Wording Discounts

i say around a percentage.

50% only takes it from your side of the profit. i would never do 50% because that's way too much, no more than 30% its also harder to add up that number.

so say 35% if you want to get generous and say about 35% off. others say there is a discount and don't say how much off. if only $5.00 is off, you charging too little in the first place.


---Mike Savad

THIS is the problem with the discount idea - when we go to a store and something is 50% off - it's off the total price (less the tax of course - but since you are paying less - the tax will be less as well) - but here - it's just 50% off the artist/photographers take from the sale. I think you would lose almost any sale promoted that way - unless you were able, somehow, to convince the buyer that you have no control over anything but what you are asking from the sale. I'm getting ready to do another promotion - I'll be giving $50 off the purchase of any of my digital abstracts. I'm still working on setting it up - but it will be sometime this month.

that confused me too, because if your profit is $10, then they would only get $10 off of it. and you would get zero. i've never done it as cash because you can't restrict sizes. $50 off a 60" print for example.

---Mike Savad

I actually find it deceiving to the customer and very suspect I'm surprised FAA has not been called on it by the FTC.

its not deceiving because it was described on the discount page i believe. it would make sense otherwise you could say 100% off and they wouldn't get a profit either. you can use discount canvas and that will make the whole thing lower but you only have a few size points for that.


---Mike Savad

You can create two different types of discount codes: percentage discounts and/or dollar amount discounts. In both cases, the discount that you are offering is a discount off of your markup (i.e. your asking price). We can't allow members to offer discounts on FAA's base materials (e.g. frames, mats, stretched canvas, etc.) If everyone could offer a 90% discount on our base materials, for example, we wouldn't be in business for very long! Again - your discount code is applied to your markup.

its right there on that page.


---Mike Savad

Color it however you want Mike it's a deceptive practice and if I did something like that in a radio ad my ass would be in a sling.

Kinda like buying a car at 15% discount then finding out that was only applied to the cost of the tires not the whole vehicle, Howard?

Exactly!

Easily solved discount can't be applied toward any other promotions and the discount is only applied toward your markup not the cost of materials.

but its not deceptive, but it is confusing, and i wish there was a calculator handy to add it up for them.

but if the cars discount said that the 15% off only covered tires, even if it was in small print and you missed, it might seem dubious, but you can't get them on a lie. they do that all the time. 80% off (floor model), 70% off all merchandise (with the code number starting with a G), we are all out of those...

it is what it is. if you want to give an honest discount, lower the price more for that one piece.

or you do like i usually do - the discount only covers my markup and will vary from piece to piece. it's the best you can really do.


---Mike Savad

Guess what Mike if it's confusing it's considered deceptive...Don't take my word for it ask a lawyer or your local AG office.

Artists aren't authorized to give a discount on anything other than the prices they set. We don't have any control over shipping, materials, etc., and really, we shouldn't. Otherwise, we'd give all sorts of big things away (and probably buy a ton of inventory for ourselves). We're given the opportunity to offer some sort of discount, rather than dropping our prices across the board. There's not really any other way to do it.

Anytime I offer a discount, I make it very clear that it's a discount off of my profit, that FAA still chargeswhat they charge. I have never had any complain to me that it's deceptive in any way. I stopped doing discount codes though because it felt gimmicky to have to physically put a code in. So now I just discount the price on what I want to discount. Except that I rarely make a sale on any discount and have kinda stopped offering them.

That's what I have done when I have offered codes, as well, Joseph--I let people know that it's a discount off my markup, aka, the cost of the image, and that it simply does not apply to materials such as frames, or to shipping. Haven't had any complaints yet, though I don't offer them very often.

I just say the discount varies based upon the products ordered, and it will be calculated during checkout. Most people have accepted that explanation.

I do not want people to be able to figure out my markup.

50% off artists markup.

if it's confusing then it is. its not deceptive because it's confusing. the customer is getting something for free, they didn't pay for anything to get the discount. they should be happy for anything they get. it's listed right on the page as i showed you. explain to them it's a percentage off the amount you make. i'm going to paint the scenario - was this a friend who was going to buy it? he felt backed in a corner, said he couldn't afford it, you offered money off, he bought the smallest one, found out the shipping cost more than the image itself and then blamed something to get out of it? that's what this sounds like to me. because to date i never had a customer explain that he only got X off and i never knew why the sale didn't go through.

but you understand it makes sense right? that you can't give yourself a 100% off coupon to make the work totally free. if you want a coupon worth that much off, you would have to print it yourself and send it to them that way.

---Mike Savad

I don't offer discounts because of this reason. its way to confusing. However I have a customer asking for a bulk discount for ordering 2. Granted they are larger and expensive, so I understand. I explained I receive a small fee from the sale and thats it.... no control over FFA's production costs. Well they then called FAA asking for a discount and they referred them back to me. AWKWARD! lol. I generated a 10% off and tried to explain how it works... that it is only off my commission. I don't believe 10% is going to make a difference to them, but for me it does. Not thrilled about it, but I chalked it up to experience just to move on. Hopefully the customer won't be too confused.

its funny when they do that. thinking that they can some how get a better discount if they go around the artist.

---Mike Savad

I don't see anything real deceptive or that confusing about the wording on the FAA FAQ regarding discount codes --

http://fineartamerica.com/contactus.html?tab=faq


1:I have a discount / coupon code. Why isn't it working?

Our website has 100,000+ members. Each of them can create discount codes for their artwork. When a member creates a discount code, that discount code only applies to that member's artwork. It can't be used to purchase artwork from any other member.

If you did a Google search for "Fine Art America discount codes" or something similar, then you found a discount code that was issued by one of our members. Fine Art America, as a company, does not issue site-wide discount codes.

The code that you found can only be used to purchase prints from the member who created the code.

what confused me most about the discounts when i used them the first time is that 1 single code is good for an entire order. they can order 500 things and it will give them a discount on 500 things. but they can only use the code once. the first time around i put a 2 in there, and they were able to get another discount, which confused me at first.

i just wish they were more controllable, and i'd like to add a custom name. and or a description of what it was for.

---Mike Savad