Along those lines, my point also weaves its way into there. I’ve been in retail for almost 35 years, while you think constant discount etc.. keeps customers, it does not. It’s a lure tactic, once these new prices discount or deal goes away, those customers for the most part will also go away. It’s not the mainstay of how a business will stay afloat. And with these price increases it will be hard to give those deals and or free shipping, and make any money doing so. I’ve had long exchanges with Nick early on about the constant discounts. He wasn’t making money, he just didn’t realize it. Especially when you have to report and pay taxes on all those earnings. It’s all about margins. We run just at or a hair above MAP, and know for a fact that’s not where we make our profit. We make our profit when we buy collections, it’s not on new releases, and why I say that a lot of these stores are going to go away with the increase that’s about to hit. When you offer free shipping that’s even a bigger hit, as you are paying fees to the shipping platform as well, therefore really eating into that small margin there is anyways.
So a lot of these little online shops don’t and won’t have the longevity of the bigger older stores. I know your friends with Nick, but you can already see it’s a fleeting thing with them. He’s in school, and that should be his priority, and you can see it in him not responding or slipping customer service. I’m not speaking for him but Dan, great guy, probably the same thing. It’s a cool little part time hobby selling deal, but not a forever thing. Which again pivots me to when these tariffs hit and folks see that they can’t give the discounts they have been, a lot will start to call it quits, as it doesn’t make sense to essentially make next to nothing when it all washes out. It’s simple economics, you don’t have to major in it. I’ve said it before, but the few that have had free shipping in place will most likely, and it’s already been seen, be a thing of the past.
My .02 worth.
