Is Stardock\Professional skinning recession-proof?

Speaking from my own point of view, I've increased my advertising budget the last 2 quarters in order to try to increase chances of bringing in new clients. Since a lot of commercial skinning is about advertising, I'd imagine the business will do pretty good recession wise.

You mean we're not in a full blown recession right now? Seems like it to me.

People will always want to customize their PC...but if the economy was better, I'm sure sales would be better.

I would consider myself to be in a personal recession, times are really tough right now, worse than they have ever been financially. I found a way to get a WC subscription and then a little later, an OD subscription...because I wanted it.

If you rely on skinning for part of your income, all you really need to do is make people want what you got.

Your looking at this from a one sided point of view. Just because one country is in a recession doesn’t mean that they all are. The question you should be asking is how many of your customers are in the US. If it is a high percentage, than you are going to feel an impact when money tightens up.

PC customization is a disposable income type of market. As long as people have extra money in their pockets to spend, you should be OK. If gas and other essentials continue to rise in price while paychecks stay the same, people will start spending less on non essentials. If this continues to happen, you will surely feel the effect.

BTW, no business is recession proof.
This was probably not what you wanted to hear but I'm a realist.

During past recessions in the US people have spent money to feel better.  The movie industry has always done well during tough times; people want to escape from their lives and that's a good way.

As people get more stressed about hard times they may want a little "pick-me-up" in front of the PC they sit at each day.  A good skin or widget could be just that.  (May I suggest this one: https://www.wincustomize.com/skins.aspx?skinid=233&libid=34)  If the skins are inexpensive enough the business of skinning might actually improve.

I agree that it might really come down to marketing.  Hopefully the new DreamScapes and MyColors will open up new markets.

Awww, too bad DesktopX thingies no workie with Vista SP1.

On Winstep we have Wanda , who opens a fortune cookie if you need a boost !!

Darn SP1.  Works wonderfully well in naked Vista.

Get ur mind out the gutter   

I didn't buy a new PC however, I did buy some hardware upgrades for my XP based PC and that will have to do me for 1 to 2 more years now, I have been saving what I could for 2 full years and spent a portion of this. Each and every few months my daily living expenses increase and my pay remains stagnant. Not a good situation.

This "recession" is a media creation anyway... so don't fret it. The media tells us we're in a recession, so people stop spending money, thus companies raise prices... it's all a vicious circle started by the liberal media. And they are the ones who run our lives, by the way, not the government.

Sorry, I brought politics into it. I'm just tired of hearing the word recession. The economy would be just fine if the $#@%ing media would just stay the hell out of it.

Well being a Canadian and Canada being a country that generally has the same standard of living as the United States, we rely on each other fervently. What hurts the U.S. hurts Canada. The U.S. is one of Canada's biggest trading partners, so a slow down in the U.S. economy ultimately hurts Canada. For example here in Quebec we use the metric system. You have 4.5 litres to the gallon. Here in Quebec you pay approximately 1.15 per litre, converting that to a gallon is approximately 5.30 a gallon, and I didnt do the math but this is approximate. So what affects the United STates ultimately has a trickle down effect in Canada...

The two most influential countries [on other countries' economies] are the US and Japan.

If either one [or both] falls into a big enough hole the rest will suffer as well....;)

RPGFX - have to disagree with ya there, I mean I realize that the media can be influential and can help snowball and sway peoples opinions and feelings but there is solid math behind a real recession, I won't go into but I can assure u its not just the media. Nothing to argue to much about though   

Regardless, I kinda was looking for some output from folks that skin for a living.   

I (i'm from europe) have two thoughts on it, actually. One is that all products from the US are cheaper, and so I'm able to buy more. The other is that it really influences our economy too, cause the Euro is worth so much more, you guys won't ever buy anything from us anymore... Anyway, for skinners i think it's better, considering the european people that will buy more of your skins now.

Well, now that we are technically ..in.. a recession.. any more thoughts?

OMG...I didn't look at the starting date on this thread and got my panties all in wad over RPGFX's post about it being a media creation.  Was all set to post something about how almost Zen Buddhist this view is, (since nothing is real anyway but that doesn't mean I don't need groceries).

