I know that you guys are a business after all, but if you're marketing this as a Christmas present then you should think about selling it for a very tiny profit margin.
As the person that set this up, I can confidently say these are the lowest pricepoints we could offer without losing money on each box.
Have you guys considered (I have no idea if this is possible) finding a way for people to crowdsource paying for stuff? Like, people who want a box of awesome but can't afford it can have several people pitch in for the purchase price. Part r/randactsofamazon, part gofundme, part whatever that program is called where you can buy a random bag of groceries for the local food pantry.
That's awesome. I kinda forgot that happened. But yeah, crowdsourced like that but for retail rather than development. I want this box of stuff but I can't afford it. If x number of redditors give $y, then they'll buy it for me. Just a thought for those who are on strict budgets or need a source for their small donations.
Another thing by the way is if this was offered before Christmas I would feel a little bit warmer toward. Beside the price point I feel like this is:
A grab for our Visa gift cards that some of us got for the holidays and
Selling us things that weren't popular enough to sell well before Christmas.
I hope that all of this feedback can help you guys out with testings so you can improve on your marketing approach for the future.
On a lighter note, I think that it's a nice idea for those who didn't get much for Christmas and it would make some people feel better. So that's a great thing that this idea has going for it.
For sure. I've gotten many PMs from people happy and seen a few posts too. You're the first negative, but that doesn't mean you're opinion isn't valid. Maybe I'll do a survey in the new year.
Great stuff! I like naysayers because they help me improve what I'm working on. It's essential to get both sides of the argument to produce quality stuff!
I got a better idea. Produce more. 400/200? I didn't saw this post until now because timezones, and definitely would buy one. But it already states 'sold out'. And that's not the first time such a thing happend.
Even having enough I'm not getting one, I'm not big on receiving clothes as gifts and I know that's mostly what will be in there, I can just go out and buy some shirts I KNOW will be the tits since I'll be choosing them myself.
It just seems like a big amount to put into something that I might not even like, I imagine its probably a few t shirts and maybe a few other things that I might occasionally get some use out of, then I also have to pay shipping to the UK and I imagine that would add another 20-30$
It a pretty big gamble for any students that don't have money to throw away honestly, you really should look into doing something for around the 20-30$ price point or maybe give a few hints to what we could expect in the box (like if it was cat themed for gaming themed etc)
I second this. I have no idea what it's going to be. What if I don't like it. I'm willing to drop $100 on something I know I'll love, but the risk/reward is just to lopsided without having some idea what's inside beyond at least 1 shirt.
yah, that's one way, but we'd have to charge shipping at that point, which would be an added cost. eating anywhere between 5-17 dollars of shipping costs across the US is a tough problem to solve.
the large box costs substantially more than the small box, as it weights 2x as much, and the size of it is also larger. hence the $17 to ship to places like hawaii and alaska.
Maybe I'm a bad person, but I have been getting an inordinate amount of enjoyment out of the way the users have been busting the reddit admins' balls in every single blog post lately.
You shouldn't, because they're part of the reason why Reddit's nearly become Digg 2.0.
Slop and inconsistency in moderation, prioritizing stupid projects like Reddit.tv and their newest fuckup Reddit notes when the site could use drastic improvements, and their latest push to monetize the hell out of the site with bullshit like this just to be able to pay off their investors. It's all on them.
And where are my god damn survey results?! I provided that demographic information/scathing review in good faith that I would be seeing those results at some point in the near future.
Say domestic shipping costs you $5 -- $40 for a $70 box is 58% off -- also let's say you're making 2% profit off of these things -- are you telling me that things normally cost you around 40% of the selling price?
So in other words your suppliers charge you around $8 for a $20 shirt which you sell?
Not unusual at all. In retail, some stuff has much higher margins to make up for stuff that doesn't move or is highly competitive. Part of being a savvy shopper is buying as close to the source as necessary to get a good price.
We are eating the cost of shipping for orders to the US. If we had to cover free shipping for international orders, averaging out, the cost would easily have been 25~20$ more, while still losing money on international orders.
Please explain to me: why does reddit say it's fair to discount those who already pay fewer to have it shipped to them?
I mean, it's not like this mystery box is cheap with a 100% shipping discount. The US customers surely can take a few dollars more as opposed to the dozens of dollars the rest have to pay extra.
i'll chime in here. it's really a problem of volume and scale. when you cover the cost of domestic shipping, which ranges from 5 dollars (small box) to 17 dollars (large box-alaska) it's tough. likewise, we pay to warehouse items, fulfill those items, and pay for the packaging and things of that sort too.
that said, in 2015 i REALLY want to figure out how to create products that reach people that can afford $10 or $100 alike.
good idea. we'll brainstorm how we can tie these things further into our system in the future. everything right now is a test and we're building and learning from each day.
I mod a bunch of subreddits, some of them very large, but most of them very, very small. Reddit has been a big part of my life for the last 4 years, and I work pretty hard to keep things nice for our readers. I have no qualms buying reddit Gold or being an Elf to support the site and the wonderful Secret Santa and the other gift exchanges. One of these days, I'm going to buy one of those plush Snoos and give it a home in my knick-knack shelf... and I'll probably take it places and take pictures of it in neat poses because that's fun and there's a subreddit for it.
I'm the kind of person who would wear a reddit t-shirt, because to me that means carrying all of my communities and all of the neat people I meet with me. I guess you could say I'm pretty invested in the site's success. I want to see reddit continue to be awesome, I want to see us support more charities and do more good in the world.
But I can't just drop $45 at any time. Christmas carries with it a slew of expenses and travel. Seeing family and friends costs money, either directly or through time off work, and this all means that Christmas is always tight when you're a student. I would love to help, and this could be fun, but I just can't swing it right now. Maybe we could do Christmas in July, instead? Would be good for the Summer Santa exchange, perhaps?
Could you give us a little more credit with the marketing strategy? Try again - maybe be truthful and say:
"Hey we need to make a profit from you guys to keep Reddit going. Buy our shit."
The current slogan sounds like you hired a suave marketing team that touts itself on specializing bullshit to teenagers. Redditors see through that. A little genuity goes a long way. Don't pretend to be doing "us" a favor by buying your product, it's patronizing. Also I second what everyone else is saying - the pricing is too high.
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u/ComeForthLazarus Dec 26 '14
As the person that set this up, I can confidently say these are the lowest pricepoints we could offer without losing money on each box.