Red Tag Sale Day Thread

What's happening in your shops? Let's add our "happy dance/sad dance" comments here. I did my bit as a buyer, still have fingers crossed as a seller!

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Permalink Reply by 2Hearts Uptown @Ruby Lane on May 21, 2012 at 12:05am

I agree that a 24 hour sale could have shut out folks who have plans all day - seems like a weekend time frame makes more sense. For what it is worth, here are my take-aways: promoting in GVS and pinterest helps; sending out subscriber announcement and notice to wish listers, putting promo banner in my site; picking popular items to list, keeping prices in the range that attracts bargain hunters (I went for a range of high to low, and it seemed to me most RL sales were below $60 in the jewelry lane). I offered 15% off on entire shop, and one international buyer added to her 2RTS because of that.

On the other RTS thread, one shop owner feels the RTS cheapens the site and clients come to expect it. My nature is to seek out bargains. Got into this cuz I love yard sales, thrift stores, etc. Would love to know more about the demographics of the RL market - wish RL would do a customer survey and found out more about them.

Permalink Reply by Marni Bakst on May 21, 2012 at 1:45am

I don't think the sales are a good idea at all, and I am not the only one. I think more sales and/or longer sales would be a terrible idea. I don't want the site overrun by bargain hunters looking for cheap deals, and I see no advantage in encouraging and advertising for them. I wish others who feel this way would weigh in here since the general sentiment on these boards makes it look as if everyone is a booster.

Permalink Reply by CheriShops - Admin on May 21, 2012 at 7:57am

Marni

as very few of the overall RL members here on TVV have made any comments at all about the Red Tag Sales, especially this time around, I really don't think it is very accurate to say the general sentiment on these boards makes it look as if everyone is a booster.

Marni Bakst said:

I don't think the sales are a good idea at all, and I am not the only one. I think more sales and/or longer sales would be a terrible idea. I don't want the site overrun by bargain hunters looking for cheap deals, and I see no advantage in encouraging and advertising for them. I wish others who feel this way would weigh in here since the general sentiment on these boards makes it look as if everyone is a booster.

Permalink Reply by Ornaments on May 21, 2012 at 8:44am

Personally I don't think that an occasional sale sets the expectation that everything is going to be discounted all the time. If Nordstrom has a sale it doesn't make me think that they're going to give me lower prices forever after or that they're going to turn into Wal-Mart. I think that as long as a site has a good image and reputation (which Ruby Lane does), having a sale from time to time won't change that.

Permalink Reply by 2Hearts Uptown @Ruby Lane on May 21, 2012 at 9:52am

It is so easy these days to set up a quick survey and find out what shop owners - or customers - think. When I was active doing school improvement reviews, we always surveyed teachers, admin, parents, and students; the info they provided was the most valuable; plus those who held minority views could no longer dominate by just speaking louder at meetings. Particularly since we don't know each other - and Ruby Lane doesn't know most of us - it is the only way to get answers to important questions. I think they did have a survey last time, and perhaps that's why they made the RTS one day instead of two. Or maybe there data showed that almost all the sales were in the first 24 hours.

The whole question of pricing is fascinating. Carol A. posted an article that showed how much more money can be made by lower prices / quicker turnover. Yet I come across one shop on RL that prices all her inventory at least double what the going rate is, and she seems to do very well. I am totally amazed that her customers want to buy from her shop when 5 other shops may have the same exact item for half the price. As far as the RTS goes, I think the Nordstrom analogy is excellent and applies very well to our situation. I am dreading the summer, as if it is anything like last year, sales were awful (and this forum said that is normal), so I liked having a little excitement before then. And, from a strictly personal standpoint, I am headed to Rhode Island next week, and wanted to turn some inventory over so that I can go treasure hunting while there. That's the fun part!

Permalink Reply by Marni Bakst on May 21, 2012 at 12:39pm

That's exactly my point. You can only judge the sentiment on these boards by the messages posted, which is why I wish more people would post. And I also thought it was time to weigh in with another view.... that is OK, no?

CheriShops - Admin said:

Marni

as very few of the overall RL members here on TVV have made any comments at all about the Red Tag Sales, especially this time around, I really don't think it is very accurate to say the general sentiment on these boards makes it look as if everyone is a booster.

Marni Bakst said:

I don't think the sales are a good idea at all, and I am not the only one. I think more sales and/or longer sales would be a terrible idea. I don't want the site overrun by bargain hunters looking for cheap deals, and I see no advantage in encouraging and advertising for them. I wish others who feel this way would weigh in here since the general sentiment on these boards makes it look as if everyone is a booster.

Permalink Reply by CheriShops - Admin on May 21, 2012 at 1:21pm

Absolutely...all views welcome and valued :)

I just felt that it was a bit of a generalization to say that *everyone* posting re the RTS was necessarily a "booster" ;)

Marni Bakst said:

And I also thought it was time to weigh in with another view.... that is OK, no?

Permalink Reply by 2Hearts Uptown @Ruby Lane on May 21, 2012 at 1:23pm

Totally agree! I'm not even sure what my view is, as not enough facts to form an educated opinion.

D'Anne

Marni Bakst said:

That's exactly my point. You can only judge the sentiment on these boards by the messages posted, which is why I wish more people would post. And I also thought it was time to weigh in with another view.... that is OK, no?

CheriShops - Admin said:

Marni

as very few of the overall RL members here on TVV have made any comments at all about the Red Tag Sales, especially this time around, I really don't think it is very accurate to say the general sentiment on these boards makes it look as if everyone is a booster.

Marni Bakst said:

I don't think the sales are a good idea at all, and I am not the only one. I think more sales and/or longer sales would be a terrible idea. I don't want the site overrun by bargain hunters looking for cheap deals, and I see no advantage in encouraging and advertising for them. I wish others who feel this way would weigh in here since the general sentiment on these boards makes it look as if everyone is a booster.