308AR.com Member Discounts and/or Donations

[Guest LLArms]

This is one of those purely subjective topics that really has no wrong or right answer. I am just curious if one had to come up with something, how would you make it go down? Since this is 308AR.com I will use 308AR.com as the talking point. But 308AR.com can be substituted for any e-community type area.

Topics:

- What percentage of a discount or donation?

Purely random example; 5% discount off a product or 5% of the profit donated to the community from which someone designates? Or how about a split down the middle for both at 2.5% each?)

- Who qualifies?

Anyone who just signed up?

Any member registered since xxxx date?

Any member with xxx number of posts?

If you were a business owner  dealing in firearms related products and decided you wanted to give back to the particular firearms community from which a sale was from one of it's members, how would you do it using the above topics, or even something not mentioned?

If and when we go public we would like to arrange with multiple communities we are apart of a way to either provide discounts and/or give a portion of the profit to the community 'leader' (generally the forum/website admin) and we are looking on ideas how to go about implementing something like this.

We have received invaluable feedback, suggestions and information on varying subjects from the community and would very much like to do something to show our appreciation.

[Dusty44]

"Giving Back" is fine,  but your profit margin over a length of time is not that much.  If there is a market meltdown on the way for the fall of this year or for after the election/Fiscal Jan 1 Cliff,  that needs be taken into account.

I see what the other retailers who market online do.  Seasonal/short term sales where mention of the place where the buyer saw the ad or other notice of the sale tells you where the advertising is effective.  Codes for discounts on shipping or cost of merchandise are common.  A lot of feedback information in those codes.

I am a Contrarian Investor (another hobby) and often called a negative person,  but it helps to keep me out of trouble of many kinds.  I would suggest you be very careful about what you do.  Don't give away too much or set yourself up so that when you need to circle your wagons you are seen as being mean.

[Guest LLArms]

I would not give away something I have not taken into account in the budget.

Its very simple.  If my profit margin per item is 40% and I decide 5% will go as a discount or donation to a community, then my budget is written based on 35%.

I'm not sure we are talking the same time of stuff.  When using a percentage base, if I do poorly or if business booms, the 5% is a static amount.  I am not giving away something that I don't have to give.

I do well, the community receives well.

I do poorly, the community receives poorly.

If I have to increase pricing due to materials/labor changes, the 5% is still static.  If a product goes from $5,000 to $5,500 due to economy variables, 5% is still 5%.

I I have to make a produce sell for $4,000 instead of $5,000 - the 5% is still 5%.

Apply the same rules to the make believe 35% that goes into my pocket.

It shrinks or grows at an even pace with one another. I cannot forsee of a situation where that 5% would cause me harm. It is a voluntary action (like tithing 10% at church) to give a percentage of something I already have.

Now I realize that choosing to sacrifice a percentage of profits may drive analyst crazy.  But this is a personal choice as someone who believes that giving back is the cost of doing business. It was how I was raised, how I will raise my children, and hopefully how they raise theirs.

I fully understand this concept is dumb, or even mysterious to some people, but that just means we come from different backgrounds.

I will already be setting aside a percentage for my church.