Every once in a while we get a call from a potential customer asking about a MacCase discount, sale price or if a coupon code is available. For nearly 25 years we have followed a basic philosophy when it comes to sales, markdowns and discounts on MacCase products. It has served us well but more importantly, it has served and respected our customers.
When is a Sale Not a Sale
There are 2 philosophies of selling. You either sell on value or you sell on discount. One is blunt, simple and easy to identify. The other is nuanced, subtle and can take some time to realize.
In the past, most sales were pretty honest. Sellers have old stock or inventory to move and they reduced the price to help this process. As more and more emphasis has been put on constant “deals”, “discounts” and “sales” and not on the actual quality of the item a person is purchasing, a creeping cynical game has replaced the discounting of old inventory.
Two examples of this “gaming” of the discount shopping experience are Black Friday and Outlet Malls. As many people know, the term “Black Friday” comes from the idea that retail stores lose money all year (they’re in the red) and make up for it during the holiday shopping season which begins the day after Thanksgiving here in the United States, thus going from red to black on their ledgers.
What many people who wait for Black Friday sales don’t realize is that the goods they think they are getting these amazing deals on were designed to sell at the sale price in the first place. Let’s use a television as an example.
A company designs a TV to a $200 “Black Friday Special” retail price point. They launch the TV with a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of $999.99. The dealer marks it down to $750 as soon as it launches and then sells it for the “designed to” price of $200 on Black Friday, advertising it at 80% off.
You think you’re getting the value of a $1000 TV for 80% off but it actually contains the components of a $200 TV designed that way from the start. Again, it’s a game and many times the consumer is the one being played.
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The Outlet Mall
Using the idea of discounting old inventory to clear it out, the outlet mall started as a collection of top brands all doing this in the same place at the same time. It was a win-win for both the manufacturers and the consumer just as long as the consumer didn’t mind purchasing last season’s or last year’s models.
It turns out that most people didn’t. But soon there was a big problem. People stopped shopping at the flagship stores and just waited for the merchandise to show up a year later at the outlets.
When the sales at their outlets started to cannibalize sales at their flagship stores, the manufacturers changed their approach to outlet merchandise. They would make less of the products headed to their flagship stores eliminating the need for the outlet.
Since many of the outlets were doing better than the actual flagships, they couldn’t afford to just close them. Instead, they started designing merchandise that was made to ship to the outlet stores directly, bypassing their flagship stores altogether. Outlet merchandise was no longer leftover, top-quality items for a lower price.
Like the 80% off Black Friday TV above, the new, low price of the outlet mall merchandise was designed in from the start. The item was designed to be cheaper to manufacture which means lower-quality materials, cut corners and probably a less durable item. The value proposition offered by older, top-name brand merchandise available for a lower price, was gone.
Again, it’s a game and many times the consumer is the one being played.
Shopping on Value
At the other end of the spectrum is selling on value. As a consumer, it can sometimes be hard to judge the true value of any given product because unfortunately, whether you realize it or not you are being trained to only look at the price.
For a manufacturer who understands this, it can be doubly difficult. As mentioned above, selling on value cannot rely on the bombastic nature of a big sale or discount campaign. It’s more thoughtful. It takes time to educate the potential customer as to why your product is a good value.
At its heart, selling on value is making a promise. This is a much harder business model to operate, especially online. As the manufacturer or seller, you’re asking the potential customer to trust you.
In essence, you’re saying, “If you purchase this today, at some point in the future you’ll realize that this was worth the money you spent on it. It solved your problem and made your life better. That living with and using this product has been a positive experience, one that you’d repeat and share with friends and family.”
This is why people are loyal to brands. The brands’ people trust are the ones that deliver on their promises. The consumer realizes after the sale that the item they purchased was a good value.
Again, this is much harder to convey than windows full of big, splashy banners screaming 50% off! It’s even more difficult to convey in an online environment where the potential customers cannot pick up, handle, smell and get an overall sense of the product’s quality.
