Finale

It has been a few months since the mugs officially shipped, with some issues here and there. I haven't received any new complaints and I've been trying to keep in contact in the Horo threads when they show up. Overall things appear to have gone well with the shipping though once again I must apologize to all those from different countries who faced ridiculous shipping fees. I still regret not being able to bring you the mugs I promised for a much more reasonable price. Thus ends the project and I am going to make sure all non essential information (such as addresses) are removed and all official work is safely within the servers of other enterprises.

If you have any issues in the future with mugs feel free to contact me. That said, I still have some left over mugs. Some misprints that I was given for free and the rest normal ones. If somebody happens to read this and wants more, I have a few more to send out.

On a final note, I will be gone come next year for a few months. Complete internet blackout. Afterwards the times at which I can browse threads or check my email will be at random. I might have days of free time, I might not see the light of the internet for a month (much to my dismay). If I am not within contact for a while, do not worry, I will do what I can to be online. It's been a pleasure and a learning experience making these mugs gentlemen and possibly ladies. Let's raise our glasses to Horo/Holo/Korbo, and drink until even the Wise Wolf would stagger.

Bad News

I've run across a bit of a snag with the price of international shipping. Instead of the previous 60-80USD pricetag it would be 170USD give or take. Either way, international buyers would be paying close to 200USD for one mug. Needless to say that since they cost only 7.50USD to have made, this is a HUGE price increase. I'm not sure what I can do but ask if anybody knows of cheaper ways to ship internationally. I checked both FedEx and UPS and to ship a package that is 10x12x8 at 4lbs, they both come out to that general cost.

I hate to disappoint international buyers like this but it is one of those things that I do not know what to do for. If anybody wants to buy for that price then I will have no issues wrapping them up well and insuring the hell out of them.

Personally I would recommend you email me so I can send you the images I used. There are other glass engraving studios around and it won't cost you 200USD.

I'd like to say I'm sorry about this turn of events to international buyers one last time. You have been waiting a long time for these mugs only to have to hear this. Again, if anybody knows cheaper shipping let me know. If you want the designs then email me as well and if you still want to go through with the order I can do that.

International

Alright I've been a combination of busy and lazy lately so I'm going to get international orders started this week. I'm going to be emailing everybody from my original list with a paypal money request as soon as I figure out the weight and cost to ship. These will be pricier thanks to the horrible shipping rates. I'll be sending the emails out throughout the week so if you do not get an email and were on the original bulk order, let me know around Friday since I'll finish the emails by then.

Additionally, if anybody that got orders has issues, let me know. Don't feel bad to bug me either since I sometimes get emails mixed up and I like to hear about progress. It seems like most people have gotten their orders and are happy with them from the general feedback I have been getting.

International Orders

Picked up the mugs for international orders today. I will soon be sending PayPal requests for money and then shipping as they are paid for. I will be charging for the base price of the mugs plus tax in my state, the cost of shipping, and the cost of insurance on the packages. None of the mugs for international have centered images though, all are next to the handle.

Order Question

So the company contacted me earlier today. They said some of the mugs had been printed with the graphics on the front (facing away from the handle) instead of right next to the left hand side of the handle (as shown in the picture). I saw some of the mugs and it looked perfectly fine to me. If anybody has a problem with this and really wants to have the graphics on the left hand side of the handle then let me know very soon.

As I said though, it looks fine by me when I saw them and I told the company it was fine since they were half way through production. But if it is a problem to you, let me know ASAP.

Shipping

I got in contact with the company and asked them when the mugs would ship, they said they should be done by Friday and the time it takes in the states is 4-5 business days. Took them a bit longer to make them than I thought but you should be seeing them by next Friday at the latest. International orders who have paid, I will be picking up the mugs next week and shipping them myself then.

Orders Paid For

Just got home after paying for the orders. They will be producing the mugs in the next 3-4 days and shipping them out as they are made. If you don't get yours within two weeks let me know.

FINALLY

Alright. Got PayPal to stop being racist and now I'm transferring the dosh to my account. From there I'll pay for the mugs and have them shipped out. Already emailed the company asking how I should pay for them and from there I'll transfer them the money as they see fit, get a receipt and official invoice, and then they will start moving to everybody who has paid already.

I'm sorry for how this is taking an extra 10 days than what I expected but now I just need to wait on the company for an email in the coming few days. Also to all those who paid very early, an extra apology especially since you might be getting a bit impatient. For very good reason. 

