Pulling Back the Curtain: Why Everyone Else Has Sales… and Why We Don't.
Pulling Back the Curtain: Why Everyone Else Has Sales… and Why We Don't.
We're Passionate about Quality, Honesty, and Fairness
We love our work: Every day, we have the opportunity to make the best gear for The State of Exploration. We’re passionate about making high-quality Colorado apparel and accessories that people get excited about, and we absolutely rely on word-of-mouth from those excited customers - both new and the ones we’ve had for years. At the end of the day, of course, if we never sold any of this great stuff, we wouldn’t be able to keep the lights on, and if it weren’t for your support, we’d be gone.
For quite some time now, we’ve been itching to write a series of articles giving our customers a peek behind the curtain in the apparel world. The industry we work in is exciting, creative and dynamic. It’s also competitive, especially in the local Colorado clothing market, and there are a lot of things about it that the average consumer doesn’t know. We go out of our way to treat our customers the way we’d treat our own mothers. To that end, we don’t participate in a lot of the tricks that many other apparel retailers employ to drive numbers. Our first topic is “sales,” some of the things that go into them, and those less-than-savory secrets that customers may not know about.
Sales, Deals, and Their Actual Value
Do any of these lines look familiar?
-
FALL SALE! 40% OFF EVERYTHING!
- RESTOCK ON WINTER ESSENTIALS! 20%, 30%, EVEN 40% OFF!
- THIS WEEK ONLY, ALL SWEATERS 40-60% OFF!
- DON’T MISS OUT ON THE ONCE-A-SEASON SALE! 40% OFF!
Of course they do. You literally can’t escape them. Walk through a mall, fire up a shopping website, listen to the radio, and you’re bombarded with these promotions. On the surface, it seems like a fairly straight-forward proposition:
The store wants me to buy stuff, so they’re willing to give me a deal to get me to spend some money.”
The truth is actually a lot more complicated than that.
In a nutshell, the magic number is 40%. Studies have shown that when we see that bright red sign with that gleaming “40% off” we’re a lot more likely to spend a lot more, especially if it’s for a very limited time. Here’s the thing, many retailers offer this 40% off almost perpetually. In those cases, “40% off” is less a sale, and more their regular pricing.
Next time you walk through a mall, keep your eyes peeled. Check how often you see that number. Could it be that you’re in the mall at the exact right day to catch all these limited-time sales? Are you the fortunate one who stumbled into this festival of 40% off??? If you can find it any day of the year, the answer is “probably not.”
That’s why we don’t run sales. We price our awesome gear fairly and honestly. We don’t inflate prices just so we can lower them later to make it seem like we’re giving you a deal. If you buy one of our products, you don’t need to worry that you overpaid. You don’t need to worry that it will go on sale next week. We price our goods at fair margins to make sure we can keep making them. That’s it: not more, not less. When you buy 1876, you’re paying what it’s worth… what it’s actually worth. That’s a trust we’ll never betray.
So if you’re wondering where our sales are, the answer is simple: If we were able to charge 40% less for our gear, we’d already be doing it.
About 1876 Apparel
THE STATE OF EXPLORATION
From gold rushes to tech rushes, the spirit of Colorado has called out to adventurers and dreamers for generations. 1876 apparel is made for anyone drawn to answer that call. Locally owned and designed, every piece is specifically produced to celebrate our great state and the explorers who love it.
We're Nick, Lauren & Kaylee - a trio of Colorado natives out to do something different, and better. Based out of Littleton, CO since 2013, we launched the modern version of 1876.co just in time for 2017. In 2019 we focused our sights on wholesale expansion, and eventual world domination.
If you want to reach us, here's how:
Need Support?: 1876@smirkwith.us
Interested in wholesale?: wholesale@smirkwith.us
Nick - President: nick@1876.CO
Lauren: lauren@1876.CO
Kaylee: kaylee@1876.CO
Thanks for your support! We rely 100% on our friends to spread the word and keep us exploring!