The Tariff Effect: Why Your Favorite Small Shops Can’t Afford Huge Discounts
Well, it started already. The tariff backlash. The other day a repeat customer wanted to basically clean me out of all the doll stringing hooks I just restocked. That would be a great thing and most welcome, except the price she wanted to pay was more than 40% off with shipping included. I would have ended up losing money on the deal so it obviously wasn’t worth it. She declined my most generous offer ~ 40% off but without free shipping and when I wouldn’t capitulate threw a tantrum. “This is WAY more than the last time she ordered” (over a year ago!), she doesn’t think “eBay can charge sellers a fee on shipping” (well, guess what: they do and so does Etsy), “tariffs haven’t started affecting prices yet” (tell that to my suppliers), “Amazon has a better price” (well, for a product that isn’t the same but whatever)… Now, let me just say I have not raised my prices even though when I restocked I found out my supplier had increased their price almost 13%. I just wasn’t offering a deep ...
