Information about the owner
www.welldressedgi.com
I started The Well Dressed GI in the fall of 2004 originally as a
means to provide members of my unit, the US 84th ID WWIIHRS,
with quality gear at decent prices. Also it was started to help defer
some of the cost of collecting and reenacting for myself. Since then,
it has started to steadily grow with more products being added all
the time.
This is a part time business and we are still very much here. I have
been working about 60-70 hours per week, and just completed a
stint as S-3/XO of my reserve unit. I am returning the woolen goods
back to my product line and have some other expansions in mind.
I am not intending to compete with the larger suppliers who are
feeding their families on their sales. I also do not intend to get into
the "China Resale" business that many do. These are the
companies that buy Sturm and other products from China, and resell
them at a mark-up. First off, the quality isn't that great on many of
them, but it is improving. I am not here to make a fast buck, but
provide good equipment to people at a reasonable price. Besides,
you can not really make much money off these versus the overhead.
I would rather do original stuff that not many others have, to fill voids.
Keeping prices low sometimes can mean keeping inventory low as
well, to avoid paying for items that are just being stocked to be sold
at a later date. I do my best to keep my inventories on hand, but
sometimes your demand is higher than my ability to restock.
My business philosophy is pretty simple.
1. I am a reenactor and collector myself, and I don’t like getting
screwed or mislead on products. Be up front and straight forward on
advertising. Compromising my integrity is not worth making a fast
buck.
2. I will not sell you anything that I will not permit the people in my
unit to wear. It must pass my own authenticity test to be sold to you
as usable WWII reenacting gear.
3. If I am aware of a problem with the gear I sell, annotate it in the
description and let you decide for yourself. This doesn’t mean there
aren’t surprises that you discover on items, but work with me if
something unexpected happens.
4. Keep my website up to date and reflect what I really possess.
This is easier said than done, but certainly this is attempted.
5. Customers like receiving their gear quickly, so I ship twice a
week. No order should wait more than half a week. Sometimes I
ship more often if the orders warrant it. I would ship daily, but again
this is a part time business, and I have my other job to do on
occasion!
6. Charge a realistic price for shipping. I have paid way too
much for shipping myself, and I don’t want to do that to my
customers. This also means scrounging boxes wherever I can get
them to keep your costs down. Don’t be surprised if an order shows
up in a breakfast bar box! You can pay for a more fancy box if you
like, but I suspect you care more about the product than the shipping
container.
7. Don’t take preorders for anything I don’t stock. Things usually
go wrong with preorders. Items I am painting or making like
helmets, etc are an exception. In most cases, I will take your contact
information and let you know when they are back in stock.
I have intentionally targeted the marketplace of the new reenactor. I’
ve been there as well as watched members of my unit struggle
through getting their impressions together, which is costly and
timely.
I appreciate the interest I have seen in getting this off the ground and
I look forward to doing business with you in the future.
Tim A. Scherrer
Proprietor
The Well Dressed GI
tim@welldressedgi.com
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