What would you do if...

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Pioneerpens

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What do you do/say when a potential customer asks you to lower your price for pen? How flexible should prices be? I think i charge a fair price and potential customer agrees it's worth the asking price, but came back to say he didn't buy because i wasn't flexible enough on price! Just curious about how others would handle a similar situation.

TIA for your feedback

Jennifer
 
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I have a friend whos father wont buy anything he cant get a discount on or something throwing in with it for free. Especially from a private seller. He owns 27 properties in Hawaii. Its not that he cant afford anything he wants he can.
As for your buyer, I sometimes ask these people if they work for free. Why because thats what your asking me to do. I ask them if it would help if I put a Walmart sticker on it.
If you discount your prices he will never expect to pay nor will pay asking price again. Nor will any one he talks to about the pen. He may even keep pushing to get lower prices just to see how much you will give up.
If the pens he was interested in are selling well in most circumstances then they are probably priced fairly for your market. He didnt actually mind the price just he didnt want to pay it. In business profitability is knowing when to say no.

I have had people make stupid offers or give me the "
I cant afford that much" My response is usually "Im sorry buy you cant afford it and you should probably not buy it".

In the end you will have to decide where your tolerance for these people ends. You could always mark your pens 10% higher to have room to "take a little off" or you can stick to your prices and just realize that not everyone will pay them.
 
Pioneerpens said:
What do you do/say when a potential customer asks you to lower your price for pen? How flexible should prices be? I think i charge a fair price and potential customer agrees it's worth the asking price, but came back to say he didn't buy because i wasn't flexible enough on price! Just curious about how others would handle a similar situation.

TIA for your feedback

Jennifer
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Hi Jennifer - In this type of a situation I would tell this shopper the following:

"I'm very flexible on my prices. As a matter of fact all my prices just went up 10%. Too bad you didn't buy the first time you looked at it."

Ed
 
I don't have a problem explaining these are hand made works of art, not something you can buy at the local office supply store. I'm also happy to show or at least offer a cheaper version of many pens. I could probably offer a 10% discount on something that has sat in inventory for too long, just to move it, but I think you're dealing with someone who wasn't going to buy no matter what. If they took the time to come back and inform you that your lack of discount kept them from purchasing...you're probably better off not having them as a customer.
 
ill give people discounts that have bought multiple times from me or are buying more than one pen at a time. its usually not a huge discount but some people will go for a buy two get a better deal thing when they wouldnt have bought one without it. however i set a price and stick with it for all other transactions even for friends and family. I would hate for someone to say well so and so got it for this price why cant I get it.
 
Very good comments/feedback. I did offer free shipping-changed out a finial he didnt care for etc. tried to be accomodating. He wanted a substantial reduction in price. I think if i gave the discount he would have found something else to find issue with!
 
Pioneerpens said:
Very good comments/feedback. I did offer free shipping-changed out a finial he didnt care for etc. tried to be accomodating. He wanted a substantial reduction in price. I think if i gave the discount he would have found something else to find issue with!
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I think that is the problem right there. I notice you said you offered free shipping, and so on and so forth. So you offered a substantial discount there. I guess when he goes to the gas station, since the manager will not give HIM a substantial discount he does not buy gas.
 
Dave Turner said:
I'm willing to reward a good customer.

I offer a discount if a person buys more than one pen. Typically 10% off for two pens and 15% off for three or more pens. I make sure these discounted prices stay above my "wholesale price", which is the lowest price where I still feel good about the sale.
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I will discount similarly.

One pen, that's my price (I give an extra cartridge and/or pouch or box at the time of sale), 2 pens, 5% discount, 3 pens, 10% discount, 4 pens and up, 15% discount which is the most I will ever discount, although I gave a lady a 20% discount on 5 $55.00 pens last week. It was easier to multiply 55 times .8 in my head than it was to multiply 55 times .85!:biggrin:
 
I agree with Dan Masshardt - lots of interesting comments here. One thing I find a wee bit disturbing, though, is the "how dare you ask for a discount" attitude from more than a couple folk. Really? IMHO, that kind of response is as offensive (more?) as someone trying to lower the sales price. I'm more of the Dave (above) or Mack (above) type.

