We spent the past couple of days pricing our new merchandise, both with physical tags, on our website and on Craigslist. Yesterday morning I sat looking at the website, thinking I should call my SIL, when I got an email from him. It said, "Do you think we overpriced the new stuff?" I had been trying to think of a tactful way to ask him the same thing.
In order to keep prices reasonable, you have to stay informed about what the other shops are selling things for, and that can be a double-edged sword. Not only does it help you stay abreast of sales trends at the other places, but it also plants a little subconscious whisper in your brain that keeps repeating, "Did you see what they got for that piece?" Pretty soon, if you're not careful, your own prices start to creep upwards.
My SIL and I both woke up yesterday morning knowing that's what had happened to us, and we weren't comfortable with it, because we had made a promise to our customers and to ourselves not to become another one of "those guys" who are making owning mid-century furniture more and more difficult.
So we spent the rest of the day lowering the prices on the new items, knocking off a hundred dollars here, hundreds more there. Then we put the Closed sign in the window, had a couple of glasses of wine and felt a lot better about ourselves.
