Re: Retailer Markup on Furniture
MSRP is set ridiculously high because Decorators demand it, not stores. I absolutely detest the furniture industry MSRP and refuse to 'work off it'. All my pricing is wholesale plus - I only have wholesale books on my desk and quote a percentage above that necessary to earn an income and pay for overhead. Nothing irritates me more than the errant consumer who comes into my store and wants to have a discussion about what HE/SHE thinks I should be making for a profit because he read up on some consumer web sites about how much some store makes (in theory) written by some clueless reporter who has no idea what they were writing about, either. If you want to get shown the door at my store, that's the fastest way to achieve it - I can guarantee it.
And here is what Decorators do and why the industry has high MSRP's. Once again, its consumer-driven because we are cultural that is all wrapped up in 'Free'. Clients want free decorating advice and agree to buy the pieces from the decorator who sources them. And the decorators will only sell the client furniture they have accounts for. They sell at MSRP but don't bill you for their services, that's how they make their money. It would be much better to hire a decorator for $ 100 an hour to work up a plan, then go furniture shopping on your own, but no one wants to pay that design consult fee when they can have 'free'. The really smart person knows that no one works for free - and you are going to pay one way or the other.
Everyone likes a deal. I do, too. But you also want your dealer to stay in business and it does no one any good in the community when a business fails. Tax dollars are lost, consumers lose a resource, real estate goes vacant and people that were in the business go on unemployment. Making a profit is a necessity in business, its not a dirty word. The furniture industry as a whole lost over half of its retail stores and half its USA manufacturers in the 2007/2008 recession. I had to let all my people go and was nearly out of business myself, in fact I had begun calling my suppliers and telling them I would be closing up at the end of the month. One of them talked me into hanging on another month and said 'That invoice you have from us - just park it until you can pay it", and that gave me enough operating cash to make it through that month and see a slight turnaround. I sure as heck wasn't making 'too much profit'. Even today, I am still without employees because I don't feel I can afford to bring on a full-time person, and most the furniture makers are still operating a on a 4-day work week. The American furniture industry is recovering, but it has not yet recovered.
If you have to have cheap - buy the Chinese imports. It's garbage, but its priced right. Then you will have a $ 999 bi-cast or bonded 'leather' sofa for the next 5 to 7 years that is collapsing after 18 months of use, but you'll have enough cash left over to go spend $ 150 a ticket on a baseball/football/hockey game with $ 12 beers and $ 10 hotdogs and $ 30 parking fee.... now THAT is a bargain!
And if you want a general idea of a very fair retail price 50% off MSRP puts you with an aggressive discounter in the furniture trade.
Re: Retailer Markup on Furniture
Quote:
Originally Posted by
drcollie
And if you want a general idea of a very fair retail price 50% off MSRP puts you with an aggressive discounter in the furniture trade.
Thank much.