Having a Sale

Since the launch of ThemeJam nearly six months ago, I’ve been very hesitant to put on sales.  Sure, I participated in a contest or two, but never really put on an all-out sales event.

This holiday weekend is a rare deviation from that policy.  Today is the last day of the 4th of July 50% Off sale.  Believe me when I say, this kind of discount will not come around often, so if you’ve been on the fence about grabbing a theme, now’s the time.

Some Thoughts on Sales

It seems that in the world of premium WordPress themes companies (and many other businesses for that matter), there are generally three schools of thought when it comes to holding sales:

1)  Never have sales.

Your product(s) have one price and this price will never change.  This policy sends the message that there is absolutely no way to ever obtain the product at a discount price.  If you want it, get it now or get it later.  It will cost the same today as it will a year from now.

The upside to this approach is that it keeps buyers from waiting around in hopes that the product will go on sale.  The down side is you lose the excitement, vitality, and added exposure that a periodic sales event might bring.  Instead, you must focus on long-term slow and steady growth of your business and brand in order for this policy to be effective (which is not to say that this isn’t important no matter what sales policy you choose).

2)  Always have sales.

The second approach is one that I see many new theme companies resort to.  That is holding sales events early and often – like on a weekly or monthly basis.  As more and more theme companies pop up, this seems to be the most popular way to gain traction in a crowded market, which can work to build some early brand exposure.

The down side is that when sales happen all the time, buyers will learn not to pay full price for your product.  They’ll wait a week or two, knowing another sales event will likely come around.  As this trend continues over time, it can hurt the health of your business and might lead you to permanently lowering your prices.

3)  Do hold sales, but only on rare occasions.

This is the approach I prefer, and the it’s the one I feel is the most effective, at least in theory.  I should point out that I’m writing this on Friday, Day 1 of this past weekend’s sale, so the results aren’t in yet.

But the idea is to hold a high-value sale (50% Off everything), on a random and very rare occasion.  Create the impression that your company never holds sales events and surprise your audience when you do.  Part of the attraction of a sales event is the expiration date.  “This deal won’t last forever so get it now“.  The fact that you won’t offer another discount for maybe 6 or 12 months serves to add extra impact to the deal.

This idea comes back to building your brand over the long-term.  Not only in terms of  brand recognition and understanding of your product, but also spreading an understanding of your policies – the way your company does business.  Since this weekend’s sale is the first of it’s kind on ThemeJam, it may not be until the second time we hold a sale (who knows when…) that will really drive home the fact that sales events on ThemeJam rarely come along.  We shall see…

Over to you…

As a consumer, do you value or de-value a company that holds frequent sales events?

As a business owner, which of the three approaches on sales do you prefer?