Any chance of a favor? If you have a moment, I just need some feedback from experienced magicians.

I've finally opened a US branch for the Merchant of Magic. We have been shipping out to the US for many years, but I really wanted a way to offer a better service to US customers, So we have been working on http://www.madaboutmagic.com

I'm wondering if you could spare a few moments to take a look, NOT BUY ANYTHING, but just see if the site layout works for you, is easy to use and works ok. I've been beta testing it here for a week now, and all seems fine, but I'm sure there are some design tweeks I could do to make it a better site to use and easier for visitors to register etc

The new shop allows us to ship out from a few locations across the US, to better serve our customers in the States. It also allows us to have a phone service in US time zones, we just can't currently do from our existing UK site.

At the moment, it's only set up for US shipping destinations, while we make sure the customer service and user experience is A1, then we can look at rolling out to more destinations later in the year.

As a bonus for you, while your there, you can download free of charge, courtesy of Ben Harris, the following great ebook as a thank you for sharing the time.

http://www.madaboutmagic.com/INSTANT_DOW......nfo.html


Thanks, and once again, NO NEED TO BUY ANYTHING, that's not the purpose of this exercise, but I would really appreciate your time to take a look.

Best wishes as always
Dominic Reyes

Layout is very nice. Seems easy to navigate.
Not so sure about the prices though.

Sire looks really good. And the prices look fine to me.

Hello Dominic- the site has a nice look to it. I like how the format is set up. One feature I really like is the choice to look at a specific manufacturer and thier products exclusively. Though, are all the manufacturers of the tricks that you list on the site entered? I clicked on a few manufacturers and no products came up, but I think you had some of their products, for example Jay Sankey or Daniel Garcia. I like the Highly Recommended Tab. Who decides which products are highly recommended? All in all- I like the site.

RNK

I think this site is really cool! I love the little purple Dominic. As, in my opinion, the leader in quality PDF distribution, I think our USA friends will enjoy having the same benefits that we do. Let me assure you all too, I have been using Merchants of Magic to sell my own products and also to buy other products for 3 or 4 years now. The service Dominic and Ben give is second to non. The customer service is top class and they both go out of their ways to make sure the customer is happy. They are reliable, trustworthy and very nice gentlemen. You will come across very few magic sites that offer the reassurance that Merchants of Magic and Mad About Magic can give.

Jamie Daws

I like how you tagged ads on the Google searches for all the major US magic dealers. You can't hardly tell which one is the real shop.
This one came up on a Google search for Ellusionist:

Ellusionist
Easy To Do Magic Tricks
Great Range, Free Shipping
http://www.madaboutmagic.com/Ellusionist

Nothing like a little deceptive advertising to get the sales rolling in.

Seems ok. Why would anyone switch shops? What do you offer that others don't?

Looks pretty good to me

I have heard it said that brick and mortar shops can not compete with online shops because of overhead. You seem to charge full retail without the overhead.So I will repeat DR. Magic's Question"What do you offer that others don't?"
This is my honest reaction . I can get the same prices at a shop and cheaper at several sites online.Why would I spend more or give up the immediacy of a purchase at a shop?

Glenn and Dr, Merchants of Magic ARE a bricks and mortar shop. They have worked incredibly hard to get the respect they have. The thing that sets them of is A) there customer service. B) they are the driving force behind bringing Magic to the new century with the advance of technologies. They are very keen on driving forward to the downloadable world of magic and making it as accessible as possible. C) the real love they seem to have for what they do. They were the first guys to give me my break when others wern't interested and without them, I can honestly say, I wouldn't be where I am in my magic career now. I praise them to the highest!

Jamie Daws

Jamie, thank you for responding. That's high praise indeed!

Fair enough ,Jamie.If they manufacture their own products it is reason to shop with them.
On the about us page I cannot read the text, under the we keep our promises. It overlaps a picture creating a white on white image.

It comes up well on an iPhone.

If there's something I can't get here in the states, I would consider your store.
All things being egual, I'm going to support the many fine shops here who provide excellent service,
the lastest technology and good value for the dollar.

Thanks for all the feedback so far, and the very kind words of support!
I've found building a website like this is very much like constructing a building. There are people wondering around it, getting stuck in the elevators, going around and around in the lobby swing doors and doing 'who knows what' in the stairways It's invaluable to get feedback from actual magicians as they look around it. Info you can't get from programmers or techies, testing the site.

RNK: Well spotted. We imported the manufacturer list from Merchant of Magic, and some of the list is not hooked up yet. I'm on it!

Jamie: We love you, and your work. Thanks for the support

Mr Magic: Great point! Through 2011 it's going to be the core place to showcase our own range or tricks, books and DVD's and we have some ideas for delivering magic to you in a new and exciting way, once the tech is ready. Before we can do that, we have to ensure we offer fast and cheap shipping, but also 24hr telephone support within the US.

Glenn: I think you hit the nail on the head. Lots of shops mean prices tend to drop down to the lowest they can before customer service suffers, as its the biggest variable cost that a business hits up against as prices decrease through competition. I want to keep the prices competative, but the move to a US site/warehouse/office, rather than shipping from the UK means we can really focus on customer service. That's the area that's the most important to me. Adding unique exclusive items, showcasing our own range, but most of all, I want to try to create the support experience of visiting our bricks and mortar shop as much as possible.

Motown: Thanks for the heads up about the graphic error on the about us page. I'm on it now!
Right now, we have an iphone and ipad app being developed for us. It has a live link directly to our inventory, and allows in app purchasing which I'm very excited about. It's a big project, but so far the developers have done a great job, and I'm sure magicians will love it, when it's ready to roll.

I've used Dominic's company for years.

I don't mind paying a little bit more on occasion because of the truly excellent service he offers. This includes calling up for a chat or returning duff items (he posted a new one out before I'd even returned it, there's trust!). He also sends stuff out hours after the order is made and clearly communicates if there's going to be a problem. Dominic's point of difference is SERVICE with a capital S.

Good luck Dominic.

I'll second that, Andi.

Benny

One other thing I'll add, I think it's great you're offering free shipping on orders over $35.

Things like that always help.

Thanks for putting me and Ben Harris' FINK effect Dominic.
I am honoured that you put some of my work on your site!
By the way, the site looks great "!

Kyle

Kyle: Your very welcome. It's a lovely routine and visitors really seem to be enjoying it!



Motown: Yep, I hate paying shipping too! Don't forget there's a banner ad here on the Café, that gives you a coupon code for an additional 10% off as well as the free shipping

Thanks for all the posts, PM's and emails about the site everyone. It's been REALLY helpful to get the feedback and suggestions for tweeks, extra services and features. I thought all we would get back from this review request was the silent rolling of tumble weed, and the squeaking of a rusty sign blowing in the wind

The biggest change has been to the shipping system, where we have added several extra shipping options to give a range of services as well as the free shipping option.

Please do keep them coming. I'd be really interested to know if customers would prefer, free gifts in with orders, or would rather have bonus discount coupons etc Personally I like getting a little surprise extra pressie in with my orders, but looking at other sites it seems small member discounts seem to be more popular. I'd really welcome your thoughts on this.

Also, our order line is a regular NY phone number, do you think turning this to a toll free 800 number is important? It's pretty expensive to do, but if it's important to our visitors, I would definitely look at providing it.

Thoughts...