Although we don't do a lot of shows, I'm more than willing to negotiate when someone looks to be truly interested in something I have for sale. Make no mistake, I'm the one who has the final say when it comes to "sell or no sell". And I'm not going to work for free - or less. So if a customer walks away with a "free" pen box or fells good because they got a couple bucks off, I'm ok with that.

On line bartering is different, though, in some way. I've not experienced it. Guess there shouldn't be anything wrong with it.
 
I have wondered whether there were many people who were Etsy "trollers" who like to purchase good quality hand-made items, but who also knew that there were many sellers on the site who are desparate enough to make a sale that they will discount their price significantly. These people are looking to get something for free, or priced at about the cost of the materials. I had never actually heard that this was a significant problem, however. Could this have been the case here?
 
I don't mind someone asking for a discount, but this was upwards of 30%. I know we all price our pens our own way and I am comfortable with my pricing. I will usually offer to ship free and some are happy with that and some not so much. I do have repeat customers and people that buy more than one at a time and I will extend similar discounts as mentioned by Mack and Dave. I also was curious about others experience with whether #1 people asked you for discounts and #2 how far do we go to make that sale and not give it away. I appreciate all the comments and hopefully it helps others that are reading these posts that may find themselves in similar circumstances at some point. I agree it's much easier to 'read' someone face to face than through email messages. As I said, he made the point to come back and tell me that was the reason he didn't buy. Oh well, his loss will be someone elses gain ;)
 
jimjam66 said:
I wonder if he refuses to buy at the local supermarket because they're not flexible on price? He's an idiot. End of.
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I was wondering the same thing. Can you see someone going through the checkout asking for a deal on a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk or a steak? The manager would kick them out the front door.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin
 
Pioneerpens said:
Very good comments/feedback. I did offer free shipping-changed out a finial he didnt care for etc. tried to be accomodating. He wanted a substantial reduction in price. I think if i gave the discount he would have found something else to find issue with!
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It has been my experience that when I get emails looking for discounts and such, often the other party is just fishing, seeing what they can get for free or worse, hook you into some sort of online scam... I've had several people come to me wanting to "order" but wanting discounts or asking for my charges when they're all posted right on the website... on most I just delete the message as being a potential scam...
 
The discussion is more difficult by email.

What I said in my booth was, "ma'am, if I priced my pens 25 or 30 percent lower, I WOULD probably sell more of them. So, I "ran those numbers" when I established my prices. Turns out no matter how many I sell at a loss, I STILL don't pay my overhead.
So, I arrived at the prices you see, which WILL pay the overhead and justify my being here all day for four days." (change to "pay Etsy fees"??)

Most of the venues we did would not allow you to "discount" or "sale" merchandise. But quiet negotiating did take place in many booths. Our reply was to offer "volume discounts" if you purchased hundreds of dollars---very few qualified.
 
This has been an interesting thread --

Am I the only one who has been to training in Negotiations? The Karrass Negotiations Training (Chester Karrass) and others are readily available in books, video, audio, and hands on sessions.

Training teaches about the American Culture and the reluctance of many in America to enter negotiations. It also teaches to be willing to ask for a discount, but to also provide some incentive at the same time.

One valuable learning was to establish a BOON. Best Option Outside of Negotiations. Your BOON is a carefully considered (in advance) floor beyond which it is better to go no further.

I also learned about "Gritches and Grinders" and this thread appears to be about one of those.
 
One day a potential customer asked if I would take $40 for a pen which I had priced at $60. Instead of simply saying no I asked him if he would pay $80 for the same pen. I use stated prices for a reason. The price is the same for everyone. Take it or leave it.
 
I only sell at shows. And every time I read a discussion about pricing and the formulas many people use to set prices, I have my belief confirmed that my prices are considerably higher than many others. I have some room to lower prices and still be profitable.

I give discounts when I need to. I don't like it, I wish it wasn't necessary, but reality is that promotional pricing drives sales. When someone asks for a better price, we discuss it and usually they get some form of a better deal. Most of the time I manage to rescue the sale by throwing in something free instead of lowering a price.

