Every time I give up on waiting for a kit to go on sale and place my order, and this last one was quite large, the kit goes on sale. This time it was before my stuff even got here. It is so aggravating. I have been waiting MONTHS to order Riley, and when I do, the next day, it goes on sale?? I placed the order yesterday morning and this afternoon it is on sale. And I just got the notice the body is back in stock…
That would drive me crazy!!!
Our “sales” are primarily done for inventory balancing purposes.
Every day the computer looks at the running sales average for each kit over the prior 60 days. Then, based on that sales average, a “days in stock” calculation is made, in an attempt to predict how many remaining days of stock we have for each kit. Then, if the “days in stock” is greater than a certain trigger level, the kit is put on sale. Then, during the sale, when the “days in stock” reaches another trigger level, the kit is taken off of sale.
Most of us here at Bountiful Baby don’t really know when (or if) any particular kit will be put on sale, nor when it is to be taken off sale. It’s all based on website calculations. And it changes daily (sort of like the stock market ).
Bountiful Baby
I wish the tanner kit went on sale sometime…
— Begin quote from “preciousnewborns”
I wish the tanner kit went on sale sometime…
— End quote
The website is currently forecasting that Tanner will run out of stock approximately 21 days before Tanner is restocked. So, I don’t think Tanner is going on sale any time soon.
The computer might adjust those calculations as time moves forward, depending on sales.
Like I mentioned previously, it is almost like the stock market. It is a bit unpredictable. We can “kind of” tell, just like I did above, but now if someone in inventory control comes in and adjusts the inventory numbers (based on a physical count update), anything can happen (not to mention the possibility of fluctuating future sales that were not predicted based on past sales).
The computer is usually pretty good at tracking the inventory, but with the kits it gets a bit unpredictable, between the “Firsts”, “Seconds”, and “Test Parts”. For the last few years, we’ve initially estimated the “Firsts”, “Seconds”, and “Test Parts”, and put at least the estimates of the “Firsts” on the website immediately, then updated the inventory as the actual count progresses during the ongoing inspection. The errors that creates, though, is causing us to shift to where soon we will be inspecting everything before we put anything on the website. In fact, that is probably going to happen with the elves/fairies (Cricket, Rainy, and Skeeter), which will delay their release if we do that. My own feeling is that will happen with them, and those three probably won’t be released for another few weeks, and possibly not until early March, even though we have the vinyl in stock right now. Plus, we want to make sure we have enough bodies, wigs, eyes, etc., for the fairies.
Bountiful Baby
Still really aggravating when the kit pops on sale 24 hours after it is bought.
I too have had that happen and it is aggravating, but I still appreciate that i can afford this hobby all because of BB!!! I could not do it without them!
— Begin quote from “New Beginnings”
I did that with Precious Gift. Waited and waited, finally ordered and the next day it was on sale. So I just bought it again to cut my losses!
— End quote
i did exactly the same thing! When I bought Cozy it wasn’t on sale, then when it did go on, I bought a second. That way it does cut the costs and I am so happy I did because I love that sculpt so much that I knew I would want to do a second one!
It can be the “thrill of the hunt.” This morning, Sam and Sera were both $19.95. I should have ordered then, because when I got home from work, Sam was $29.95. I ordered them anyway this evening so that I’ll have both. BB accommodated me when I ordered once in the evening, and later that night it went on sale. I thought because I had ordered it on one day, and THEN it went on sale the same day (past MY bedtime), I should get the sale price. They were very good about it, and I was a happy customer. And…I keep buying!
— Begin quote from “LittleMama”
It can be the “thrill of the hunt.” This morning, Sam and Sera were both $19.95. I should have ordered then, because when I got home from work, Sam was $29.95. I ordered them anyway this evening so that I’ll have both. BB accommodated me when I ordered once in the evening, and later that night it went on sale. I thought because I had ordered it on one day, and THEN it went on sale the same day (past MY bedtime), I should get the sale price. They were very good about it, and I was a happy customer. And…I keep buying!
— End quote
I think BB is really fair that way.
BB thankyou for the answer as to how your sales are generated. I had no idea how actually complicated it was! I have a hunch that this kind of inventory control is why you can still offer kits at a reasonable price AND make enough of a profit to stay in business. I have spent a lot of brain time trying to figure when a certain kit might come on sale…now I will have to be more practical minded and “think like a computer”! This will be even more fun!
HUGs
Joy