Why I don't do volume discounts

[bladespark]

I keep having to explain this. Maybe from now on I'll just link to this post.

People ask me sometimes if they can get a volume discount. They've ordered half a dozen plushies, or several tails, or something of that nature, and they want to know if I can give them some kind of discount because of how much they're buying.

I pretty much always turn them down, and this is why.

When you commission something from me you are not paying for an item I'm selling. You're paying me for the time I spend making whatever you bought. You pay for materials too, of course, but the majority of the cost is the time. Basically you're paying the hourly wages of my job, as if you were my boss.

Now if your boss came up to you and said that he had extra work for you, and he wants you to work extra hours this week, but instead of paying you overtime for those extra hours, he wants a bulk discount on them, he's going to pay you less money per hour than your normal working wage. Would you do that? Would you take a job where the more hours you worked, the less you got per hour? Of course not! You'd be insane to take a job like that.

And I'd be equally insane to offer a bulk discount to people. I don't care to get paid less for doing more work. That's just the long and short of it.

Comments

[meuniere.livejournal.com]

I wonder if these people realise that the discount from shipping at the same time would qualify as enough of a discount? $5 per plush ends up being $3 per plush and that's a good discount per plush en bulk.

[meghers.livejournal.com]

You are completely correct in saying this.
I mean, it's okay for people to ask, but they also have to understand that time costs money, and materials cost money. And that is what they are paying you for.

[chiscringle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, most people don't really get how bulk discounts happen. Unless you somehow get ahold of some serious industrial equipment, bulk pricing can't happen. You have no fixed cost associated with doing a different type of product.

[odious.livejournal.com]

Yeah, bulk discounts only really work for large scale industrial operations where the cost of production is fixed in which case a profit margin exists over cost of materials and manufacturing setup/equipment/maintenence costs where a large order can already net a significant profit a small discount doesn't dent that and encourages people to stock more then they normally would otherwise. It does not make sense for a custom production outfit like yours. Also, Hi, I saw your plush projects on the plushlove group. I am gearing up to make my first custom plush.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

:) Plush making is a lot of fun. (And a lot of work, but still, a lot of fun.)