Mass consumerism is a plague to the planet. As a small business, opportunities to boost our sales are always welcome, but we also want to avoid those opportunities which are at odds with our values.
The truth about Black Friday “discounts”
Every November, your inbox is flooded with emails promising incredible deals and massive discounts. But let’s be real: most of these so-called “deals” are just smoke and mirrors. If a brand can afford to slash their prices for a few weeks each year, it’s a strong indication that their regular prices are inflated beyond offering their customers genuine value for their money for the rest of the year.In our view, that’s not honest pricing. It’s a marketing tactic designed to trick you into thinking you’re getting a bargain when, in reality, you’re not. Ask yourself if you would like to reward and reinforce what we judge to be dishonest business practices.
Fair pricing and honest business practices, above all else
At Montu, we’ve decided to take a different approach. We believe in honest pricing and genuine value. If you’ve purchased anything from us, you already know that our products offer incredible value for money, mainly because we don’t believe in having our customers pay massively inflated pricing, which is a problem that the cycling industry already suffers from.
Our profit margins are already incredibly slim. When we have offered Black Friday deals in the past, the discounts were real, but they did not make business sense. It is not something that we see either value for us nor for our customers. Read on for our reasons why.
Black Friday: bad for both our mental health and the planet
Mass consumerism is a plague to the planet. As a small business, opportunities to boost our sales are always welcome, but we also want to avoid those opportunities which are at odds with our values. It has been estimated that up to 80% of Black Friday sales are thrown away after having been used once or never at all. This is not something that we feel we want to be part of. There are things more important than profit.
No Black Friday, but yes we still offer sales and discounts
Given the above: We are no longer going to participate in “Black Friday”. We choose to maintain consistent, honest pricing. Instead of relying on short-term sales tactics, we focus on providing long-term value and quality.
We will still offer sales and discounts in ways that make sense for us as a small business as well as offer even more value for our customers.
1- We have a clearance section in which you can snag high-quality pieces of Montu apparel that we need to clear to make room for incoming inventory
2- On a rotating basis, we will offer some of our products on a “pay what you want” system that let’s our customers determine their price (yes, a minimum will be set to ensure that this system, which is based on mutual trust, is not taken advantage of in a way that hurts us as a small family-owned business). When you enter your price, remember that all our products punch way above their price points in terms of price/value even at full retail. Find the products currently offered on a “pay what you want” model here.
Thank you always for your trust and support.
Hani & Katharine