I was looking to make a little haul from Asia – an online beauty store I’ve supported from the day it opened, only to find that the price of the goodies had gone up significantly – we’re talking 10-20% on prices just a few months ago despite already being an expensive retailer to buy from…
A lot of the Asian cosmetics I buy come from people who already live in that part of the world and they buy in bulk at discounted rates or they get the products from working in the industry. Hence they decide the prices they want to charge rather than following a RRP.
Some mark ups I totally accept – sellers have to make a profit too. I am happy buying Skinfood from eBay, for example, as products are about £4-£10 which is inexpensive by UK standards even if there is a mark up.
In the past when I have been dying for an item (70-80% of my make up is from Asia) I’ve been willing to pay anything but those days have gone. Recession, bad exchange rates, general sanity and Muse telling me that she won’t talk to me if I buy ridiculously priced items have made me take a step back – so instead of cutting down from those kind of shops, I completely cut myself off to avoid temptation.
So, it got me thinking – how much of a mark up is acceptable for you, when it comes to beauty items?
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I won’t pay for something that has a huge mark up – I think anything that costs more than 30% of the cost price is too much but sometimes I will make an exception
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I think I know which site you mean and I was really disappointed by the new price increases as well. I completely agree with you that sellers have to make a profit too, but when you’re spending around £20 for something that costs around £10 in the country it’s from…meh. I have to tear myself away!
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For me, it depends on the rarity of the item, and how easy I might be able to get it elsewhere. 10-20%, though… yeah, I would almost certainly pass.
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it depends on the actual cost, but I’ll probably pay up to 50% more if the item is still cheap with the markup and I really want it. But for U.S. products that get marked up in Japan, I usually refuse to buy them on principle. If it’s European products being marked up in Japan I am a little more lenient, interestingly enough.
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It shouldn’t be more than 20% in my opinion
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