Why We’re Not Doing A Black Friday Sale…

The Sheffield Guide have decided not to feel forced into doing a Black Friday sale in order to compete with behemoth online retailers. Read on for an alternative offer for people affected by the pandemic or on low incomes instead…

Black Friday Sales Are Bad For Small Independent Businesses

After much deliberation The Sheffield Guide have decided not to do a ‘Black Friday’ or ‘Cyber Monday’ Sale on our Sheffield Shop this year.

It has been a hard decision because it feels like such a sale is now simply ‘expected’ of online retailers. Having worked with many local small businesses in the past I know they have felt forced into it just to try and compete with those massive online behemoths promising ‘huge discounts’. Whilst it works for some, it can be absolutely crippling for others during what is normally their busiest time of year anyway.

This year has been a particularly challenging one for many small independent businesses, and we’re no different. It doesn’t sit comfortably with me right now for small businesses to be forced into discounting fantastic quality products, for the sake of it, just to try and compete with those £multi-billion stores when small independents are struggling to survive in the current circumstances.

Why we’re not doing a Black Friday sale this year

As always, I will be as up front and honest as possible…

Profit margins on our Sheffield Shop items are slim and I’m proud to admit it. In line with our values and ethics, we don’t hold huge amounts of stock — a practice which leads to incredible amounts of wastage, particularly in ‘fast fashion’ industries.

Every one of our items are made-to-order, especially for you. This means that we don’t benefit from massive discounts for bulk-buying in stock.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Likewise, we try and keep prices as low as possible. This means that any profit margins we get are extremely slim. Throw in any advertising costs and other overheads then suddenly those margins become slimmer.

Additionally, I have sourced products of extremely high quality — which again costs more. Anyone can theoretically bulk-buy a load of cheap Gildan T-Shirts, stick a design on it and rake in massive margins for short-term gain, but that isn’t me. I am proud of the quality we offer through The Sheffield Guide — for instance, all of our T-Shirts are 100% organic (suitable for Vegans), Fair Wear, PETA certified and exceptional quality for the price.

As you can probably tell I would rather do things right for the longer term, in an ethical and sustainable way.

“This is a fantastic quality tshirt. I was buying it for my sister who now lives in Oz as we both used to visit Rebels weekly and I thought it would remind her of all the fun times. The tshirt is lovely and soft and the neck line of the tshirt is suitable for a female too as sometimes unisex tshirts have a high neckline which is much more suited to men. Go on buy one, you’ll not be disappointed.”Lindsay Cooke, Review of Rebels Sheffield T-Shirt

With all that in mind, any discounts we offer really cut further into those already slim margins. Whilst The Sheffield Guide is as much of a labour of love as it is a job, it has been a tough year and being forced into discounting goods would only exacerbate that at the moment.

10% off for people affected by the pandemic or on a low income

All that said, I fully recognise that this has been a difficult year for many people across the board and fully empathise with that.

So if you’ve been affected by the pandemic, or are on a low income, then please contact me via the website form or send me a message via the Facebook page and I will be happy to send you a personal one-time 10% off coupon code to be used during this Black Friday period.

You don’t have to explain yourself, there’s no need to go into details and I’ll treat all correspondence in full confidence; simply ask for a code.

I am just relying on people’s honesty to ensure the right people can take advantage of this discount.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Need inspiration? Take a look at our Sheffield Shop Gift Ideas.

Please bear in mind that there are delays in production and delivery of items currently, for details take a look at the Last Order Dates for Christmas / Current Shipping Times page.

“Brilliant quality T-Shirt. The print is great and colour is lovely. Great to wear to show off my Sheffield roots and is a great conversation starter! Nice to know it is fully organic too, and was delivered in plastic-free packaging as promised. Would highly recommend.”Paul, Review of Sheffield Coordinates T-Shirt

Support local, small independent business this Black Friday

Even if you’re not interested in buying from The Sheffield Guide, I would encourage you to please support any of the many other small, local, independent businesses.

Whilst it is tempting to throw money at those international retailers offering huge discounts on shiny overstocks, your local small businesses really do need the support right now.

Shopping with local independents not only helps them at this difficult time, but those small businesses tend to support the local economy more — sourcing their goods and services from other local businesses, paying local taxes and creating local jobs.

The very foundation of economic recovery after the pandemic will be those small, local independents, so we need to help them now more than ever.

Discover the very best of the Steel City with The Sheffield Guide Newsletter!

Sign up now to receive occasional updates from The Sheffield Guide. All the latest Steel City information direct to your inbox!

Free to subscribe. No-spam guarantee. Unsubscribe at any time.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.