Like many of you, I seem to subscribe to an awful lot of mailing lists. Stores, Rue La La emails, Groupon and similar deals, various mailing lists, for dining in NYC, and the list goes on and on. Despite the fact that about 9 times out of 10, I never bother to actually read the emails, I have yet to unsubscribe from any of these. I always just hit delete, without remembering to unsubscribe, and then get frustrated when the next crop of emails comes in, and so forth, creating a vicious cycle in my very own inbox.
Recently, there has been some talk in the blogosphere about cheapening the brand, and I have to wonder, at what extent do the companies do it to themselves?
Everyone knows that money is tight right now for most Americans, and plenty of companies out there that are competing for the same dollar, so coupons are very common right now. Whenever I buy something online, I always make sure to check to see if the company has any current coupon codes out before checking out. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. If it's an item that I really want (or need) I'm going to buy it regardless of whether there is a coupon code or not. However, there are several companies that always seem to have multiple promotion codes going at once and send emails about them every day. For instance, I have learned never to buy anything from Lucky Brand, Banana Republic, or the Gap for full price, because they're just going to send me a 20% off coupon for it the very next day. That seems a bit counterintuive. If I'm prepared to buy a $100 dress, wouldn't the company rather sell it to me for $100 than for $80? It's almost as if to some extent, the companies are digging their own graves.
Another example of this are the semi-annual and annual Lilly Pulitzer and Vera Bradley warehouse sales. I have not attended any of the Vera Bradley sales but have gone to several of the Lilly ones. Merchandise is drastically reduced and at both of these sales, it is very common to see people buying up as much as they can in order to turn around and sell it on ebay for a profit. For both of those brands, if you do ebay searches for them right after the sales, the amount of hits and merchandise on there soars. I have seen dresses that I've bought at the Lilly store for $168 being sold for $59.
I can understand why brands would want to have these warehouse sales to get rid of past seasons' merchandise that simply did not sell well or to sell samples and recoup some of the costs that it took to make those, but what has perplexed me about both of these sales is that current merchandise is always sold at them. For example, at the June Lilly Pulitzer warehouse sale, I bought a Claire dress in Prep Green Hit the Spot for $99. That same dress was being sold across the street at the King of Prussia store for $258. Because of things like this, I have had friends tell me that they only buy Lilly or Vera at the warehouse sales or on ebay because it's just not worth it to pay full price for them.
Now I am never one to turn down a good coupon and sale is my favorite four-letter word, but I wonder if companies are inadvertently sending the wrong message to their clients. There are always going to be those loyal few who will buy many items each season, sale or not, and any brand always relies on that customer base to keep it going. But what about the rest of their customer base? What do you think? Are companies inadvertently sending the wrong message to their customers or is a plethora of sales a good thing for them in the long run?
I never buy expensive brands at full price, because of this phenomenon. The only Lilly I own is from Rue La La or Ebay. And I got it for $100 or less. I just refuse to buy something for $168 or $248 that has a "real life" worth of only about $100, since it will most likely go on sale for about that much at some point.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the reason why current season items end up on warehouse sales is because they produced too many and instead of selling them to TJ Maxxx the company decided to sell the excess itself.
ReplyDeleteUm... I think it depends on the brand's market. Like if most of the consumers of a brand are twentysomethings, who are pretty savvy about sales and have tighter budgets, maybe having frequent massive sales isn't the best strategy.
I agree I think they normally produce too much and then in an effort to make any profit they sell it cheaper. There is such a mark up on some many things that I do not think it changes the brand, just shows how much they are making off us.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who was a buyer for Macy's. From her I learned that not clothing sees the largest mark up with a hefty profit margin. Even if a company sells a dress for $80.00 instead of $100.00 they are still raking in a great profit. They would rather sell the dress for the lower price than not sell it at all. We need to keep in mind especially with specialty brands such as Lilly, that they dictate supply. The brand maintains relationships with Rue La La, Amazon, Belks, Nordstroms,their own Via stores and smaller retail shops. They order more than they expect to sell and flood the market. If they did not do that why would they need to hold a warehouse sale twice a year? What ever doesn't sell is sold to TJMaxx and Marshalls.
ReplyDeleteMy cousin works in retail and told me this little tip. if you buy something for full price, and in the next week or so you get a discount or coupon, take them both into the store and you'll get the difference back .
ReplyDeleteI love a good sell like pretty much everyone else. I was listening to something several months ago on the radio and now don't know who but they were saying that there have been so many good sales in the last couple years due to the economy that it might be hard not to do the sales in the future to keep the public buying.
ReplyDeleteI think it's worth it, and they better keep the sales. Even cheaper places like Kohl's ALWAYS has their merchandise on sale with other incentives to buy practically every other week. I think anyone is CRAZY to spend "full price" on ANY item. I think, basically, the stores/sellers KNOW their product isn't worth as much as the "manufacturer's price" lists it as. I mean, most of them have them mass-produced on the other side of the world for no more than a couple bucks - and since the companies make millions of dollars a year, even WITH all the crazy deals, they can afford to sell them below the manufacturer's list price... Why should all the head honcho's reap the profit of my money for that cute 100 dollar dress if you buy it next week for 50 on sale? I personally, wouldn't buy ANY item (in the states that is) unless it was on sale (and some things, I wouldn't buy unless it was listed as at least 50% off) - food included (except the obvious milk, eggs, bread, etc). Everything else you can stock up on when it is on sale, and then wait around until it goes on sale again somewhere in a few weeks. I just don't see the reason to waste my money - the companies are still making a ridiculous profit, don't worry.
ReplyDeleteAnd ironically enough, over at the Preppy Outlet I saw this little message: "Update: Due to recent Lilly Pulitzer directives, we have removed the sale prices from all Lilly Pulitzer products. You can still purchase these items in-store or call us for more information: 256-882-1422."
ReplyDeleteTimely conversation don't you think?
I once had a socialist housemate (as in hardcore socialist, way way more out there than the Scandinavian version) and he said something about capitalism encourages excess production, etc (usually after ten seconds, I tuned him out). He may be on to something, I concede...
I love this post. I have had similar thoughts on the whole Lilly not allowing via stores to do sales since it 'cheapens' the brand; yet they have no problem doing the same thing during warehouse sales! Which is why since the last sale, I have only bought 4 items in the resort and spring collections at full price; others I got on sale at a corporate store.
ReplyDeleteIt seems silly to buy Lilly or any brand full price when you can wait for a sale. I have no problem buying Tiffany or Louis Vuitton or Prada or Chanel at full price because I know it never goes on sale. If Lilly did the same, I would always buy full price too.
Does anyone know what is going on with Lilly? It seems that every website has taken down their sale prices...
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