All week I have been undecided as to whether to run any offers and as my inbox filled with emails or what offers are available today I really felt the mounting pressure.
But I have decided to say 'No' to Black Friday.
As a small, one Mama business I work hard all year round to make sure that my prices are competitive and as low as I can possibly make them whilst still trying to make a little bit of money for myself and my family.
In the last few days I have seen offers of 30% and 40% off and have felt the pressure to match this. But realistically as a small business we cannot afford to do this. I work with very small margins in the first place and discounting to this level would see me selling my stock at a loss.
As an example, after the costs of purchasing, postage and packaging costs and the fees that PayPal deduct I make approximately £1.06 on a pair of frillies. Were I to start offering huge discounts I would be losing money on each item I sold.
I also feel a sense of loyalty to my lovely customers who have purchased products at full price and how gutted they would feel to see it discounted a week or so later. As a customer and consumer myself I am finding the whole process of Christmas Shopping with all these discounts flying about quite tricky. You never know if it is the right time to buy or if there will be another, better offer next week.
So this is why at Itsy Bits we are saying 'No' to Black Friday and 'Yes' to year round fair prices for customers and fair prices for the retailers. I hope that our loyal customers do appreciate the effort put into sourcing quality products and keeping prices fair year round without Black Friday discounts.
