end ;-)

Hello everyone,

Okay, I think we’re all agreed on the preview issue—at least we designers are. As already mentioned, a digital file can be saved within seconds ... and a word to the wise is sufficient.

I also agree with ursulapetra that designers who create great patterns do not deserve to be accused of carelessly throwing patterns together.
I don’t take that accusation personally, though. I know my patterns, my reviews, and I’ve also received a lot of feedback on my patterns, and I think that’s what customers primarily do as well ... read customer reviews or the comments on patterns. That makes reviews with a short, factual note all the more important. 

From a customer’s perspective, however, I do of course have to agree with AlexBijou: when it comes to patterns, you are buying a pig in a poke ... but that’s just the way it is. I would say, though, that the way patterns are written, or the way individual steps are described, does not differ drastically from one designer to another. So I buy a pattern and then find out pretty quickly whether I can manage with that style of pattern, and if not, I decide not to buy patterns from that designer anymore. However, we should also be fair and distinguish between this: am I simply not getting on with the pattern, or are there actual errors in it?

If, however, patterns are wrong, translated into incomprehensible German, or "unusable" for whatever reason ... dear people, then please write to the designer or Crazypatterns. The worst thing in life is dissatisfaction. I’m a customer too, and if I buy something I can’t use, then I have the right to have it corrected, and I do make use of that right. 

Best regards
Melanie :o)

P.S.: Both designers and Crazypatterns want satisfied customers :o))), so please contact the designers and/or Crazyapatterns regarding unusable patterns!!!


 

Hello everyone,

I’ve already bought many patterns from various sellers (about 77)—though I haven’t worked through all of them yet—but when reading through the patterns, you can usually tell whether a pattern is well written or not.
With one pattern, I had some trouble with the font (I simply enlarged the pattern). The seller responded and wanted to change the font. What more could you ask for? To the people who just complain—why don’t you contact the sellers and explain the problem to them? (My boss always used to say that at some point you become “blind to your own operation”—meaning that if no one says anything, you no longer notice the “mistakes.”) 

Dear designers, keep up the good work and don’t let any complainers get you down. They should try writing a pattern themselves—then they’ll realize how much time and creativity goes into it.

Best regards, Andrea

Now I have to speak up—I think this is the review I received, although I’m starting to suspect I’m not the only one who has received a bad review from this lady. I commented on it in the comments section; it concerns the pattern Luxury Design No. 30. Even after reading it several times, I can’t find any errors. It includes two crochet charts that are very simple, as you can see from the finished piece in the picture—just double crochets and single crochets. The entire piece is crocheted in one part, and I think that when I write that basic skills should be sufficient, that’s justified. My patterns include pictures, but not, as you can read about some designers, up to 100 pictures. I write a pattern, not memoirs, and I think I write in good German, so I don’t need to rely on 100 pictures. There are certainly customers who like that, and they will also buy from the corresponding designers, and that’s perfectly fine. Unfortunately, the lady did not contact me, otherwise I would have explained the crochet chart again row by row or helped in some other way. The tone also matters here, and in the forum the lady makes it sound as if not only my pattern is bad in her eyes, and I don’t think that’s right. I got upset yesterday, but today is a new day, and things can only get better.

Greetings to all the designers who got upset with me without knowing which pattern it was about.

I also think it’s a real shame that the designers aren’t being asked directly here. I just believe that many people forget their humanity when they’re on the computer and take advantage of anonymity to be rude. You wouldn’t walk into a store and say, “There’s a mistake here—give me my money back or I’ll contact a lawyer.”
It’s really a shame that we aren’t being addressed directly. Maybe the complainers should also consider that there are real, flesh-and-blood people here—with hearts and feelings—who, on top of managing a home, a husband, children, and a job, still take the time to design such beautiful things and, above all, share them with us. As the previous speakers already mentioned, we designers have some free patterns in our stores—just take a look to see if anything appeals to you.
Don’t let it get to you, my dears—we know what amazing things we create. :)