Kind of amazing to see where we were just a little less than a year ago.  The recession is now a very real thing, and from the last reports I read, it's global, not just US.  

I don't know what the answer is.  I truly wish I did.  I'm glad I bought OD when I did, because there's no way I could afford it right now or in my immediate foreseeable future.  If I believed in a deity, now would be the time I'd be fervently pleaing to him/her/it.  Instead, I'm at that "Hello Beastie" moment in my life that parallels Jack Sparrow's in Pirates of the Caribbean:Deadman's Chest, when he's chained to the deck of the Black Pearl and the Kracken is climbing on board.  It doesn't matter what I did to put myself in the situation I'm in, or which friends betrayed me or weren't there to have my back...I have to battle with the beast that's right in front of me and hope my survival skills will see me through.

Yeah....when's Prowler gonna be done?

Well, skinning helps sales, and the really good skinners have great graphics skills....if WC changes into the platform (Web 2.0) that I believe it will, then it will showcase more than SD products...namely the graphic artists and their work as well.

All the points raised here are valid and no one has a crystal ball, nor the author's rights to one, but Brad is definitely doing the right thing by WC as far as SD is concerned and I believe, by extension by WC and the artists.

That's why I felt that modules might be the right way to go....in particular a special "Showcase" module that could be marketed across the web or designed so that marketing would be facilitated by it.

I definitely agree the approach should be global as the "weak" dollar promotes sale of American goods. I know of at least three companies in dire need of great advertising right in Detroit.

Well if the US dollar is weak, then the Oz dollar ain't never gonna climb out of the sewer.  Currently it's trading at 67c per USD, but for the most part during this recession it is trading well under 60 cents.... at one point dropping to 50 cents.  With exchange rates like that there's no way I'm buying American goods, and certainly not luxury/can-do-without items.

I had some software in mind to purchase, like CorelDraw for USDS179.99 through Shoparhive, but not at AUD$270.00 - and then of course there's my ObjectDesktop subscription, but it will have to wait until the exchange rate is much better, cos there's no way can I justify spending 105 Oz bucks on it today, but even more as the Oz dollar weakens against the greenback in the days, weeks and months to come... not when my rent just increased another $20.00 pw, and groceries keep skyrocketing towards near double what we were paying 12 months ago: ie; Han's 1kg Strasbourg was $6.99 8 months ago - now it is unjustifiably $12.49, so it stays in the store... as does about half of what we used to buy.

So in answer to the question, is Stardock/Professional Skinning recession proof, the answer is no... no it is NOT.  People are going to put food on the table and keep rooves over their heads before they buy skins and associated softwares, and given that the lions share of the market is the average joe, sales will go into decline as they struggle to feed, clothe and house themselves. Granted, there are some corporate entities requiring the services of skinners and the associated software, but as their customer base (s) shrink while average joes tighten their belts, so too will they have to tighten their incidental spending on non-essentials such as skinning.

Skinning itself isn't recession proof but, skinner's can be based on the broadd range of skills the have. Solid companies will boost their R&D and if relevant companies see a tangible need for skin's than their may be a boost.

The other side of the equation is how many new skinner's will enter the market thus making it more competitive and less profitable.

The only thing I've found to be truly recession proof is trading stocks. Which explains why I haven't been around as much but, a poor day of trading for me in the last few months (at least until this past week) far exceeded any day I could see in earnings from skinning.

Say John just check the numbers!

You ask a simple question - but it is not going to  be a simple answer. No Way!

I see it like this...

1. How many new computers are being sold on the market today?

2. Who is buying them?

3. Do people really care about Skinning their computer?

and not but least...

4. How much if any is a good price to make people think about buying something now that the economy is going bad. {meaning how bad is it and is it so bad that you can not afford to buy a lunch or a cup of coffee you could go without one or 2 days to get that skin you like so much???}

On any given day I spend close to $20 on lunch and coffee. Thus if I see something I like I usually just skip having a day away from the office and doing such things to buy what I want as such. That and with the price of fuel down now from what it was. I usually have a bit more to spend in a way of speaking. But that is me and my life style for the moment. A lot depends on people keeping their employment and a good income to pay for things. Some have lost that and that makes it harder for everyone else it seems. People find it better to hold off on spending and keeping as much in the bank as possible. {If they can?} Plus - if you are in what frame of life too! Married , single, or married with young children and such.