Buyer: "$195 for this fountain pen is a little steep, can you give me any better deal."
Me: "Sure, I'll throw in that stylus your wife is looking at for no charge."
Buyer: "Deal."

He is happy, I'm happy because I sold a pen and I would have had to give at least a 10% discount which would have been about $20, but the parts for the stylus only cost me $2. Extra refills, free ink, a nice gift box, even a cheap pen or pen holder is a nice give away. The buyer sees the full price of the free product, but I know my out of pocket is not much.

Saying "take it or leave it," would give me some satisfaction, doing some creative discounting generated money to pay the bills.
 
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At one of my earlier shows, a lady exclaimed, "$300 for an ink pen, that's more than I pay for rent!" I looked her square in the eyes and said, Lady, you need to live in a better house.

I do agree with the little giveaways to make the sale as Chasper does. I will give a quantity discount is ask. (I have offered it a few times just to close the sale.) I give the Roy lines of do you know how many people have to be paid so I can be here? And then go into all the functions of producing the pen right up to standing in that booth. And then if I'm lucky, they understand.
 
I have given discounts to a few on the first pen they bought. I don't think they ever get a second. It seems the people that have bought more than one from me never discuss a discount. At times when I have not sold any in a while, I will offer a group discount ie 6 slims for $100. Those are generally the blanks I get off ebay for about 50 cents a blank. It makes that person happy and gives me an excuse to make more stuff.
 
I guess the thing from my perspective would be, do whatever you want to do and don't do what you don't want to.

If you aren't paying the bills by selling pens, you don't HAVE to sell any.

People don't ask me for a discount. They just don't express a desire to buy if the price is to high for them. I sell mostly to friends and referrals though.
 
What Tim means by how many people need to be paid is that in order for me to sell you a pen at this venue there are many people that need to be paid, the first person is the purchasing agent who buys all my equipment and supplies, then the artist that makes these, then the book keeper who makes sure the bills are paid and lets me know if I can make a profit, then the show manager who sets at the desk and applies to the shows and has the book keeper pay the jury fees, lets not forget the guy that packed all this in his van and drove 10 hours to get here, oh did I tell you about paying the guy who spent the day before the show setting up this display, and the salesman who sells you this pen , so if I give you a 30% discount 3 of these people won't get paid, do you think that's fair but here's what I will do I'll give you a free refill now and the next time I'm here another free refill.
 
OKLAHOMAN said:
What Tim means by how many people need to be paid is that in order for me to sell you a pen at this venue there are many people that need to be paid, the first person is the purchasing agent who buys all my equipment and supplies, then the artist that makes these, then the book keeper who makes sure the bills are paid and lets me know if I can make a profit, then the show manager who sets at the desk and applies to the shows and has the book keeper pay the jury fees, lets not forget the guy that packed all this in his van and drove 10 hours to get here, oh did I tell you about paying the guy who spent the day before the show setting up this display, and the salesman who sells you this pen , so if I give you a 30% discount 3 of these people won't get paid, do you think that's fair but here's what I will do I'll give you a free refill now and the next time I'm here another free refill.
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Totally agree , but even the `free` refill cuts into the purchasing agents and bookkeepers salaries . Not as badly though as giving away product , which wipes out the artists salary as well .

Have never had the perfect opportunity to apply it , but my response to the person bold enough to say that I might sell more if I lowered my prices would be : You know , I think you`re right . I bet if I cut my prices in half I would sell twice as much . That would mean that I would be working twice
as long to make the product with the same time spent selling the product , so on balance I would double my sales $ , add approx 25% to my time spent , and make the same amount of money . Would you recommend I do that ?

And to the person requesting a 10% discount : Sure , I`ll gladly give you a discount . All I ask is that you use the pen to write a letter to your boss telling him that you no longer require payment for your work on Friday afternoons . Here is some high quality paper to write it on . I will pay the postage .
 
I will thank them for their interest and say that I keep my prices as low as possible already, so I can sell it quickly and I can make more. This is a hobby, I do not make much on each pen, so I need to hold that price. I may lower the price on one that hasn't sold for a while but I never tell a customer that!!! I may adjust price for multiple pen purchases.
Exceptions:Brothers and sisters (free) and...
I gave my boss two for one Zens, but he has already ordered another for HIS boss (the CEO) for twice the price.
 
