Black Friday

We have Black Friday all year around!

The last couple of years we have offered free shipping or a gift on this day. Today here in 2019 we have free shipping on all orders (on pipes) above DKK 2000 all year round, so free shipping won’t make any sense this year.

We could also offer a discount on products that have been sitting in the shop for a long time, or maybe on products that we have too many of. But the reality is that we are doing this every day in our New Price section. We are constantly monitoring our inventory and sometimes we have been too enthusiastic about a certain product and bought too many of it, so we reduce the price and monitor the product in the New Price section.

And sometimes it happens that our suppliers push something towards us, and this ends up as a New Price product as well.

Being the owner of a niche business it's difficult for me to see the point of Black Friday. The reality is that attractive products are sellable at the original price all year round. Many of the pipe makers who make the handmade pipes only have a certain yearly capacity and they can’t just turn up the volume – they only have two hands and 24 hours a day. Furthermore, some brands and pipe makers are not happy if we put a discount on their products – and why wouldn’t they be? They see it as a lack of respect of their work, and I get that.

Also, as a business owner I struggle with the fact that a specific discount will only apply to the customer’s shopping on that specific day. I would much rather make sure that my prices are fair all year round, so the pipesmokers that support us all year get the benefits – after all, they are ones that keep a shop like mine alive.

This reminds me of the old days when my father was still alive, and the shop was at the old location. Sometimes people asked my father for a discount, and he used to give them one of two answers:

1. “I would LOVE to give you a discount, but then I have to run down the street to find the guy who bought a similar product earlier today in order to give him the same discount. That’s gonna be hard!”

Or…

2. “Of course! How much do you want? 10-20-30 %? But you must wait, because I have to increase the prices on everything to make the same money – afterwards you can come back and get the discount!”

My father had a good sense of humor and he made sure the customers could see him smiling when answering them.

My point is that for more than 50 years we have had many good deals, and we will continue to have so. But our offers will come when they make sense – we will not wait for a specific Friday.

So Black Friday? Well, we have Black Friday all year 😊

Written in November 2019.