Stores loose money on Boxing Day sales?

[BlueWorldAquatic]

Originally Posted by MarkoD

exactly a year ago on boxing day. i went to big al's and bought a bucket of salt and started my first saltwater tank. i've spent thousands of dollars since then.

if not for the discounted bucket of salt, i may have never even switched to saltwater. im sure theres plenty of people that you dont know. i meet people with saltwater tanks on a weekly basis that dont know that any other saltwater store other than big als even exists in edmonton.

That special doesn't retain customer loyalty though, they would have been bettter off selling it through the back for people that just wanted salt. Would have reduced the bottleneck at the register.

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by BlueWorldAquatic

That special doesn't retain customer loyalty.

it gets people in the store.

i bet there are just as many people with tanks that arent on canreef than there are on canreef.

before i joined canreef i never knew about any other saltwater fish store other than big als

*edit* i agree, putting a doorcrasher at the front is retarded, the point of a door crasher is to make the customer to as far into the store as possible. not in and out without having a chance of seeing other things

[paddyob]

Geez. Ken and Marko.

Maybe take this PM. Almost getting a little much.

Ken as a retailer, best not to make yourself look too confrontational. Blogs can be easy to misinterpret. And this one is going that way fast.

[MarkoD]

Originally Posted by paddyob

Geez. Ken and Marko.

Maybe take this PM. Almost getting a little much.

Ken as a retailer, best not to make yourself look too confrontational. Blogs can be easy to misinterpret. And this one is going that way fast.

pm doesnt increase post count

[paddyob]

Originally Posted by MarkoD

pm doesnt increase post count

Ha ha ha !

One more. Lol.

[lockrookie]

here is my 2 cents on the matter. if a store is losing money or making money due to a boxing day sale, or any sale, is really none of our buisness. thats the accountants problem not ours. to me a deal is a deal. if im able to save some money on one thing to buy more stuff im all for it. and in the end im thankfull to the company i purchase said sale item from for givingme the oportunity to save some cash. whether its a once a year thing or off and on in the year. in the end those few bucks i saved may help towards a cool controller or new skimmer. and i guarontee. the place that treated me with the most respect. will get me back there again. sale or no sale.

its a hobby/obsession/addiction...i have reefer ocd and its a problem im going to have to live with for the rest of my life. hell i didnt buy any rum for over chistmas/new years causse i could usethe money towards somethingfish related lol.

so i say who cares what the lfs/retailers financials are or methods for taking our money...enjoy it spend it..you cant take it ith you and your kids really dont need an inheritance anyways. lol

ps: i wanted another notch in my post count too

[ScubaSteve]

Alright, here's my two cents...

I used to be a distributor for snowboards and wakeboards. If you own either of these products, it probably passed through my hands. I also had my own shop which I sold out of, so I know how pricing works at both ends.

I can't speak for LFS mark ups as they have very high losses (imagine if that goldflake angel you just ordered in kicked the bucket...) and they different business models but, in my industry, every time a product changes hands it doubles in price. If I bought a board from the factory for $100, I'd sell it to a shop for $200 and they'd sell it for $400. This is rough numbers but gives you an idea. Some products, especially the small one people buy a lot of (like skateboard wheels and bearings) have much higher mark ups.

For boxing day I'd get pretty good deals from the factories, which I'd pass on to the dealers. The factories want to clear out stock for the next model year and, since no one is buying wakeboards in the dead of winter, I was also generous on my pricing. So the shops do see savings for this reason.

There is also the whole thing of selling in bulk. Though I was selling m product for less, there are so many people buying on boxing day that I would make up for it through volume. Boxing day for my shop was often more profitable than the entire preceding holiday season and I'd make enough money to make-up for the sales doldrums that follow Christmas.

So, it really depends. Most shops aren't going to be losing money but they don't necessarily make as much on each product they sell, but they make up for it through volume.

[Nate]

As consumers, you guys really don't know how spoiled you are. Especially in Calgary and Vancouver.

This is feeling like beating a dead horse though...