This is the beginning, my friend
My post of yesterday seems to have started something. I hope this discussion (on POL and other sites) will lead to a serious discussion what you get for how much where….
This starting discussion and some thoughts on my side fitted wonderfully into the rest of the day. It began with a picture; W., the fragrance guinea pig, wanted to hang up the new picture that we bought a while ago from our friend, Ernesto. The new one was going to replace an old one that is still looking for a nice place somewhere on a wall. But there, where we got used to see the old picture, olive tree in the sunset, there was now a black frame on the wall. Which called for cleaning measures, that proofed to be completely ineffective. W. ended up painting the wall, while doing so he realized the broken floor socket,….
I got home and saw an appartment that looked like it was being rebuilt from scratch. Hence, no bottle pouring and labelling! This will have to follow over the weekend.
Like W., rebuilding the appartment right now, I end up on my blog babbling about prices and arguing why I think the move was appropriate….
- I made a mistake: Well, first, I think I have to correct one thing that I did not explicitely mention; I made a mistake when launching L’air in 100 ml size. Not expecting its success I am -as one man show - reaching a limit of how many liters I can make and pour. Reducing to 50 ml will help a little bit before having to do the next step: Outsourcing….
- Some of you may not know yet….Well, secondly, everything that lands on your table coming from tauer perfumes is made by Andy. And W., from time to time. This does not mean it is more beautiful, it just means that things are hand made and hand poured and that things exist because we do not charge an hourly salary. W. and me do this because we simply find it funny to compete with Mr. and Ms. Beckham…..Â
-Going from 100 ml to 50 ml for the same price looks like doubling the price. In a sense it is. For me it isn’t. I had two alternatives: Either increase the price for the 100 ml size to compensate higher raw materials and packaging prices or reduce the amount of perfumee we sell. I decided for the later.
- I personally think, you still get a lot of good fragrance for your money, fully loaded with naturals, blended with care, mixed and poured with love and passion…
Here is the discussion on PerfumeOfLife: POLÂ
December 28th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
Dearest Andy-
I think that it is remarkable, in this day and age, that you continue to control every step yourself.
[I will check out the blog situation myself- I’ve been otherwise occupied, and am not up to speed]
Considering all that goes into the process of creating, packaging, and distributing your products, this move is highly reasonable…
Other independent perfumers, like Liz Zorn, Ayala, and Anya, sweat over these issues as well.
It is a thorny topic- the cost of quality materials, the time-consuming process of creation, blending, packaging, distributing [and any other number of steps along the way], and how pricing does/doesn’t reflect all of it.
Bottom line-
Many of us appreciate how unique and precious your work is, and we both understand and support you.
BTW- I wore your L’Air yesterday, and had multiple compliments on my deliciousness, while I stopped in at various spots to visit old friends, and sniff [considering that I clearly was NOT dressed up in finery, it speaks to the appeal of your creation- to those who shop at very high-end stores, willing to throw good money after bad on mediocre perfumes !].
May the New Year bring about resolution to nonsense of all sorts- and new nonsense for us to ENJOY !!!
Love you [and W, and mama…],
December 28th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Andy,
These are simply growing pains. Many people won’t want you to change…and grow, but it must be done. Your success is vital if the fragrances are to continue. I, personally, would love to see at least one (or more) new fragrance a year coming from Tauer Perfumes. This can’t happen if you aren’t at least breaking even. I noticed that Luckyscent is almost out of Orris!!!!
Success is always a welcome change!
Much luck to you and W. in the New Year.
Kelley
(your biggest fan in Mexico)
December 28th, 2006 at 4:34 pm
Andy
I’m pretty damn sure you’re not making a lot of money out of your scents - you’re right to charge what’s right (and all 3 releases are quality scents that last, change, adapt, and are therefore worth that little extra). After all, they’re still cheaper than a lot of other niche stuff…
much love and a happy new year.
December 28th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
hehehe…thank you all for your nice comments. This whole discussion on POL and basenotes has many positive side aspects. One: I was looking into my recent past, thinking about how I started and how naive Pascal and I were. And it came back to my mind that in August 2005 I posted on my blogspot blog, that “Anybody who cares for a sample: Send me a mail with your address and we will send you a sample. (…)”. It is amazing. Just 1.5 years and still: A world apart. Back then I started to send samples to the world, for free. I was so …naive and entirely driven by the idea of sharing my scent. Well, we stopped after a while because the free samples story spread in the internet and things got out of control. Here is the blogspot post…
http://tauerperfumes.blogspot.com/2005/08/samples-and-shoes.html
When we started selling the perfume (le Maroc pour elle) in the shop in Zurich: Nobody found it a good idea, and all said we shouldn’t even start. Forget selling perfumes made by hand in simple flacons, by a nobody, in a bookshop in Zurich. We have proven them wrong but paid a heavy price of trial and error. But it was always fun. Really was.
