(11-06-2023, 11:59 PM)Marko Wrote:(11-05-2023, 07:32 PM)Dragonsbeard Wrote: POLL:Hi Frank, I may be a little late to the part but here’s my thoughts. Don’t compromise your products or your brand to appeal to customers who are never going to buy your products. If they’ve set an arbitrary cap on what they’re prepared to pay for shaving and skincare products and that cap is more important to them than what’s in the jar, how it performs and the effect on their skin than fine. That’s their choice. I don’t think you should use the ubiquitous white tubs. Why? Because everyone uses them and they’re nowhere near as nice as your containers. The 1oz containers are a good option for travel but if you think that the lower price point will attract the aforementioned price is everything buyers you may be mistaken. Those guys will still calculate the per oz cost and cry that it’s more expensive than their preferred brand that fits under their price cap. Obviously smaller containers means higher overhead so maybe you could restrict the smaller containers to one or two fragrances per year rather than doing it for your whole lineup. At the end of the day I believe that a premium product should command a premium price. That’s how the world works. You use premium ingredients and premium packaging. Why should you settle for a lower return on investment than a guy going budget all the way. If your products weren’t selling it would be a different story and you’d have to revisit the drawing board but I don’t think that’s the case. Who was the YouTube wag with the poor technique anyway? And who cares what he thinks. That’s my two bits worth.
I need some input. It’s a big decision I have to make and I’m going back and forth on this one so I need some thoughtful input on this subject. It will be very much appreciated.
Ok so this subject has been brought to my attention a few times in the last couple of years by both friends and customers. I’ve been giving it a lot more thought lately and I can see both sides of the debate that others have and keeps going on in my mind.
I know that my products aren’t the least expensive choice out there and they might not fit into everyone’s budget and I totally get that. I know one thing that I was accused of lately by a a old YouTube reviewer who didn’t have any influence on my decision on this subject as I took the time to watch a few videos and in my opinion his lathering skills, shaving technique and knowledge of shaving product ingredients sure needs a lot work. I know this person wouldn’t spend more than $15 to $18 for a puck of shave soap so I know he’s never going to be my customer and I’m totally ok with that. He never used my shave soap he just said their ridiculously overpriced, and that I must be very greedy. I my product prices are not the least expensive out there but I also know what’s in those jars and bottles and I also know that my mark ups are less than the normal and that can be confirmed by my vendors. An I also know that greed has never been my motivation in life. My dad a long time ago told me when working, focus on your job and not the money, do the best job you can and then at the end of the work day you can then figure out how much money you’ve made. It has been one of my mottos since I was a kid. When I decided to start this journey into making grooming products I told some of my shaving buddies that if I’m going to do this I’m going to make the best products I’m capable of and bringing the most advanced skin care technology into the wet shaving community because as I saw it the shaving world was years behind both the skincare and haircare industry. I wanted a nice packaging presentation as well as the best packaging environment for my ingredients. I feel like I’ve accomplished that but I’ll never sit on my laurels and I’ll keep pushing the boundaries.
So now that I’ve got that out here’s the real subject. To make ETHOS both more affordable ( money out of pocket ) without lowering my formulas standards. It was brought to me to think about coming out with a 2 to 2.5 oz size in a thick walled HDPE jar which is like many other soaps out in the marketplace. So between the price difference in the amount of product in the jar and packaging that is about 4 times less than what I use in my normal 4.5 oz jars ( the 7.5 oz size is even more ) this will enable me to offer shave soaps in the $24 compared to the $40 for my basic scents. Of course as normal the prices will vary according to the cost of the Aroma Blend. Example Rose, Violet or Tonka Bean for example would be more like $30 as opposed to the $60 range of the 4.5 oz sizes.
I have mixed feelings on this and I’ve been in conversations with some customers and friends and I get two distinct responses. One says I like the idea as not only can try a scent without spending between $40 to $60 and also you will probably make the brand more appealing to those wet shavers that refuse to spend anything over $25. An also even your customers that want a lot of variety of scents. The other opinion is your brand is looked at as a premium product and this would be diminishing your image. I’ve even have 2 artisan soap makers that are friends have the exact opposite opinion on this.
So here I am with this situation and I’ve been in my head about this decision more and more lately.
An if I was going to put this into motion it would probably take a couple months to get this started.
I know some may look at this situation from both sides of the fence but please try to put yourself in my shoes before posting up your input.
I’m hoping to get a lot of responses and so it doesn’t disappear out of site when someone posts a SOTD or asks a question on here can you PLEASE QUOTE THIS POST and fill in your comments as I need this to get as many eyes on this post as possible.
As always thank you for your support.
Frank
Marko Good points and thank you for the encouragement my friend! Very much appreciated. You know when something doesn’t feel right and that’s what I was struggling with. I have to believe in what I’m doing and the thought of going to the white jar felt foreign to me. So totally back on track now.
All the best!
Frank