I'm a firm believer in pricing fairly, but still pricing in a way that allows you to run a sale once in a while. If you can't afford to run a sale, you should probably review your pricing strategy. And the sale doesn't need to be a "Slashing Prices 50% Off!", I typically only run 10-15% off sales, and even those are very, very rare. My most common sale is free Priority Shipping, but yours should be whatever you are comfortable with.

I'm never offended when people ask me for a discount; I'm happy they like my work enough to consider buying it. But if their expectations are just ridiculous I'm not going to play along and entertain them.

My last bit of advice would be You are your brand. Be careful of what you say and how you say it, especially in text that can be posted all over the net. Best of luck.
 
Mack C. said:
Dave Turner said:
I'm willing to reward a good customer.

I offer a discount if a person buys more than one pen. Typically 10% off for two pens and 15% off for three or more pens. I make sure these discounted prices stay above my "wholesale price", which is the lowest price where I still feel good about the sale.
Click to expand...
I will discount similarly.

One pen, that's my price (I give an extra cartridge and/or pouch or box at the time of sale), 2 pens, 5% discount, 3 pens, 10% discount, 4 pens and up, 15% discount which is the most I will ever discount, although I gave a lady a 20% discount on 5 $55.00 pens last week. It was easier to multiply 55 times .8 in my head than it was to multiply 55 times .85!:biggrin:
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5x$55=$275 * 15% discount on $100 is $15. that * x 2 3/4 = $30 + $11.25 .... total discount is $41.25.
 
Jen, what I would do is say "Make me an offer I can't refuse". If they do and their price is not high enough you just say "That's not a offer I can't refuse."


I have known and still know some people who get genuine pleasure out of "bargaining" and usually if you make one consession they will ask for another and when you've made your best and final offer they will walk away smiling and tell their friends how much they were able to "bring your price down". My wife will do a little of that at craft shows herself, where she will ask what the "lowest" price a seller will sell an item for even when she has no intention of buying.
 
I have known those tire Kickers. I managed a shop that had 3 girls that would come in and want to see everything in the case and then want to know our "Best Price" It didnt take long for me to give my sales employees the directive that they could show these young Ladies 2 items and then if they asked to see more they were to call me over and I would take care of it. As sales staff they were not allowed to be rude to them. My first response to them was "I will be glad to show you anything you care to buy. But first you will show me the money. My people have work to do and if your not serious about buying it right now the price is marked on the item and thats your best price." That stopped that nonsense. They had no money and only wanted to pretend to be buying something. At times they were wasting more than half an hour just keeping a sales person doing price checks. Meanwhile serious shoppers were having to wait.
 
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Sort of like the girls I was in highschool with - they could spend a whole afternoon in a clothing store "trying on" clothes, then walk out without spending a nickel. Actually one of my four daughters could do that...the other three didn't really get their kicks out of shopping.
 
Dan Masshardt said:
Some good comments here. Even if you come down he may not buy.

Its interesting that some of the best brands / products rarely discount / sale price.
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Great point Dan. Some people just want to bust your B--l's to see what happens, they don't want to buy a darn thing! I like Park's response of "The price just went up 10%...sorry you missed out!" My skin is still a little thin but I look forward to the day that gets tossed out!!
 
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Jim Burr said:
Dan Masshardt said:
Some good comments here. Even if you come down he may not buy.

Its interesting that some of the best brands / products rarely discount / sale price.
Click to expand...

Great point Dan. Some people just want to bust your B--l's to see what happens, they don't want to buy a darn thing! I like Park's response of "The price just went up 10%...sorry you missed out!" My skin is still a little thin but I look forward to the day that gets tossed out!!
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Why be thin skinned about it - do you always pay the asking price when you buy in the same kind of venue you are selling in? I sort of doubt it. I know that personally I have said "Nice XXX but to expensive for me." and had the seller come back with "What will you give me for it?" meaning he expected to dicker on price.

Many, if not most, people selling in shows, craft fairs or out of a leather case during breaks at work expect to be offered less than their asking price.
 
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