Finally, cruel detail on the side: I have to decide on the lavender pricing the upcoming month… hmmm …let’s get real this time and start with 150 $US… we can always sell it at 50% discount later and everyone will love me for my generosity. :-)
(just kidding)
Thus, things have changed a lot but please, do not worry….we will continue walking…on a road where folks can follow without wearing silk suits.
And now: Back to thinking about perfumes!
December 29th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Hi Andy
I’m usually reading basenotes and I have this blog on my list of things to read.
On basenotes the L’Air du Desert Marocain discussion is hot, much hotter now that the price rocketed.
I have to tell you that raising the price of anything 100% is called price gouging in the USA
If Gas stations do it, we boycott gas stations. If a candy maker does it we don’t eat the candy.
If we’re told to swallow the Kool Aid…. well that almost doesn’t apply here.
I bought a few samples from you when I discovered your site based on the really great reviews the scent was getting on basenotes. I was going to buy a bottle (100ml) from luckyscent.com but not anymore.
sincerest compliments on your skills
fredricktoo
aka Gary
December 29th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
Just a quick note to tell you how disappointed I am with this situation.
I made it a vow of mine that I would never buy a perfume I had not sampled so, based on the beautiful reviews, I purchased a few days before you made your announcement.
I will be receiving my sample today, but I can no longer buy it becuase EVERY SINGLE online retailer no longer has any in stock due to your price increase and the rush to purchase the 100ml.
Well, let me tell you: I thought I could overlook this issue, but I am bitter. I will never buy, nor recommend your products to anyone for any reason. I may be just one person so I’m sure you do not care, but take it from me, if your name or perfume ever comes up in any topic in which I’m participating, you will have nothing but the most negative reviews from me.
Good luck with the rest of your business.
December 29th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
I always say, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say about somebody, don’t say anything’.
Andy has stated quite clearly the reasons for his actions. It’s certainly not to make a quick buck.
Barry
December 29th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
Barry
100% at the height of the perfumes popularity?
wanna buy a bridge?
December 29th, 2006 at 5:19 pm
Although I admit I would have though for a “smarter move” Andy, I always thought it was strange that Lonestar 50 ml was sold at the same price for a 100ml LDDM.
The smart ones could see this coming and just bought the 100ml, even before it was hyped on “those perfume websites”
Still I believe , maybe it was better to leave the LDDM alone? .or maybe it would have been smarter to go to 50 ml bottles and lower the price with say 10 euro? But hey, I’m not a buisiness man Andy, lol!
It’s weird though, I can’t remember anyone making protest posts against any other niche brands who charge 120$ for a 100ml bottle, like Bond no9, while your fragrances can compete easily with each one of those.
Anyway, you made quit a stir, Andy, but I truly believe that in the end, people who truly apreciate your craftmanship, will find their way to your perfumes.
All the best,
December 29th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
Price gouging is a term that’s often used by those who (1) are upset because they’re being charged more than they think they should pay, or (2) are against the concept of free markets. If Andy is charging too little for his product, he will go out of business. If Andy is charging too much for his product (i.e., more than the market can bear), the market will correct him and he will adjust his packaging and pricing accordingly. So-called price gouging (if there is such a thing) cannot work in the long term, because a free market is self-correcting.
Many vendors of computer shareware face the same criticisms, Andy. I’ve seen many postings criticizing a 30USD piece of shareware that clearly was crafted with much love and attention to detail because it’s “too expensive”. This usually means, “I only want to pay you 5USD for your product even though it took you 20USD to make it” or “you should love what you’re doing and do it for free.”
I will continue to buy Andy’s products when I can afford them. I have limited income for luxuries at this point in my life, but hey, folks, that’s what makes them luxuries - we pay for them out of the surplus income left over after we’ve paid our bills, put money in savings, etc. Are the prices really fair? Check out the going rates for Ayala Moriel’s frags, or L’Artisan’s frags, or Creeds, or … his “new’ price is still very competitive.
Andy is an artisan. Artisans are not necessarily born with the best business skills. It’s not much of a stretch for me to imagine that there was a certain amount of naivete involved in the inception of his business, so I take his statements regarding naivete at face value. If you disagree and think his real motivation is greed (meaning not running his business in proper approved socialist fashion), fine. But if you compare his “inflated” prices against the going rate for niche and artisan perfumes, they seem very much in line with what’s being charged by the competition.