If you have had hard times up there in the northern states due to layoffs or the economy. Then come to Texas - hit the larger cities first for good jobs. This state is one of the few that is doing fairly well compared to others. Even here in a middle small town of Amarillo - there are still good jobs and we do have a lot of people coming in from out of state looking for a new life here. Things a bad as they are in most every other place. But it is not as bad as you think if you look closely here.

As for skinning to make a living? NO! it is a good hobbie and a good idea to try. But to make it at doing such you will need to have closer contact with media markets as a professional and/or graphics degree for design as such to really get into the big bucks as would be needed to be as such to make a good living at skinning.

Just my thoughts as to the subject. Best idea is to find a good steady job and do skinning as a side job for whatever and whenever you have the time to do so. Without the stress of having to meet deadlines for income to be presented for your only way of making it in this world today.

Art has had it's ups and downs for all the same reasons. When people have more money to spend they will do just that - "spend it!". But when times get hard and there is less money... people and lets say artist do not sell as much for the simple reason - there is not enough people spending money on art as there was before. But as is the economy - when it changes so will how people spend the money and what they spend it on as such the case is.

Go back and look at history and what has in the past happened to a lot of great artist. You know where I'm going with this and I feel you will figure it out for yourself soon.

I feel Stardock and WC will make it for sometime before there is something bad enough to put a real hard crunch on what these peolpe do. With that in mind ... it will be something much worse than it is now before that does happen. Not saying it will not happen either. Things could go down hill really fast and a lot of people would finally say it is not a recession but a depression we are about to fall into then for a certain fact. Few want to see it this way or for that matter think this way either. Anything at this point is possible and we can only hope things get better and keep working for a better tomorrow.

Thus it is and so be it today and we hope tomorrow is better!

Most economists and commentators are predicting that it'll get a whole lot worse before it gets any better, particularly with regard to job losses across most employment sectors Worldwide.  Here in Oz they're predicting 112,000 jobs or more will be lost in the 1st quarter of 09.... 44,000 have already gone, so the immediate/short-term forecast on spending here is bleak at best.  The long-term forecast is no better, with economists and analysts predicting at least a 2 year recovery period from when it reaches rock bottom.

I'm no economist, but I've been predicting this worldwide financial collapse for 10 years or more now, particularly for those industrial nations whose corporations have based their manufacturing operations and associated jobs offshore to take advantage of lower employment costs.  While these operators have lowered their own costs, they have driven exports down and imports up, thus creating anomolies in their national GDP/balance of payments figures.  To worsen things further, most developed countries have poured to much faith in electronic monies;, stock and shares in (now) non-producing companies depending on electronic fund and transfers themselves; buying and selling bad debts for profit (can't get blood out of a stone), and trying to take advantage of the different time zones to maximise interest earnings, thus creating artificial profits because the World is round and time becomes relative to the location of funds... what they gain on the roundabouts they lose on the swings, so to speak.

Does all this mean that Stardock will go guts up? Probably not, but it and skinning professionally is in for a hard time because all indutries are interdependent and need others to be doing well to thrive.

My ODNT sub expired in Dec and it was either renew that or pay my cable bill, so I chose to keep my internet. It might be a while before I can renew it again.

They just announced the closure of ALL Circuit City stores here in the US....35,000 jobs gone.

 

And this is a story that'll repeat over and over during the next 12 months and beyond.  While prices are rising, peoples shrinking disposable incomes are losing value on a weekly basis, meaning people will forego items for others they want/need more.  Which makes me wonder what the corporate big-wigs are thinking when they decide to hike up prices to maintain profit levels??  When people in hard economic times can't afford higher priced items, they simply leave them on the shelf... and thus, rather than make them more affordable, supermarket perishables are going out of date and rotting instead of being consumed...

So another bi-product of the greed which created this economic mess in the first place is waste.... unmiitgated and unforgivable waste.