Red Bubble and price increases
Hi everyone. By now most of you know RB is increasing prices. Whilst I don’t intend this journal entry to be inflamatory, I would like to pose a question I posed in the journal thread RB announced this price rise in (it looks like that thread has now been locked…)
RB am I correct in reading your thread to say you have made cards and mounted prints at cost since their inception? So you have made no money on them…cards are $3 to make?
The reason I am posing this here is because unless I am mistaken, it appears to have been removed from the journal thread.
Dana DiPasquale
i found that hard to believe when i read it – in the recent “double your earnings” discount, RB stated there that they made 20% of the manufacturing fee. Seems like in that case they want to prove what money they make so they can show us what they are giving up but now, when it is convenient, they change the story…
earthairfire
I certainly read that mounted prints had been made at cost…
Tracy Wallace
remember when the base price was $2.50…then the price went up to $3..wonder who was profiting from the .50c then? Dana makes some valid points.
Jo O'Brien
Martin replied to your post on that thread saying this:
“Melinda
Yes in relation to cards you are completely correct. The cards cost us $2.92 to make (exactly) and then there is some inevitable customer service component which needs to be added on. So no we make no money on the cards as currently produced. Clearly we need a cheaper card option (to complement the current ‘art’ cards) which we will introduce as soon as possible.”
Loredana Crupi
Is this the journal you are talking about Mel ? Advance notice of some price changes
If so your question is still there.
Steven Lippis
It really wouldn’t surprise me if cards are $3 to make. It’s not just materials, but the cost of the equipment, running that equipment, paying the person who’s hand making the card. Same with the mounted prints. I priced having that done a few months ago, and it wasn’t cheap.
This is the downside of producing these things on demand and not bulk.
Loredana Crupi
It doesn’t matter what it costs. It is the prerogative of RB to charge whatever they see fit. Running a small business in the best of economic times has its challenges, let alone in today’s climate.
Whatever the climate, every business is in business to make profit. Profit is not a dirty word. Even the not-for-profit businesses make huge profits, which often go to furnishing the handsomely paid staff with mobile phones, laptops and cars, overseas jaunts etc, ........oops sorry I’m going off on a tangent here
I can’t see why people are complaining about RB increasing their prices. It’s their business of which we are willing participants. A strategic alliance is what we have here.
RB produces high quality items at very reasonable costs. There is a lot of competition out there for the same products (but not necessarily the same quality). As consumers we have a choice where we want to shop. So if RB doesn’t fit one’s budget, there are alternatives.
Also, RB as a business shouldn’t have to justify it’s pricing structures or reveal its profit margins to anyone (except maybe the ATO). No one likes price rises but that’s what happens in business for all sorts of economic reasons, the main one being staying afloat. I don’t hear anyone complaining about the drop in petrol prices?
Psyche
Hmmm….Customer Service Component? Isn’t that what the artists do? I dunno see this and other reasons is why I post my art but do not sell it…
Psyche
Lorenda, I don’t think it’s accurate to compare gas prices to RB’s profit, but I do agree that RB is better than some of the alternatives out there…ever tried to post for sale on Artwanted.com?? They make you PAY to sell your art, unless you only post three or four arts a MONTH. But back to gas, I would complain about their raised prices after all they make money by the BARREL and have no one to answer to when lining their pockets. Sorry I go off on tangents too.
Melinda Kerr
Hi everyone. I take your point Jo that the post is there. I couldn’t find it but I am happy to stand/sit corrected. There was no implication in what I wrote. As in I wasn’t looking to imply dishonesty. I was actually genuinely interested as I also run a small business and I am looking to see and understand how other businesses are going to cope with it. Because I don’t know how I’m going to!
SO as I said there is nothing inflammatory intended in this. Just genuine curiosity.