The End Begins

As of this point, I am now going start the final step of paying for the mugs. Thanks again to everybody who participated so far. I only had a few people unable to pay by the deadline so I am mostly happy with how things went. As soon as I get the details of payment done with the company I'll pay them and they will take over from there.

I'll make a new update when everything is all finished in that respect as well. Expect the mugs soon and if something goes wrong (broken glass during shipping is the first thing that comes to mind) let me know.

All Finished

Just got all the invoices for U.S. and Canada buyers sent out. On the off chance I missed you, let me know ASAP. I learned a lot from all this so far. For one if you ever do this, always keep updated, always keep a spreadsheet, and always organize.

Things didn't go too badly so far though. Thank you for all who follow the blog as well. It keeps communication simple and this way you can just yell at me if I mess up somewhere along the line. So as a final reminder, the invoices are all sent for U.S. and Canada buyers, I'll personally ship for international buyers and those who need me to hold onto their orders until they have some more cash. It's been a strange roller coaster of excitement, fear of messing up orders, and boredom waiting for others to communicate issues with (specifically the company I'm going though). I'll begin cancelling unfilled invoices by the end of the month which still gives around two weeks to fill the invoice out. Any questions or concerns, email me about.  As one person who has never done this before I lack insight. Your questions could point out a flaw in my shipping plans, somebody I missed, or who the hell knows what else.

Delays

Sorry about how long this is taking. I am having some technical issues with invoices. I'll the whole thing finished by the end of the month and have the shipping start. The issue isn't difficulty, just speed of communication with the company.

Technical Difficulty

The ordering process got a bit messed up with the company. I rewrote the whole list of buyers for them so for the few who haven't recieved an invoice and are within the U.S. or Canada, expect one soon. I'll post when I have the final invoices out. I am still waiting on about 8 anons to send money payments from earlier invoices.

To everybody who has completed the transaction, expect your mugs to ship within the coming weeks. Communication takes time with this company and I am hoping they finish the last of the invoices by tomorrow so I can send them out over the weekend.

Fast Payments

So far 2/3 of the orders have been filled. This was a bit faster than I expected. I did take some additional last minute orders over the weekend and will have those invoices out when the company makes them.  There also was some confusion where I missed orders and I went back to double check all the emails. I don't think there are any issues now BUT EMAIL ME IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD AN INVOICE SENT TO YOU IF YOU ARE WITHIN THE U.S. AND CANADA. I cannot stress that last part enough. Outside those areas I will have to handle shipping myself.

So if you have any doubt, feel free to email me. Double check, triple check to make sure I didn't mess up. I'd rather get an email before it is too late and don't want to accidentally exclude somebody.

Invoices Sent

Just finished sending out all the invoices for U.S. and Canada buyers. Outside U.S. and Canada buyers will have to wait a bit longer. I'm going to wait until the invoices are all paid then have the company send out all the orders.  From there I'll personally handle the international orders.

So pay the invoices ASAP and we can have everything finished up. IF YOU DID NOT GET AN INVOICE AND ARE IN THE U.S. or CANADA, EMAIL ME!
I cannot stress that enough. Check your spam box, check any alternate email you may have given me, and if not there then email me and let me know. I may have missed you or entered an email wrong. I'm already getting payments in which is great to see since I'm excited to have this all finished.

Delays

The semester is mostly over for me now. That means I can focus on getting these invoices out. Expect them to be done within a week if not sooner. Sorry that I haven't gotten it done yet but I really needed to get finals out of the way and now my time is mostly free.

Invoice Request

It has been a long and busy week. I just sent a request to the glass company for details on everybody's orders and will wait for a reply. The invoices are taking longer than expected but I have a solid list hammered out now in the least.

Ordering End

At this time I am going to end the ordering process. I have 78 orders at the moment and am waiting on final emails. This is going to be very expensive for me to do so I plan on sending invoices and gathering some money first. It will give people a last chance too. Now for the long and laborious process of sending everybody an invoice and ordering the mugs. This too will take some time largely because of my horrible lack of foresight. I forgot just how busy the end of the semester can get and as such I'll be working slowly but steadily towards getting these mugs done and shipped out.

Likely within a week the invoices will be sent out and I'll have the mugs commissioned. How long it takes to have them made I have no idea but I will make sure to post about that when I find out. Thanks for all your patience during this process too. I've never handled something like this before or organized such a large transaction before but Murphy's Law has not been hitting me too hard which I am thankful for.

