To our Valued Store Owners:
As you may already know, many costs are rising that affect all of us in one way or another. We've held off as long as possible, but have found our volume has reached a point where it is necessary to offset the increased costs of doing business with a modest price increase.
Beginning July 2, 2008 the new prices will automatically take effect. There is no need for you to make any changes to your accounts and/or products.
After a thorough analysis of aggregate sales, we have determined the increase in price will only be an estimated 10% site-wide. The much needed increase will allow us to continue to focus on the highest quality printing and order fulfillment, quality in-house customer service, increase the speed of new feature and product development, and maintain our free services to you, the store owner.
If you would like further information regarding this issue, please see the FAQs below.
We appreciate your understanding and support and wish you continued success!
Sincerely,
The Printfection Team
Price Increase FAQs:
Q: Why are two different prices displaying in my store, for the same product?
A: For 36-72 hours following the update, the product pricing displayed in your stores & the shopping mall may be inconsistent with the pricing displayed on the product detail pages & shopping cart pages. We're working to update the pricing across the website; this is a rolling upgrade that will take 36-72 hours to complete.
Rest assured, the pricing displayed on the product detail and shopping cart pages is the new, correct pricing. You don't have to do anything, the new pricing will slowly appear in your stores and the shopping mall over the next few days.
We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
Q: Do I have to make any changes to my products or pricing?
A: No. The new retail selling prices will automatically “go live” in your store(s) on July 2. All price changes will be automatic and there is no need for you to change your products manually. For example: If the old base price on your product was $10 and your commission is $5 the retail selling price was $15. ($10 + $5 = $15). If the new base price is $11, then the new retail selling price is calculated automatically to $11 + $5 = $16.
Q: How does this affect my commission rate?
A: Your commission rate will stay the same. If you had a $5 markup before the price increase, you’ll still have a $5 markup after the price increase goes live. Like always, you can increase or decrease your commission at any time.
Q: How does the new pricing affect sales? Won’t this drive our customers away?
A: We have done a thorough analysis of price vs. sales volume and have not found a significant correlation between the two. Some of the most successful Printfection store owners have significantly higher markups than the average store owner. In many cases a higher selling price equals higher sales, as the customer perceives an increase in value. Furthermore, the new price structure is still within market and remains competitive. Therefore, we believe any negative impact will be very minimal, if at all.
Q: What is the new pricing? Where will we see the increases?
A: The wearable products are subject to the price increase. All of our sublimated products are remaining the same (mouse pad, coasters, etc). There will be an increase for double-sided printing from $2 to $3 and an increase to the dark garment surcharge due to the additional production costs for these value-added services. Overall, the price increase is about 10% for the average store owner’s sales mix.
Q: Will the store owner service remain free of charge?
A: Yes, the store owner service remains free. Printfection is still the leading Print-on-demand company offering completely free, 100% customizable stores with no limits on the number of products, images, sections, and stores in your account.
Q: Printfection has never raised prices before, why now?
A: We have been monitoring the exponentially rising costs of fuel, inbound freight charges, product costs, and labor costs for more than two years. We’ve held off as long as possible, but we have found that our volume has reached a point where it is necessary to offset the increased costs of doing business with a modest price increase. This way we can continue to maintain our quality, value, order fulfillment, excellent customer service, and maintain a free platform for you to capitalize on.
Q: Is Printfection not doing well? Should I be concerned you might not be around in a while?
A: Printfection is doing better than ever! We plan to be around forever! The company is growing like a weed. In 2007 we grew 400% and are growing like crazy this year. The price increase allows us to continue our high-quality production, in-house customer service, speed up new feature development, and more—in a business environment that is more costly than ever before.
Q: What about bulk pricing? Is this still available?
A: Yes! Bulk pricing is still available. The pricing structure for bulk orders is not changing. The only change in price is for the base product cost.
Q: I know the cost of fuel is at an all-time record high. Are shipping rates increasing?
A: No! We are maintaining our current shipping rates. Printfection has absorbed numerous price increases from our shipping vendors in an effort to keep shipping costs low for your customers. We will continue to do so as long as possible.
In view of rising petrol and other costs, this PF merchandise price increase was inevitable. To my mind, fair enough.
Cheers, Casey, and keep growing that quality "weed"!
Ross :)
Posted by: rossnroller | June 23, 2008 at 09:06 PM