Black Friday for Makers
In this fortnight’s blog I want to look into discounting work, which is topical just now with Black Friday just having passed. I’ve talked about this in the past on Instagram in #wordywednesday posts, and been anti-discounting my work. I feel that there are many factors which contribute towards confusion as to how much something should cost (its value), and discounts are one of those things. Just to be clear, I don’t judge anyone for their decisions, either on pricing or purchasing, I just want to explore the pros and cons through writing these posts. As such this blog is probably most of interest to crafters, but also of interest to customers.
So, topically, this week’s blog is on Black Friday, its history, and if I can see a way I as a maker could offer discounts. As you will see it will also touch on what I could do with long unsold work or ‘seconds’.
Let’s start with my previous view on Black Friday influenced by the media I’m fed, before I embarked on this mini-essay. My view was that the notion of Black Friday and its discounts are on the whole a bad thing, epitomised by Amazon and other bigger companies monopolising the market and continuing their sales for up to a week rather than just one day. I was also of the opinion that it must be to get rid of old stock that was not in line with where the market was headed (similar to Boxing Day sofa sales here in the UK). Finally, being honest, I was aware that it is a great time to find a bargain on that item I feel I need!
With things that irritate me these days about capitalism etc, I often find that if you go back to their source there is a more noble intent, and that over time this has been warped and manipulated by the bigger corporates and media to funnel extreme wealth into their pockets (luckily, herein ends the rant)…
So, going back to the beginning, Black Friday is a USA thing that started in the 1950’s and was aimed at kickstarting the Chrismas shopping season the day after thanksgiving (thanks Wikipedia!). So, in the days of pre-internet, the aim was to get people out their house and into their local high street to go shopping. Nothing to do with getting rid of old stock by the sounds of it, although doubtless that played its part. To suggest, as I have in the past, that discounts are inherently bad as they confuse the customer about price, is to fail to see how they can be used as a marketing tool. And herein lies a confusion, which occurs if you try to compare crafted products with corporate products. We operate in very different economic systems and situations (Scaling up your work to achieve economies of scale, isn’t so relevant for crafters.). We are different entities. But, after analysing the effects, I do want to question if discounts can also be useful to me as a smaller sole-trader maker?
So what are some of the effects of Black Friday on customers, on businesses, and on crafters. Customers feel good by making some great savings on quality products and in doing so potentially enable other purchases (from independent crafters?!) or simply be able to put food on the table. They can also end up being caught up in the excitement, and purchase absolute tat for fear of missing out on the bargain that they didn’t really need (I’ve nearly been there with an infra red sleeping bag!). Businesses can finally go from the red into the black, and make good sales and encourage new customers who return over the Christmas season to enable another year on the high street. However, the big online stores can also take over more of the high street trade and prevent those social interactions and the consequent loss of shops on our high streets. On the whole crafters do not engage with Black Friday, as our volumes and margins are so low, that we often don’t feel like we can afford to offer a discount on our work, plus we rightly want to value ourselves. Do crafters lose business due to Black Friday? My feeling is that it is not too bad, although undoubtedly there are some cases. In a way the savings a customer makes puts more money in the pocket and enables them to then invest in independent craft. Certainly there are plenty of customers these days who do support independents.
So do I support a shopping day which helps our high street stores to continue to exist, which allows people who could not otherwise afford ‘essentials’ to do so (I know not all purchases fit in this category), which lasts for a short period of time, has limited products available at the low prices to allow new stock to come in, and puts more money in peoples pockets to let them spend on independent craft? In short, yes. However, do I support a big online shop, where the sales go on for days, and where the people who can afford to buy the original at the normal price save money by being savvy, taking products away form those who genuinely can’t afford them, then keep that money in their pocket? In short, less than the former, but who am I to judge, I have been that person in the past after all. (Note: I hope to limit being that person in the future)
So now I am less angry about Black Friday as a concept, the question comes, can I offer craft discounts and partake in Black Friday? On reflection, I honestly can see why people may do it. If there are products which are of quality yet haven’t sold, and which I no longer wish to display them any more, then why not discount them? Also, if you want to encourage people to buy your work in a competitive market and thank them for signing up to your mailing list, then why not offer an occasional one-day discount on items? Is it de-valuing yourself? Yes, but I would argue that both have side benefits to yourself that make it worthwhile. The first instance is allowing space for more creative work whilst still receiving some recompense for your long unsold work. After all, we don’t all have endless store-rooms. The second one, you could argue is going to make you a small loss, but customers tend to reward quality by shopping again if they like their first experience with you. It is a marketing technique, in a way the same as going and standing at a market speaking and searching for customers is. Both lose you money, but in the long run can gain you customers. I have been against discounts, because of a concern that customers will wait for those discounts to occur to do their shopping, but this doesn’t seem to play out in real life unless you are very regular with your discounts. If a vacuum cleaner breaks in March and you use one and can afford to replace it, you don’t generally wait until Black Friday to replace it. So if I do this, it is on me to make items that people need, aspire to and appreciate and don’t simply wait for the next discount.
Regarding offering discounts on long unsold work and one-offs, personally I am torn on this. For sure I have no intention to offer the popular items whose designs are settled at large discounted prices. I have priced some items quite low on recent markets (without making a song and dance about discounts), and it is noticeable that none of them sold. I think I do want to try discounts on specific low-stock items that I won’t be re-visiting anytime soon, and to see how this goes. Maybe the ‘for sale’ sign on the lower price will result in sales. At the time I valued them quite highly and priced accordingly, but now my work has progressed, I appreciate them a little less.
As a side-note, what about those ‘seconds’? If they have minor flaws in, but are still robust and functional, my experience is that customers will search them out as they are unique and still pay full price for them. But if I can’t stand having them on my show table then I suppose these would be a perfect object to discount. If they have major flaws in them, then for me, they will be gifted, burnt or used for experimenting with different finishes. I want my objects to last, to be heirlooms if possible. I have determined from now on to not contemplate selling those items. This for me is part of the crafting process, the need to aim for a quality product that meets expectations (just have to make sure those expectations of myself don’t veer too close to perfection). As a guide, I find every 50 items, about one doesn’t make it, except during R & D when the first object is invariably awesome, and the subsequent 3 or 4 are awful (then it usually gets better!) !
I appreciate I may get some feedback on this post, as I have shifted a long-held stance to never contemplate discounts. And I appreciate the hypocrisy about posting about pricing, costs and value, and also complaining of customer confusion r.e. value, and then, in a way, encouraging it. Also, I am aware that I have just increased prices on some products (based on the last blog), none of those items will be discounted to a great degree. I look forward to hearing your views on this. However I want to try it out and see how it goes…
So, for the first time ever (and perhaps last 😉 ) this Saturday 6th Dec at 6pm, people on my mailing list will get a discount code for 5% off everything in the shop until 6am the following morning. The aim being to encourage a sale and potentially find another loyal customer. Also, if I can make the pricing software work, then there will be a limited sale of long unsold stock and one-offs at the option of a very discounted price. The aim being to clear out stock I have moved on from, and provide someone with a good deal.
I have finally figured out how to make multiple shop pages in wordpress using woocommerce, so looking forward to making my products easier to navigate over the coming days!
Congratulations if you got to the end of a very wordy post! In summary, I will no longer be mad at Black Friday, but I will try and honour why it was first created, and I do encourage all of you to support independent makers this Christmas (if they discount prices or not), but also to get out into your high street, and if possible keep money out of the big companies pockets (I know they have the market cornered on some products now so there is little choice!).
As usual, your thoughts are appreciated in the comments!