The opposite of the “purchase on value” experience laid out above is buying cheap and paying the price over and over again. Cheap products will break down much faster than quality products, and when they do, you’ll end up spending more money replacing them.
Moreover, how much is your time worth? Is it a good use of your time shopping for the same low-cost product over and over again and getting the same result?
Respect for Our Customers
For nearly 25 years MacCase has sold on value and for 25 years it has worked. Our philosophy is simple: Design and manufacture the most unique, innovative, and highest quality products we can and offer them for a fair price. Then stand behind them after the sale.
We constantly get emails and phone calls from customers who purchased a MacCase 5, 10, or even 15 or more years ago and that MacCase is still working, still in the field and still being used every day. Like many brands who put quality products into the world, we deliver on the promise.Â
We know that Apple users and our customers want the best products. They also know that the best products aren’t always the cheapest. If you purchased an iPad, you bought the most expensive tablet computer on Earth. Do you really want to protect it with a case that costs $10? Is that really the smartest way to protect your $800-$1600 technology investment?
The word that guides all of our choices regarding sales, discounts and coupon codes is respect. With MacCase, a customer never has to fear that something that they paid $200 will be on sale a week later for $100 and they’ll miss out.
Nor do they have to spend hours online, scouring the internet, jumping from site to site searching for a lower price. In most cases, there isn’t one. The price listed on our site is the price listed on every other site.
The Anxiety Inducing Coupon Code
Trying to buy something online is tough enough without getting to the last stage when you’re ready to check out and see the coupon code box. What is your first reaction when you see a coupon code box at checkout and you don’t have a code? How does that make you feel? Is that a positive emotion or a negative one?
About a decade ago we switched online platforms and the new platform displayed a coupon code box as part of the checkout process. We started getting calls from customers asking for a code. “We don’t have a code,” was our reply. The coupon code box was removed.
We don’t play games and keep our customers waiting for sales or hunting around questionable websites looking for coupon codes. We don’t want them wasting their time trying to find a product listed for $10 less on some obscure, shady website.
We don’t offer discounts or coupon codes on our products because we’re committed to providing our customers with the highest quality products and a customer service experience that is human and responsive.
Again, it’s about respecting our customers and their time.
This level of respect for our customers has allowed us to provide industry-leading service and quality products at a fair price. We are committed to providing the best possible products and services to our customers, regardless of their budget.
We proudly stand behind our products and offer our legendary, owner-based customer service as part of your purchase experience. You can count on MacCase to help you find the best case, bag, folio, or sleeve to meet your needs. And we’ll be here after the sale if you have any problems.
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The Rare MacCase Sale or Discount
There is a time when MacCase does offer their products at a discount or has a sale. The Apple accessories industry is based on the release of Apple products. Devices like the iPad are on an 18-month refresh or update schedule. This is sometimes changed to adjust for market or technology demands, but for the most part, the world gets updated iPads every 18 months.
If a newly introduced iPad is different enough to warrant a new case design by MacCase, the existing case inventory for the recently replaced iPad model needs to be sold down. This inventory will be put “on-sale” or discounted to help clear it out and make way for the new cases for the new iPads.
This model is akin to the old retail model. It’s honest and customers respect our need to do this with our legacy inventory. If a potential customer needs a case for a 4-year-old iPad and we have one left, they’ll get it at a discount to its original offered price. We clear the space for new inventory. It’s a win-win.
A great example of this was when the 3rd generation of the iPad Pro 12.9 was released. The design was much different than the 1st and 2nd generations that preceded it. We started working on cases for the 3rd generation models and eventually, the prices of the Gen 1-2 models were reduced. Any sale based on this model will continue until the inventory is cleared. Once that product is sold out, it is not renewed.
In many ways, our approach to sales and discounts are exactly like our products: clear and honest. At MacCase, we don’t do trendy. We don’t follow the herd. While the rest of the world pushes harder and harder on their “sell on discount” model, MacCase soldiers on, selling on value. Many times in life, the most difficult paths are the most rewarding.
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Junyuan Bags | Professional Bag Manufacturer
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