Do You Offer Gift Basket Discounts?
Retailers responding to a question about discounts in the November/December issue of Greetings etc. magazine all said that there’s no way they’d cave in to this request.
These retailers minced no words. Some of them said they’d not been asked about discounts, but the ones who had were blunt about their policy.
Think about times when you were asked to accept a lower price.
Did you hesitantly say “yes?” Did you decrease the price just to get the sale but at the same time make yourself unhappy?
Perhaps these responses from the Greetings etc. survey will change your tune.
I simply say, ‘I am so sorry, but we are so small that we cannot afford to give discounts.’
I say NO. Does their trashman, electric company, water company give them a discount?
What do you do for a living, and may I have a discount on my colonoscopy?
Since I can remember, the gift basket industry has based itself around offering discounts for mega orders and early holiday orders.
However, after reading these responses from traditional retailers, perhaps it’s time to re-think our own strategy for 2010 and beyond.
None of us can afford to give anything away, so perhaps extra balloons or something else added to a gift, such as a slow-moving product, is enough incentive for a sale. Remember that once a discount is approved, that client will always expect it no matter what they buy.
Customers will always ask for discounts, but it doesn’t mean you have to give it.
What’s your thought about discounts? How willing are you to cave in to this request?
How One Designer Profits $10 at a Time
Can you make a living making $10 gift baskets more often than making $100 baskets? One designer devised her own formula for success with this model.
She told me about how she tried to sell the more-expensive designs but was not successful.
People in her region like what she makes, but their everyday needs don’t include larger gifts.
That’s when she decided to change her business structure.
Now her entire brochure and Web site promotes $10 and $15 baskets. You’ll see some sample brochures on this page.
She says the corporations are big buyers, ordering 200 at a time because it’s in their budgets.
This designer is a long-time subscriber to my newsletter but recently decided to contact me after ordering the 10 for $10 gift basket ideas catalog I offered in a recent issue.
Is there a certain price point that sells for you more often than other gift basket sizes?
Click this link to learn more about pricing nested baskets.
How to Price Your Gift Baskets
Methods to learn gift basket pricing are one of the most-frequent questions I’m asked by designers worldwide.
It’s important to make as much money as possible with every sale, and to do that it’s critical to price not only for profit but also for customer satisfaction.
I’ve shared with you in the past the story about a former designer who asked if $18 in wholesale products was acceptable in a $25 retail basket. It’s not easy to make a living in this industry with a slim $7 profit.
There are better formulas that veteran designers live by every day to earn higher revenues, four of which are shown in How to Price Your Gift Baskets.
How do you ensure that you’re making a living and not just getting by?
What’s the Profit Margin on Your Gift Baskets?
Years ago, on a gift basket message board that no longer exists, a new gift basket designer asked,
“If I put $21 of products in a basket and sell it for $25, am I making a profit?”
Experienced professionals immediately let her know that such pricing would keep her in the poor house.
The new designer later confessed that the $21 did not include the basket, shred, enhancements, shrink wrap or bow. So, the actual price for her basket was more than anyone realized.
Profitable pricing has always been a big issue for designers, and because increasing the bottom line is a high priority, the formula to calculate costs is continuously reviewed.
How do you price your gift baskets? I began with a low pricing structure, which is unfortunately normal for many of us.
Today, I’ve developed three pricing strategies which many designers follow and are very pleased with the results. One of the options is extremely high, and the few who’ve decided to employ it say that their customers are happy to pay the price.
If you design in a home studio, your calculations will be different than the formula for designers in retail stores.
A wide profit margin between wholesale costs and retail prices ensures that you earn the highest profit possible while satisfying your customers.
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