Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey everyone, as you may have heard on the Chance of Gaming Podcast, there is a new home for Outrider Hobbies, www.foamcorps.com. This is until we can get a new site built, but hopefully will tide everyone over until then.

If you placed an order that has not been filled yet from the old store, don't worry, I still have the old store active and have your information. No orders have been lost in this move.

Also, for those of you that have placed orders, I am planning on cutting the trays this week. I have been unable to get to the laser due to it being moved to a new location. The electrician should have it hooked up again and ready to go by the end of the week. Do not worry, we have not forgotten about you.

Also, don't forget, bag orders are still being taken. I am planning on turning in the order either the last couple of days of September, or the first week of October. So don't delay, or I may not be able to get you the color that you want.

Finally, don't forget, there are still a couple of weeks left for the founders month sale. Get 15% off your Foam Corps trays when you use the Founder2010 promo code. Yes it works on the new site.

Any questions or problems on the new site, please email me at info@outriderhobbies.com and I will answer you as soon as I can.

Happy Gaming!

Can you list pictures and exact dimensions of the trays? I am specifically curious about the Tyranid Gaunts tray.

I understand that your trays are fitted to your specific bag, but for the many of us that already own some bags and trays, it would be a nice comparison for future purchases.

Additionally, what happened to the custom-cut-tray option?

@ Absolutionis - Some trays I do not have pictures of. MY fault for not getting the picture when I made it. A lot of the trays were selected for inclusion after someone requested that design as a custom tray.

As for exact dimensions, all trays are standard 7.5x13 inches and not fitted to my specific bag. I actually fit the bag to the trays, not the other way around. Eventually there will be some 15x13 inch trays, but they will be notated accordingly. All trays also include a 1/4 inch base that is not included in the thickness of the tray. Thickness refers to foam wall only.

As for the custom tray option, it will be back, I just have to re-add it. I'll get it up tonight. (Thank goodness for laptops during Chuck)

Your site needs a lot of work, and should probably not even be online in it's current state. My suggestions:

1.) Redo the header. It looks like it was done in MS-Paint. If you suck at art, go to Etsy.com, go to Alchemy, post what you want, and how much you're willing to pay. Someone will bid on it. With 10% unemployment, no matter what pittance you offer, someone will bid on it. Incorporate the Paypal logo somewhere on the top of the page, not hidden on the bottom.

2.) Every tray needs to have the dimensions on the product information page. You have thickness on most, but it's not acceptable to omit the length and width.

3.) If you click on the "register" link on the navigation bar, you get a message that your last action was potentially malicious, and so have been blocked from the page, along with a number to call for support. Reloading the page loads it as normal. I wasn't able to reproduce this in any other browser. My suggestion, after debugging this page: remove it from the navigation bar. You already have a sign-in page which allows registrations if needed, and there is no reason to register unless you're ordering anyway.

4.) WHY ARE YOUR PRODUCTS ALL IN CAPS?

I'm generally disinclined to trust my funds to a company with such an amateurish website because I presume my product and any support, if needed, will be similarly amateurish. I mention these things not to be cruel, but because you have what appears to be a solid product being hampered by a terrible presentation. If your foam sucked, the Warstore would not sell it. Hence, your foam must not suck. I especially love that your bag unzips both on top and on the sides - much nicer then my Sabol!

I'd like to see you succeed, and I don't think it would be much work to do so, presuming your foam is OK. If you're a customer facing business, then your website should be your main revenue driver, and you should invest in it accordingly.

Ouze wrote:Your site needs a lot of work, and should probably not even be online in it's current state. ...

I agree and disagree ... it does need a lot of TLC but, as a business trying to sell product, you cannot afford to loose your exposure while a new site is created.

However, a large "stamp" indicating that a new site is coming or is "under construction" will help the negative site perception. While some may choose to wait to place an order until the new site is up, it's better than turning customers away thinking that the site, as presented, is "good enough" for you.

Ouze makes some very good points in his suggestions, too. Good luck with the new site !! I hope it comes together fast for you and your customers.

It is a definite improvement over the last site... a few other suggestions to help you out...

#1 You have a URL for "Foam Corps" and also "Outrider Hobbies." You should probably have your URL redirection the other way around as you ARE "Outrider Hobbies" and "Form Corps" is just a product you sell. This is just the 'standard' way of business. You don't want to confuse your customers. I assume you will have other hobby products? Otherwise, perhaps becoming Foam Corps, Inc. or something?

#2 The header needs a large amount of work. Your red logo clashes heavily with the digital camouflage.

#3 Having different buttons on your main screen for product ordering is another potential point in confusion. "Add to Cart" for one item and "Options" for another does not look professional. I understand the reasoning behind it, but you want consistency.

Out of curiosity, I notice you are using GoDaddy for hosting. Is the .sc file and the content developed by them, or is is 'supplied' software for their hosting?

I think your new bag looks pretty good. I'm moving away from the Sabol sized trays, but will probably keep a few of my cases instead of replacing them all. I'll keep you in mind if I need some custom sized foam for those cases!

I posted this before but if you want a good online store package check out www.bigcommerce.com it's a hosted solution so you don't need to do any installing, they have tons of professional templates to choose from and a lot of great features. You can also just import all your products from a spreadsheet which saves a lot of time. It's something like $25 a month for up to 100 products, and the more products you have the more expensive it gets.

I used them before for an old online store I was planning, and I will be going back to them soon for my new project probably some time next year.

Myrthe wrote:However, a large "stamp" indicating that a new site is coming or is "under construction" will help the negative site perception. While some may choose to wait to place an order until the new site is up, it's better than turning customers away thinking that the site, as presented, is "good enough" for you.

I had not thought of that. Excellent idea. What I said about not shopping at a site with such a poor presentation? It wouldn't extend to sites that I knew were still under development.

@Outriderhobbies

I'm just going to throw this out there - I have no market research to tell if it would work or not.

You have trays for 'Space Bug' game and the SJG Dungeon card game. I'd like to see trays that could fit in the square Fantasy Flight Games boxes to organize cards and playing pieces. FFG has not provided any sort of card organization or storage. It's not a big deal if you have one game, but games with many expansions (Talisman, Arkham Horror, Runebound, etc) could use something.

I already use 2 boxes to carry all my Talisman stuff and it sure would be nice if there was some sort of insert to organize the cards and counters.