CoCopelliTanning

Here is an idea. Why not all of us write a petition and send it off to EBay? Maybe if we all signed it we could be heard and maybe....just maybe we could get those stinkin lotions off of there!!!!
Just a thought.

(and other countries too *giggles*)

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devastoj

Online Petition!!! http://www.petitiononline.com/create_petition.html

I'm not much with the petition statment though. Someone write it and I'll sign.

albasalon

I'd sign...probably wouldnt help buy it make make them aware of the problem....maybe a boycott or something would work...i dunno thinking in motion....

Jancy

I buy and sell too much onlline to start munking around with eBay (not lotions of course! Just body jewelry. A little personal Spaming! Sorry!)

A petition is not a practical idea. If you read the eBay community guidelines you'll quickly learn that short of selling human body parts and drugs they'll prostitute themselves to make money on just about everything else. If a person owns the right to a product, eBay is not going to stop that product from being resold, no matter how it was originally purchased.

Our problem with diversion is simply not eBay's problem. Diversion is the problem of greedy salon owners. It's use as the consumer who needs to focus on getting lotions under better control first from the manufacturer's who are gouging us as Salon Owners. We've all seen the 2006 price increases. What's up with that? Did prices really go that high? Looks like somebody got greedy to me!

We need to have lotions cheaper than WalMart, Sally's and other public discount sources like eBay. If manufacturer's are so good at selling us the dream of a lifestyle when using their product, can they also not use the same resources to find ways to reduce the prices and keep quality the same? Maybe the money from sales can't be given up? Maybe those fat cats need more vacations that I do. Seems to me that they are living high on the hog.... and I'm providing that support for their vacations and not the other way around.

Whining about diversion only proves that lotion prices are way too high. Customers will find the cheapest sources for lotions and are not stupid, they know when they are being taken advantage of. We can't continue selling lotions in the same vein as if they were diamonds. The manufacturer's sell a dream... and will have you think how superior their products are, but for the Mom and Pop salon on the class B strip mall those high price lotions are impossible.

My customers will buy the argument that some lotions will harm my acryllics. I agree with this attitude. But, why sell expensive lotions when the same results can be had thru WalMart products that have no mineral oil, no petroleum and no junk fillers at 1/10th the price? OH, I forgot, I'm trying to make money on my customers!

As salon owners we worry about lotion diversion issues because it affects our bottom line. But, diversion is not the real issue. If you really care about your customers and THEIR bottom line, stop gouging your customers with $50 to $100 lotions.

Don't lie to yourself that you are selling high price lotions in order to make a profit so you can keep your doors open, I suggest you reevalute your pricing and your position in the tanning industry as a whole.

As salon owners we keep putting the blame on passing along high prices because of manufacturer's who overcharge us for their advertisement and keep increasing prices on a yearly basis. We fuss about people who engage in diversion, yet should anything really be done about it?

Personally, I never signed any agreement with any manufacturer stating that I will not resale anything that I bought that has their product name on it at any site other than my salon. No contract exists between me and any manufacturer's. None. It may between the distributor and they have their contracts. But I never signed a contract saying I'd not sell those products anywhere else but in my salon. Think about it!

Diverters are just business people who are taking advantage of our failures. Believe me, if lotion was sold for only a dollar a bottle nobody would sell it on eBay. Manufacturer's have a high price because of costs of materials, advertising, selling, marketing, promoting, etc. And you know what? Ultimately, that high price lotion still has less than a dollar's worth of lotion inside the plastic container.

Do you know that there are regular lotions at the dollar store that do not contain petroleum or mineral oil or anything harmful to acrylic beds? And yes, we've tried dollar lotions from the dollar store and they work. Not tanning lotion. Just regular moisturizing skin lotion. Same results as the $100 lotions.... it's something to think about. Look at the back of the Lucky Brand lotions found at the dollar store if you need an example. No bronzers, no DHA, no wine extracts. Just moisturizers and you can get a tan using them. Hmmmmm........

Or do all you care about is somebody cutting into your ability to make a lot of money on your customers any way you can?

Why worry about diversion when all you really need to worry about is how gullible we've all become about lotion sales. Why does the CEO of a lotion manufacturing plant make more money than me? I want to make all the money and not share it with some fat cat if I can avoid it. Let's be more pragmatic about our solutions and quit passing the blame on diverters.

Ultimately, as salon owners who sell major brand names, and I sell all the major brands along with everyone else, we are perpetuating the whole pricing scheme that is causing us to complain about diversion now. I want to make as much money as the next guy, and yes, I sell my products at the MRSP (for the time being.) If the manufacturer will give me an extra $25 bucks for each bottle of lotion compared to making a dollar per bottle.... I'm going with the $25.00 bucks. And THAT is the real problem.

lil_missfit

Great post Jancy and right on the money.

I think it's time salon owners look at the msrp of the lotions out there and find something that is affordable and does a superior job. They are out there and can be sold for under $30.

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"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." Dolly Parton

canadiantanguy

This is just my opinion and I have stated it many times and I am sure I am going to get a lot of flack for always beating this drum but.....

The problem with our industry and lotions is not price, it is not about gauging, it is about educating about value.....when I first started in this industry bottles were all 8oz and there were high end products that sold for $80-90 dollars and no one had any issues. So what happened?? Value products hit our market and manufacturers starting making bigger bottles at lower prices and salons focused on how much a deal the big bottle was and sold it that way. Salon owners slowly lost touch of selling on benefits instead of price and now a lot of you have clients who buy a lotion based on price and size.

What I don't understand is as salon owners we always talk about how things are tight and we have to be very smart in how we spend as we have a very up and down industry. So why as business people are we asking for lower margins??? why are we asking and promoting price wars and devaluing the products we sell by demanding bigger and bigger bottles at lower and lower prices?? When I look at it (if I double all my price from my cost) if I sell a $15.00 bottle of lotion I only pocket $7.50 if I sell a $60.00 lotion I pocket $30.00. Plus because that bottle is double the size that person isn't coming back as often to buy another (I do not buy that ******** that a client uses more lotion becuase their bottle is bigger....only so much lotion can be applied). So not only am I making less money off of them but I am selling less bottles to them in a year.

Customers will buy what we tell them....if we train them to be price shoppers and sell on size and price that is all they will want to buy.

So if it becomes known in the industry what it costs us to tan a person does that mean we now have to drop our tanning prices because the secret is out??? No this is a business and we are in it to make money. I don't care how much a lotion costs a manufacturer to make, I don't care how much they make off of me as they are in business like you and I. As long as I feel I am getting a good price and I am able to make money off of them and my business keeps growing I am happy. IMHO we are our own demise, we are sales people no other industry do people say I know what it costs you to buy that product or food or technology so I want it cheaper, so why do we LET this happen in our industry??

CoCopelliTanning

I don't price gauge my clients with lotions. Even with my private line lotion I don't use their SRP. We have our salon in a town where we have to sell stuff a lil cheaper. Selling a bottle of lotion for over $50.00 won't fly here. But selling a bottle of lotion and a bottle of moisturizer for $50.00 will.

I know EBay has it's rules, I just thought if we all pooled in together we would have more of a voice.

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vettes

The answer is private label.U push it u sell it! Customers can only get it from u.