The Final Stretch

So I have emailed everybody who hasn't replied yet during the ordering phase. If you are one of those people and are reading this, check your spam folders and send me an email. At this rate I will close the ordering period within the next two weeks and start taking money orders through paypal/have the mugs made.

This is getting to crunch time. Right now with only about 1/2 the potential orders filled (lack of responses from interested parties) I still have 45 orders in total. If I get a final surge of emails I might be able to drop the price even lower. It has been a few weeks since I spoke to the glass designers but if I remember right, 9.21USD was the price per mug with an order under 40. If that is the case then the price should be even lower but don't hold me to that.

It has been a hell of a project to work on and organize but it has been going well. If you have any major questions feel free to email me and in the meantime keep checking the blog for updates.

International Shipping

Did some more research and I have found that the price for shipping one mug outside of the U.S. will be around 30USD. The weight limit on the cheapest shipping I could use was 4lbs. and each mug plus packaging meets nearly that limit.

Canada will be cheaper though since flight is not required.  I'll be sending out emails to whoever hasn't ordered yet and then tally up the final count. This will be another month or so I'd guess. Mostly because I'm busy and lazy on my free time.

Update

I'm making a list of buyers today. Organizing all those who have responded already and keeping track of those I need to email so I can get everybody all set up. Expect buying to be over in the next few weeks. A rough date to go off of will be April 15th. I will then be producing final prices per person ordering and then finally collect per paypal.

Mug Price Update

The final price per mug will be 9.21USD. The increase is due to the listed mug size being larger than the one on the site and by including tax. The price will be lower though if over 40 mugs are ordered in the final purchase. At this rate that might be a viable option.

Finally shipping in U.S. should be the same as mentioned below. Thanks to all those who are currently interested and have emailed me already. For those who has not emailed me and I have their email on record I will make sure to send out a reminder a week or two from now. I am planning on allowing another month or so to finalize the orders.

Shipping Estimates

Well after asking around a bit I've found a general idea of the final price. Assuming between 21 and 40 mugs are ordered the base price will be 6.55USD per mug. I believe this is the overall price per mug with design included. I'm going to double check with Glass With a Twist just to be sure. Inside the U.S. Should be relatively cheap. I found a box which will ship flat rate. Good news is it can hold up to four mugs. Bad news is that if you want just one mug then shipping will be the same price. This means that the final price for one mug plus shipping will be 17.90USD plus some cheap insurance on the package. Around 18.50USD. After that, 3 more mugs can be added at no additional insurance increase and only the price per mug. Since there are two different designs then this should be good news to those who would want one of each.

Now I must apologize to those in other countries for I have to be the bearer of bad news. I had an estimate done for shipping to Australia (about as costly as international shipping can get) and for a cheap rate, it would cost 28.00USD per mug. This is because only 4 lbs. are allowed to go though the cheapest rate and each mug weighs nearly that in box. For those in other countries who are interested though, I have two suggestions.

1) Give me a location I can ship to and I'll go ask FedEx and UPS as well for their rates, in person. Maybe they will be cheaper. Just email me and I'll get an estimate back.
2) I can give you the images used for the mugs via email should you be interested. If you have a company in your country that could produce etched glassware then feel free to use those images. Even if each glass would cost 20.00USD to make that is still cheaper than the shipping.

Feel free to email me. I'll begin taking orders now for those who are interested. For the two designs, refer to the one with wheat on the edges as "Wheat" and the other as "Dress". If you would like multiple orders then say something such as
Wheat x2
Dress x4

If you have any other questions then ask in the email. I'll be collecting the money prior to shipping. I'll produce an exact total BEFORE placing an order so you can give a final confirmation that you wish to purchase.

I have also been promised a return policy by the glass manufacturer in case something like the handle breaks off. From my experience so far they're bar quality glasses. I think I've even seen them around town in restaurants minus the engravings.

One final note, some people complained in a thread a few days back about the face. Upon viewing the pictures in more detail, I believe it is mostly the camera quality (cell phone). Without gray scale as a viable engraving source some shortcuts are required such as filling in the eyes. I for one am extremely happy with how the demo mugs turned out though if it means anything.

-EDIT-

All payment will be handled though Paypal using the email, pyritesalesman@gmail.com

With your order include a state, or if international, a country. This way I can give an estimate.

