retail hurdle

[greenoak]

heres a burden i face everytime a shipment comes in..... almost every item comes in with the company website on it....and tons of the wholesale companies have retail websites....its so unfair....they are trying to get our customers.... and often for a lower price than we can sell for.... the solution is to take the tags off....but thats a huge job...they make it hard....by glue, or having it included in wanted info..... the shoppers all have computers and know how to go to a website.....
the big companies try and ignore that we know this.....but its a very common thing.... also they sell to tjmaxx and marshalls and hobby lobby at a different price thatn we get.... and pretend that its just old product they sell to the discounters... ..... small retail is less a nd less important to the big companies that used to supply us.... its a big problem... and small stores have dropped like flies so we are really a smaller part of the pie...
wonder if i will be seeing QR codes on the tags!!! some stores take all the tags off....but i cant manage that ...on 50 6$ items....etc etc....
we are processing christmas now ...tons coming in...
i invested 5000k in a line...and the artist sells the same thng cheaper on etsy....and we push her name all the time....i wish i had known that before i bought into her...
thats my whine for the day.... retail is tough...
i love that we have inventory that isnt easily made in china!! at least that part of our thing is mainly n our hands...

[Spider]

Can you get some little labels - with your website address - to stick next to their big label? It's still a pain, but sticking a small label on is probably easier and quicker than trying to take a big label off. Especially if you can cover their website address with your website address.

But - speaking from a customer's pov - now I have TWO labels to try to remove - damn it! And those sticky labels seem to be stuck on with perma-glue!

[billbenson]

Do they put shipping paperwork inside the box as well?

My manufacturer does. In my case its not a problem because the manufacturer doesn't sell directly and the recipient isn't usually the buyer. I can see how its problem though.

[greenoak]

a big box comes withthe paper work....and inside lots of little boxes holding the items....... even 2$ christmas ornaments have the suppliers website....and the id code of the item.....
also when other stores come in sometimes i see them checking out where i buy stuff.....i do take a lot of tags off....but just cant m anage geting them all off...some are really glued down well...
its a hassle....and just shows how minor gift/retail stores are to their suppliers in the new world...we are smaller and smaller in the whole scheme of things..... so many have closed.....we carry way less weight with the suppliers than we used to....in so many ways...another thing hurting retail is all the online selling.... and home party plans for all kinds of things.......
we have worked with all this for years and are doing ok but its pretty rough out there!!!