Playing the (Sale) Game

Cyber Monday extended “one more day” is the theme of my inbox this morning:

“Cyber Monday Extended | 45% Off Sitewide Today Only”

“SALE EXTENDED: Extra 20% Off & Cyber Monday Deals + Free Shipping!”

“Cyber Tuesday: extra day to save 40% off + free shipping & new markdowns”

Last week it was Black Friday starting on Monday:

“Happy Monday! Black Friday Deals 4 Days Early”

“Black Friday is Here: The Deals You've Been Waiting For!”

The holiday shopping game has begun. It’s enough to make Holiday shopping down right stressful.

“Ending... 25% off site wide [last chance]”

Is it really my “last chance”? Do I need to jump in my car and head to the nearest mall right NOW? Or, even easier, whip out my credit card and shop online before breakfast?

Now that I own a small manufacturing company I am learning the real truth behind the Sale Game. Large manufacturers who produce their products in massive quantities overseas are marking those products up 3 or 4 times, often more. If you buy a $70 sweatshirt on sale for $35, the company is still making money as they may have paid only $6 to produce it. Even after adding shipping charges, storage, import fees and merchandising costs the manufacturer can still be making a profit.

In my opinion the Sale Game is a manipulative mind game using the American public as pawns.

Here at Altus we don’t play the game. We take our pricing very seriously and often price our products below “normal” mark-ups of twice cost. We analyze our costs for each product then decide if our price is reasonable. If not, we mark up our costs LESS than double. Far less than imported products are marked up. For us, there is no game to play to get the best deals because there is no wiggle room in our pricing. It’s reasonable, not random.

We recently reduced the price of our Pullover Hoodie as our Holiday Gift to our customers. No need to shop on a special “Friday” or a certain “Monday” to get a discount. The new price is permanently reduced to $35. This product cost us $41.67 to produce.

Why does it cost so much to produce compared to imported products? (Think of the $6 sample above).

The fabric was knitted for us in Los Angeles, but because we ordered less than the minimum yardage we had to pay a “sample” fee plus 20% more per yard. In the apparel manufacturing industry, every penny counts and we paid a lot more pennies per yard of fabric than the large Big Box manufacturers. Even our labels were made in Florida at more than 3 times the cost per label than those made in China.

There is a wonderful company I have come across that believes, like we do, in fair pricing based on actual costs, not random numbers. The company is Everlane and I have enjoyed both their beautiful photography and their simple clear messages in their emails. No Sale Game with them.

And no Sale Game with Altus! We hope you have a wonderful Holiday season and enjoy the shopping experience without losing in the Sale Game.