I say, go for it Andy. If you make a decent living at your craft, you’ll be motivated to continue creating great frags for us. You’ve got great products and you’re clearly charging a very fair and competitive price for them, even at the increases you’ve instituted. I appreciate the bargain I received when I purchased L’Air at the lower price … but I also realize, bargains can’t be forever.
Vasily
December 29th, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Hear hear to that Vasily - perhaps the most argumentative and convincing post on the topic that I have read anywhere.
December 29th, 2006 at 7:44 pm
Ok, what shall I say.
Hmm… First a thank you to Vasily, Konstantin and Barry and Eric and Gary and Fred, of course.
Why thank Fred, you might ask. Well, on one hand, because I like open discussions and I do not mind being confronted with negative criticism. I used to be a scientist once and I have learnt not to take criticism personally. I think, some points I have understood and -of course- I fully respect Fred’s opinion. I for sure have learnt my message. As Anya mentioned on POL: I will have to include a margin of uncertainty into my pricing.
What I do not understand, however, is one point: You said that “if your name or perfume ever comes up in any topic in which I’m participating, you will have nothing but the most negative reviews from me.” This sounds strange to me. It sounds like a transposition from one incident to a whole person and to things that are crafted by this person. This is for sure no good as it devalues your reviews. And I feel you are crossing a border that you shouldn’t; you should not forget that on the other side of your computer sit people that you can hurt.
I think you have made your point very clear. You are a free man and can buy or not buy whatever you want. And you can disagree with my pricing. I do not have any problems with that. But I will not accept misconduct and crossing borders that offend me as person.
Gary: A quick note on the side: This is not! “height of the perfumes popularity”. The L’air had its 2006 peak in May 2006, when Luca Turin wrote about it in the NZZ. And: I announced to my distributor this change in size in autumn already and was just waiting until I run out of bottles. Hence, it is just coincidence. No empty bottles left=no large size L’air.
December 29th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
It is most assuredly not a transposition: you (a person) made the decision (your considered decision) about your perfume (your product) that engendered a negative criticism from me. Your decisions, your product, you. No transposition necessary.
AS I’ve said in other venues, I have nothing against you as a person; heck, from the only thing I know about you (your writing), I think we can even be friends, as I’ve commented on this very blog before! But your business decision that you made has set things up such that should Andy Tauer be the subject of a discussion I’m involved in, I will have no choice to to voice my opinion of you.
If you think I’ve crossed a border because I will now negatively review you, and by extension, your business practices, there’s not much to be done about that, now is there?
December 29th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
Well, Fred,…gaehn. I think that’s about all I can say now.
I will do something useful now…working on a new theme I wanted to start for a while but couldn’t so far because my bread and butter job, that I have to do in order to finance my perfume venture, keeps me busy during the day…. I am gonna work on Bulgarian rose and Fennel seeds which smells like a wonderful combination to me.
Have a peaceful night.
December 29th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
Fred wrote: “…if your name or perfume ever comes up in any topic in which I’m participating, you will have nothing but the most negative reviews from me…” and later wrote: “…AS I’ve said in other venues, I have nothing against you as a person;…I will now negatively review you, and by extension, your business practices…”
So one supposedly bad business decision places a person beyond the pale, and incapable of redemption in your eyes? To the extent that you promise that whenever that persons name comes up you will have nothing but negative things to say about him and his business?
Sounds pretty personal to me.
Vasily
December 29th, 2006 at 10:29 pm
Dear Andy,
I am very surprised by those angry reactions. I find the price of $65 for 50 ml perfume is more then reasonable. You are not selling gas, but make a perfume. There is a part from your soul, this is an art if you want. And I love it and the way you do it. This is real and very heartful. When I open my L’Air I see your card with “Enjoy!”. That always makes me smiling…
December 29th, 2006 at 10:31 pm
Dear La Myrrhe
Thank you very much. With these word in mind I will go to bed… have a wonderful evening and thank you very much, indeed.
December 30th, 2006 at 12:16 am
I won’t buy it and I’ll steer very clear of all Tauer products. I’m not the only one saying this either. Just as word of mouth can cause bottles to literally fly off shelves, those same mouths can cause bottles to gather dust forever.
Peace be with you all
December 30th, 2006 at 1:07 am
Vasily, sooner or later, you’ll learn that *everything* is personal. We’re not robots. Apart from that, what’s your point?