02 Vector

Got the vector back from the company I used. They did a great job on it and I'm very happy with the design. Now to just touch up 07 a bit and then have two mugs created. I won't get to this step for the next few days though because I will be busy this weekend.

Quick Update

Just waiting for the vectoring company to finish the work and I'll post the result here. From there I'll make two mugs, one with each design on them and take pictures. I'll share them on the blog for all those who are still interested to view.

Split Decision

Voting has ended. 02 and 07 have tied for the win. What I will do though is have 02 professionally vectored and if 07 needs any touching up I'll handle that. It seems pretty fine other than a rough edge here and there. By doing this, most everybody will get what they want. The downside is if I can only bulk order one image at a time it will likely be a dollar or two more. If anybody has a problem with that let me know on the blog. I'll hammer out the details on that later. For now I'll get a professional to handle 02. I'll post and updated version of 02 as soon as the job is done.

Professional Help

After receiving some advice, I have decided to have the final image stenciled by a professional and not do it myself. It'll cost a bit to do but I won't charge anything more for the mugs and the final outcome will be better than my attempts. I am pretty good with photoshop but nothing compared to a professional who will end up making a better final version. Until then I'll make some quick and dirty stencils to chose from. Like this I should have emails sent out by Saturday.

Technical Difficulties

Received an email from Glass With a Twist this morning. They would have a difficult time working around most of the images so right now I'm going though the process of converting all the images into true black and white. It requires some time to touch up the images manually as well so I will hold another voting off the new, true black and white images sometime. I don't know how long this will take but considering Anonymous of Jacksonville was an awesome enough dude to link me from his blog I've been receiving a few more requests to join in on the project.

The images will look different because they will be true black and white but so far I see little problems. The hardest part is touching them up to get rid of derpy angles. We're almost ready to start choosing the final image. I predict in about a week I will email everybody to revote on the four images.

Top 4

Voting has ended and files 01 and 07 were the crowd favorites with twelve votes a piece. In third place is 02 with six votes. These three I will be sending in but there is another issue. Somebody emailed me a late submission early into the voting process. Instead of emailing everybody who already had voted, I'm going to just include it in the final vote. The text will be removed.

Now I need to send them to the company and see which they can use. Hopefully all four designs work out. Either way, expect an email as soon as they get back to me for another round of voting. 

Voting Time

Still waiting for about half the anons to vote. Throwing this up in case you are one of them so check your mail for a response. Either way I will count all the votes by Friday of if feeling patient, wait as late as Sunday.

I will post the results by Sunday night my time either way and immediately contact the glass etchers to see what they can do. I am really hoping the top three can be done but at worst I am very sure a few can be. So far there are three main contenders but that can still change. Look forward to voting updates by Sunday pacific time at latest.

Beta Phase

Good news everybody. Visited a local glass etching business today. Their name is Glass With a Twist. They're an entirely online store so they only had the workshop which is beneficial for this. I got to see their development process and staff along with some of their previous orders. My largest concern on how detailed the custom image can be was pretty much laid to rest with this picture I took of one of their more intricate designs. It can be a bit hard to make out but is a rather detailed picture of a fox's face. Costs are drastically cut too since this is a local business where I can pick up the glasses (remove 50 dollars in shipping right there) and they have no fee for a new design.

The staff member I spoke to was professional and answered any questions I had. What's more, their prices are very good. So good that I am a bit skeptical of the quality of the glasses and their work but they were busy making many orders and have a full return policy should any of their products break on part of faulty glassware. On top of that, their retailer for the glassware they receive is a well known company. More information on that later.

Overall the company is a small one but appears to be a trustworthy one. They only have one style of pint glass available though which is the 16oz version. See link for an image example. http://www.dollartree.com/16-oz-Pub-Glasses/p294372/index.pro

Regardless, 16oz is a rather standard size and more than enough to hold a beer or whatever your drink of choice is. There is also the available option for a beer mug though. See link. http://www.glasswithatwist.com/Bulk-Beer-Glasses-Prodlist.html

It is now that I would like opinions. The 16oz pint glass or the 25oz mug. Which would you prefer? Personally I am leaning towards the 16oz pint glass. I would like a 20oz or 24oz version of the pint glass but that is not an option with this company and can't be helped. Either way I'm not spilling any tears over having to deal with a 16oz glass.

