O is for...On Special

It's always hard to know whether to have specials or not? Should I mark my gift prices down? Will this bring in more orders and will I still make money? Will I attract new customers or will it be my regulars who order, who would have ordered any way?

I've never been good at the whole 'add value' and 'don't discount'. I already believe my gifts are value for money plus I also have to take into account delivery charges. If I add something, for nothing, will this bump up the cost of delivery thus making the gift unprofitable. Also, what do I add as a bonus that will entice people into buying the gift more so than when it is just the standard product?

I generally go with a discount if I'm running a special but it can generally only be up to 15% otherwise I'm not making any money at all, in some cases I would be losing money. My margins aren't very high as I want my prices to be as low as I can make them, all the time not just a few times a year.

People still like to complain about prices but they just don't understand how expensive delivery is. My delivery charges vary from $13 to $21 depending on the satchel I use. Sometimes gift ideas I have just won't work as the gift, while in itself doesn't cost very much, ends up being too large for my small or medium satchels and ends up needing to use the large satchel - this is $20 just for postage!

This bear gift ended up being not value for money as it had to go in the $21 satchel!

Confectionery has also just gone up, for the 2nd time in the last 5 months as have all of my packing and gift boxes. I also went from using large noodle boxes to tins which is a huge difference in price but I didn't increase my sell price. Some of it was saved in the delivery charges as I could you use a smaller satchel but not all, it just means my margins are a bit smaller. This all means I just need to work that little bit harder! All fun and games.

Chocolate helps!

When I am discontinuing something I might mark them down to just cover postage as I just want to get rid of the stock I have and sometimes I'll have something on special to try and get a bit more interest and coverage for Rainbow Designs but I can't sustain these specials for too long. I actually prefer to keep my prices the same and have a 'repeat customer' discount so then people who are loyal to me or who have ordered from me before are rewarded for coming back! I think people appreciate this sort of discount too, it makes them feel like their business is worth something to us and not just taken for granted. I 'never' take orders for granted, I know how hard it is to get orders and keep them coming in regularly - it is never a 'given' that you will get orders every day, even after 11 years!

On special or just special - either way I think a business needs to believe in their products and pricing and not devalue themselves!