Just the Goods aims to make natural skin care as affordable as possible because I’m uncomfortable with the excessive profit margins associated with so-called luxury lifestyle products, and I want people to know they really do have a choice for healthier skin care... without sales, without coupons.
When I say I price Just the Goods at the absolute lowest price I can manage, what does this mean? To begin making this more tangible, I can explain that of any price you see on this website, 50% is automatically the cost of ingredients and packaging required for the item to exist.
The range of costs extracted from the other 50% of the price include:
- shipping ingredients and packaging to the lab (+ brokerage fees and import duty, where applicable) + time/labour procuring ingredients and packaging (whether assessing inventory and buying online, or going to stores to buy materials, which also involves transportation … mostly in the form of bus tickets since I don’t drive, ha!)
- research and development time/labour + the costs of ingredients that must be discarded when experimental batches fail
- production time/labour + set up and clean up time/labour associated with each batch
- capital and consumable equipment required for production ranging from mixers and graduated cylinders, to bottle filling syringes, to face masks and gloves, etc.
- order packing and shipping processing time/labour + shipping materials (paper bags, envelopes and boxes, tape, printer paper and toner)
- marketing costs (developing and maintaining a website and email account, business cards, advertising where applicable, the materials/labour of product donated as in-kind sponsorships/free samples where applicable + the time/labour in social media networking)
- physical space costs in the form of rent and all other applicable utilities required for the lab to be a functional workspace, plus the cost of modifying the space as it arises (more shelving and/or order baskets, etc., to improve efficiency as required)
- financial costs (service charges to send and receive electronic payments, general banking fees + costs associated with bookkeeping and accounting)
- customer service time/labour (responding to inquiries, preparing for and attending events)
- wages and benefits for assistants
- business tax
Just the Goods functions on the basis of need not greed, so I pay myself what is left over, keeping in mind that I regularly re-invest in Just the Goods by making larger ingredient/material/equipment purchases on speculation to reduce import costs, or to take advantage of manufacturer discounts.
Having explained all of this, I fully realize I could charge a great deal more for my products — people are certainly happy to purchase at retail rates in bricks and mortar shops, and I’m so grateful for that! — but I have set prices at this website with accessibility in mind. This matters to me more than making the maximum possible profit from every item I make and sell 😊
Thanks so much for reading this! I hope it helps to clarify my motivations and methods.
- Milena
The original article at justthegoods.net can be found here: https://justthegoods.net/pages/how-are-just-the-goods-products-priced