On one final note, I checked out their supplier, Libbey Glass as well. They have products available on amazon and the few reviews that they have are generally high praise. They are also a major glassware manufacturer and as such, must have enough quality glassware that they stay a major company. So far I am getting only good feelings about this company even with the skeptically low prices from Glass With a Twist. I have no explanation for their great prices besides attempting to supply their customers at the lowest prices possible while still making a profit. Given their reputation and standing at the moment it would be believable.

I will assemble a few more images before sending out a vote on them. This should take a few days so be prepared for an email sometime. Any questions or concerns you have address here or via email. Now is the time to voice them.

The Waiting Game

With about as much research done as I can at the moment, now comes the long boring part of finding out details from companies. My goal at this moment is to
- Check which companies are the most reputable
-  Find out just how detailed the logo can be (hopefully pretty detailed for more variety)
- Choose some official artwork for the voting list

Over the weekend I haven't gotten any new emails from the various companies I have questioned so hopefully they will followup during normal work days. It is at this point expect less consistent posting but I will try to make at least a post every few days just to show that I am still working on it. Just don't expect much content in some of them. Make sure you check back at least weekly though as any slightly important questions I ask I will wait at least four days to gather responses before making a choice.

Again, big issues I will email everybody about as well as post on this blog. I am hoping that the local company I am interested in will make a sample glass for me to take home so I can send some pictures out and stress test it myself. Before getting a glass though I will want to have an official logo chosen.

Sandblasting versus Laser Engraving

I spent a few hours researching various ways that glass can be engraved. To keep it simple, satin etching (also known as sandblasting) seems to be superior to laser engraving for drinking glasses.

The rest from here on is SCIENCE if you're interested in it. If anybody knows this better than I do then let me know. My current knowledge on the subject relates to a dozen websites.

From what I understand, laser engraving is effective on purer glass. That is to say, glass with little other than that in the composition. Pure glass is considered a natural substance. With no impurities in the glass, a laser cuts just fine. But when you want a tougher material, the glass may be combined with a little bit of another substance thus creating an impure glass which is more suitable as a drinking glass. Downside is a laser engraving does something weird to the integrity of the glass compared to satin etching. In either case, they both produce very similar visuals but one is considered superior. In this case, drinking glasses usually receive satin etching.From this we can conclude four important points.
- Pure glass is more brittle than impure glass
- Impure glass makes a better drinking cup
- Laser carving gets jacked up for some SCIENCE reason on impure glass
- Satin etching (sandblasting) is, from what I reviewed, superior for drinking glass

SO for the wrap up part now.
tl;dr
Satin etching is superior to laser engraving. If anybody happens to work with these kinds of things then I'd appreciate your input.

On a final note, I have a promising lead and may be able to see irl examples one day. If any new developments occur I will post them here. This is one step closer.

Alpha Stage

 Right now this is the officially unofficial concept art for the cups. It is by no means the only one being considered at the moment and simply stands as a general idea.

As of now there are 8 potential images for voting on and 14 people interested in the glasses. Current progress is about the same but I am emailing a few places of interest and waiting on responses. As I plan on bulk ordering, the more that I can order the cheaper each glass will be by a dollar or two. If everything goes according to plan, the glasses will range from 8-13 dollars a piece (depending on the manufacture) plus the cost of shipping and packaging materials. Overall I can imagine a maximum cost of 20 dollars and a minimum cost of 15 dollars.

The cups will be made of glass and if at all possible, will be laser engraved. This ensures that the image will not fade. I aim for a 16oz to 24oz glass that is completely clear save for the the image itself and can be machine washed. I have not decided if the actual cups will have handles or not. At the moment leaning towards no handles. Opinions on this would be appreciated.

The overall progress relies heavily on amount of time available for me to research and the speed at which I can get estimates back. My final goal is to choose the best deal possible but not at the sacrifice of quality to the cups.

The Beginnings

Hello and welcome the the first post in a hopefully successful project to create custom drinking glasses. The idea was first presented to /a/ last night and with the flood of emails off two threads it seems much simpler to communicate though a blog. I will hold onto email addresses for more in depth issues but for small developments check here.


First off I have investigated a handful of websites claiming to be able to add custom engravings and it looks promising. If anybody has an image they would like to possibly see on the glasses then email that image. So far I have a collection of five images that I will leave up to all of you to vote on.

Here is to a successful project and on a side note, here is to Anonymous of Jacksonville being unbanned.