A THANKS +
2020 has been such a strange year for us all, and challenging. So, firstly JrF would like to thank you for your continued support.
I’m proud of the reputation of the mics and the diversity of projects and applications they are used on - from art installations to live performances, from film to tv productions, from sound design to games, from theatre to opera to experimental music.
It's always nice to hear how the mics have helped other artists, musicians, composers and sound designers develop their own careers and this year I have enjoyed hearing & seeing the resulting works.
So, thank you…and with that in mind;
prices; I haven’t raised prices for several years now even though costs of parts and postage have gone up every year. Instead of passing on those costs to customers I decided to try to absorb them for as long as possible whilst also encouraging buyers to move away from paypal as a payment method due to their fees.
The impact of covid and, annoyingly, brexit are having an impact on costs, in addition to the usual yearly inflationary rises, so I was preparing to raise prices, slightly, earlier this year. I held back however simply as most people working in the creative industries are struggling or have had their work restricted during the various lockdowns.
but...in the new year I will have to make some changes and my plans are;
1) to move away from paypal. Their fees range between 3% & 6%. This, in conjunction with increased costs and not raising prices, is now a problem, not to mention the various ethical considerations. There are much better payment methods now, including transferwise.com (better exchange rates & fees), google pay and of course bank transfers. I will continue to offer paypal as an option for those customers who are unable to use other methods but am considering adding a fee to cover theirs.
2) I am also thinking of phasing out the ‘standard’ jack option on c & d series mics at least, simply because the Neutrik jacks are much better and, importantly, use less plastic in their construction.
3) for customers ordering from the USA the recent bizarre price increase for postage to the states, as a result of the American Government’s decisions, means that it now costs me more than I charge to post parcels to you. I have to address that.
* during 2020 I have been working with my daughter, the artist Pheobe Law, to intoduce her to the craft of aspects of the processes involved in certain JrF microphones and, speaking as a dad, this is also why I am particularly grateful for the support of the sound community at this time when opportunities in the arts is under pressure.