Does the name do it for you?

[Stacy]

When you are buying handmade items does it matter to you if it has a special name?

I'm pretty sure I know the answer as I like to think that if I am buying something with a name it makes it a little more special, but i'm so crap with coming up with them I am hoping you guys are going to say...

"nah Stace..... the name matters not, its all about the piece!!"

[Lush!]

Yep, Stace ... the name matters much 

Actually, honestly, yeah - I like names!

[Helen G]

For me personallly, as a buyer I don't even think about the name.
I can't really speak from experience in selling beads but when I used to sell a lot of my silver jewellery through galleries and craft fairs, people bought it because it was me that had made it or simply because they liked. Nothing ever had a name.

I would say....."nah Stace....the name matters not"

[Lush!]

50/50 so far then 

Actually Helen, you're right - if the piece is in a gallery or shop I wouldn't even think about a name, but when its for sale online then its all about the description really isn't it.

[Katiequiggle]

I like names too, I'd much rather give my pieces names but my web designer keeps telling me that the search engines pick up on things that people type in to search and my names are not usually the things people type in does that make sense.  She also said that you should name each photo you put in too like  'purple lampwork glass heart' as search engines pick those up too.

I'd much rather give them nice names tho  

[garishglobes]

I'm not much of a name person. I hate thinking of them, and don't honestly take huge amounts of notice of them when buying....really....
I find it very hard to think names up, and I do tend to think with a handmade item I look at the piece much more than the name.
I've just been thinking as well, would I buy CIM Evil Queen over (as a name not colour example) Ink Blue or Turquoise, and the answer is 'not really', because again, I'm buying the colour I like and the name is just for fun.
Nah, name's not that important....the only thing is, online, it makes it identifiable and what would you use instead?

[Kaz]

Name matters!
Customers ask me for beads by name - "are you going to be making any more of the rick-racks"; "I like the new ottoman beads"; "the alien berries are great fun!". You don't have to have a different name for everything but grouping certain types of beads under a name really helps people identify with it IMHO. You often then find customers use your name in naming their piece - I named some beads Hopscotch and the customer named the jewellery Hopscotch too!
Certainly as someone who has bought (a shedload of) beads in the past, I really like the naming thing and it does help sell it to me - but maybe I'm just an easy-sell!
I don't think you need to worry about coming up with totally different names than everyone else though - as you often see the same names repeated (probably picked up subliminally). For me, the name usually comes to me as I am either making or cleaning the beads. If all else fails I scour poetry, i-tunes, reference books/sites etc.
Kazx

[Steampunkglass]

I think what it looks like has be no1, but name comes a close second, if you have a funky name you're more likely to get people clicking to look at it. I read recently about a jam/marmalade seller who noticed a rival stall was selling way more than she was in the same craft market, price and quality were the same, but he'd but fun names like 'goldfish marmalade' etc on his pots.
It's tough to get noticed in alot of places like Etsy and Ebay and anything you can do to help the odds in your favour must be worth doing (adds mental note to stop calling all his stuff 'another drop' and think of better names too!)

[astringofbeads]

It doesn't matter to me particularly, I'm much more likely to buy a bead because I love it rather than buy it for it's names sake, but flipped the other way round my website customers want the names as much as the beads   maybe that's because they're collecting their bracelets for a reason but I'm always getting asked for named beads. I don't tag them with their names when I do a show and there folks do seem to buy because they match others/like the colours etc!

[garishglobes]

Kaz, naming 'lines' of beads is a good point, well made  I can see that they would help identify your style as a beadmaker/other maker.

I have had customers name their pieces after my names, but have also had them tell me they completely renamed because the beads said something totally different to them! Could be I'm just a bad namer....

So is the whole naming thing a balance between function (for search and to make it obvious what the item is) and fun (for remember-ability and getting noticed), with more emphasis on 'sets' of items in a style than individual names ?

[LittleMoo]

I hadn't thought of this before but now I realise that I am swayed by names.

I recently bought a set from Bev (Pegasus Lampwork) which I loved both because of how they looked but also because the name totally matched the colour and brought to mind lovely memories of relaxing on holiday in Crete (they were called 'Retsina').

So i'd have to say that yes, names are important.

[mizgeorge]

I like naming things And I definitely like buying things with names, especially beads - These are often the beads that stick in my mind for the longest.

I use names of islands for my finished pieces and have actually had a couple of nice sales that came about by people googling the name of the island whilst making holiday plans!

[Helen G]

mmmm.....Ok let me revise to say...."Yah Stace, name matters"

Now I can see that maybe beads are better with names,the point about customers asking for repeats by names makes loadsa sense   

[Pegasus]

I think that naming beads adds to the individuality of the pieces and fits in well with the concept of handmade being something personal and meaningful. It gives an impression that the item has been created pleasureably and not unemotionally like factory made things.
It also gives a little insight into the creator I think

I hadn't thought of this before but now I realise that I am swayed by names.

I recently bought a set from Bev (Pegasus Lampwork) which I loved both because of how they looked but also because the name totally matched the colour and brought to mind lovely memories of relaxing on holiday in Crete (they were called 'Retsina').

So i'd have to say that yes, names are important.

I too have wonderful memories of Greece and especially Retsina, a traditional honey coloured wine, which is why I named them Retsina! So I guess naming beads just makes them feel a bit more personal and maybe that just means that people can relate to you a little. I would much rather buy from someone who I can relate to but that's just my opinion.

Bev
XX

[turnedlight]

I like a name, I think it means the maker had a little look at the bead once they'd made it and thought 'ho hum, what name can I come up with for this then' and it's hard actually because I can only think of so many names, so I start callng it 'something 2', 'something 3' etc! I don't mind if it's a number or even a description which isn't all that imaginative but I don't like to leave it with nothing..
I've just had some mini moo cards done with some blurb on the back and a space to fill in the name of the bead/s.