Why we don’t run sales
One of our most frequently asked questions is this – “Why don’t you run sales?!”
We get this question a LOT, and I’m more than happy to explain the reasoning behind it. Don’t worry – it’s good. 🙂
Honestly, I GET it – we live in a world FULL of coupons, discounts, promo codes, sales, deals, etc…they’re everywhere, and I myself understand the desire to save even a small amount of money on any and all purchases. If you can, why NOT, right?
Unfortunately, there’s also a serious downside to this – FOMO. Fear Of Missing Out. Worse yet, is KNOWING you missed out on something and having no way to go back.
Allow me to share a recent example of this from my own life.
A few days ago, I went to a website of a company I’ve purchased products from before. I really, REALLY like these products and decided it was time to stock up again since I was nearly out and didn’t want to be without them in the near future.
It felt simple. Go to the website. Add my choices to my cart. See if there were any deals or promo codes. None? No worries, this stuff is on “sale” anyway. (I use quotes here because except from the very FIRST time I purchased from this company – when they were just starting out – ALL of their products are perpetually “on sale” at the same price, 24/7/365…things that make you go hmmmm.)
I put in my contact info and delivery address and completed the purchase. Great, got that done! Now I just wait for it to arrive.
But on the confirmation page, I get an offer. For the next fifteen minutes, I can get 10% off additional products. The EXACT same products I JUST ordered.
I wince a little because…well, 10% off would have been nice to have BEFORE I’d placed my order. But, it is what it is and I click ‘No Thanks’ because I have all I need anyway. I expect they’ll leave me alone after this.
No.
‘No Thanks’ leads to ANOTHER offer of 20% off those exact same products for the next ten minutes. Wait – why didn’t they offer me 20% off before, just ONE MINUTE ago? Why initially offer me a 10% discount if they could really give me a better one NOW? I roll my eyes and remind myself I have ENOUGH, I do not need MORE than what I already purchased, and I hit ‘No Thanks’ again. It’s gotta be over for sure now.
But…NO.
NOW, I’m directed to ANOTHER page where they’re offering me 30% off for the next FIVE minutes. LAST CHANCE. I’ll be honest – I was tempted by that 30% off for the first few seconds. But once my brain recovered from the bright red flashing discount?
I was annoyed. Really, REALLY annoyed.
I felt like they were just messing with me at this point. Giving their BEST discounts to…who? The worst procrastinators like me? Was I somehow supposed to intuitively KNOW they were going to do this? What was next? 40% off for the next sixty seconds?!
I immediately just closed the tab entirely, feeling frustrated that I’d purchased from a company that left me feeling like a ball batted around by a cat. (I have a cat and he is very, very tough on his toys – I know whereof I speak!)
In all honesty, I kind of regret buying from this company. The product is great, but the whole experience just gave me the ick. I’m not sure I’ll buy from them again (or at the very least, I may find a different, third-party retailer). Maybe I’ll be able to find a different product from a different company altogether.
It ended up reminding me why we don’t run sales. Why we keep our pricing consistent day in and day out, except for very small increases over the years so we can keep up with our supplier/vendor costs.
It’s not just us – MANY Americans are feeling the squeeze of rising costs, from gas to groceries and beyond. It’s no secret that prices for nearly everything have climbed dramatically in recent years. In our industry, printing costs have surged – and even the vinyl covers we use for binding books have doubled in price since we started!
Despite these challenges, we don’t believe in playing pricing games. While some businesses raise prices to “charge what the market will bear,” we stick to a simple principle: charge only what’s necessary to cover costs, pay our team fairly, and ensure a modest profit that sustains the business. In the end, pricing games are complicated, exhausting, and ultimately – unfair to the customer. Just like the story I shared above.
And here’s the thing about high prices: they create opportunities for disruption. When companies inflate prices far beyond what’s needed, they invite competitors to innovate, find efficiencies, and offer better value to customers. This cycle often forces the high-priced leaders to eventually lower their rates. This is very, VERY good news for the end consumer. We like good news. 🙂
In recent years, some well-meaning friends and acquaintances encouraged us to raise prices significantly and introduce sales or discounts. Their reasoning? Higher prices would give us room to run promotions later. But we’ve never subscribed to that approach. Instead, we’ve kept our pricing straightforward, adjusting only when supplier costs made it unavoidable.
Meanwhile, some of our competitors are now offering steep discounts — 30%, 40%, even 50% off printing services. That raises an obvious question: if they can afford to drop prices this much, were they overcharging to begin with? (I personally have always wondered this when I run across such a deeply discounted item or service. Again, things that make you go hmmmm.)
This is why we avoid sales, discounts, and gimmicks. If the price is fair today, it should be fair tomorrow, too. The only exception is a 10% discount for new customers on their first order — a way to encourage people to try us out so they can see for themselves if we’re a good fit for their printing needs. They’re taking an initial chance on us, so that is our way of sharing some of that risk.
Side note – we also don’t offer “free shipping” because shipping isn’t free. The costs of packaging, labor, and postage are real, and we reflect them accurately in our pricing. We actually ran a survey years ago asking if people wanted shipping included – i.e. “free” shipping – or if they wanted to see the shipping cost separately. It was an overwhelming 90% in favor of the latter! So that’s what we did. 🙂
The current economic climate is challenging, but we’re confident in our strategy of fair, everyday pricing. No FOMO. I don’t want FOMO for myself – and I don’t want it for YOU, either!
We believe that by staying honest and transparent, we can continue to provide exceptional value — without the need for gimmicks or games. At the end of the day, providing honest value – as well as a good experience for the customer – is what it’s about. If we’ve done that, then we’ve done our job. 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to read through this – I truly hope it’s been helpful! Thanks also for being the reason behind this business – we appreciate each and every one of you more than we can say!
Have a sweet day. 🙂