Well, I hope the pittance I put in your pocket by buying a sample does help you, Andy. Good luck, I’m sure.
A bien tot and a Happy New Year to all.
December 30th, 2006 at 3:52 am
How odd for Fred to threaten you with nasty reviews and to close his comments with Happy New Year to all, and for Gary to reprise with nasty wishes for your perfumes to collect dust (unpurchased)—and to close with “Peace be with you all”.
So much for the death of irony.
What is it to them if you need to charge more for you product? It’s not as though you’re a fireman charging for them to come out on the ladder from their burning apartment. . .
As a retailer/mfr myself, I can see that perhaps you might have done better to introduce the smaller size earlier, then withdraw the larger—it works out the same in the end of course but avoids the hissy fits of Freds and Gregs. That is, until you color your hair differently or change the potato salad recipe.
Presumably you have your own relatives, and can do without artificial in-laws such as Fred and Greg. And perhaps they can find other hobbies that please them more and cause less dyspepsia.
December 30th, 2006 at 5:34 am
Elliot wake up
there was never any death of irony, that’s one, and what do my wishes for all, sincere wishes by the way have to do with irony.
your little screed does so well as you quote Fred and myself. After that it becomes Pynchoesque, with firemen behaving psychoticaly.
I’ll skip the part where you describe yourself and get hair mixed into the potato salad.
But! I sir am not one of Andy’s angry in-laws! And why are Andy’s in-laws angry with him?
the above sir was irony as anyone with eyes can plainly see.
Greg
December 30th, 2006 at 5:56 am
Fred and Greg? Are you girls on your period or what? My daughter stopped having temper tantrums when things didn’t go her way by the time she was 12. Perhaps it’s time to put your big girl panties on and deal with it. Andy raised the price on one of his perfumes to match the price of his other offerings. Makes perfect sense to me. God forbid the man should make a living at what he does. Perhaps he should just keep losing money to appease all the vindictive, whiny brats of the world. Why don’t you both just take a deep breath, wipe the snot and tears away, and go sit in the naughty corner for awhile. Really. It will be ok. You don’t need to approach everything in life with the same sense of urgency as you would an purulent anal fistula.
Peace, Hugs, Kisses, Noogie bites, and an End to World Hunger.
Nacho Libre
December 30th, 2006 at 7:09 am
“nacho”: I’ve met many hardboiled eggs in my time, but you’re twenty minutes. Honestly, periods? Big girl panties?? That the best you can do?
December 30th, 2006 at 10:00 am
what’s an anal fistula nacho? and don’t let your “daughter” read your 13 yr old writing style.
December 30th, 2006 at 7:11 pm
As a perfume maker myself, I totally understand Andy’s decision. He feels he made a mistake in the first place and he is correcting it. He is not a business man with many years of product pricing experience. I know myself that samples and production costs are astronomical. I hope all this hoopla gets over with soon. I agree that the market will tell what he can charge. Free market economy IS self-correcting and time will tell what his prices should be set at.
Bad-mouthing Andy and spitting venom are a silly waste of time. Lower your adrenaline and just move on and don’t be hurtful by making other people’s decisions for them about whether to buy or not. That is just plain vengence and bad karma as well…
Michael Storer, perfumer
December 30th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
Fred wrote: “Vasily, sooner or later, you’ll learn that *everything* is personal. We’re not robots. Apart from that, what’s your point?”
You’re the one who has chosen to make this personal: you’re right, we’re not robots, and we have choices we can make when we engage in discourse. For example, one can choose to be magnanimous, cheerful, and forgiving, and think the best of people; or one can choose to be rigid and wrathful and judgmental, and think the worst of people. I find that life is much more pleasant when I choose the former course.
As for my point: you claim on the one hand that you have nothing against Andy “as a person” and simultaneously state that at the mere mention of his name you will bad mouth him; then, you turn around and saying “everything is personal “. I was pointing out that you’re claiming both that it’s not personal, and that it is personal. Huh. Imagine that. :-)
And now, those of us who are not planning on saying bad things about Andy whenever we hear his name, return to our vigil, awaiting news of his next lavenderrific creation…
December 30th, 2006 at 11:31 pm
Uuups-what´s this all about? When I bought L´Air one year ago, I was so glad having a perfume like this 100ml for only 55€! Great…but when I saw Lonestar coming up in 50ml, I was wondering and now it seems right to me. Andy, you may be a poorly salesman, the way you adjuste the prices is a bit shocking and abrupt, but justified for what one gets. But anyway you are such a wonderful and outstanding perfumer, and we have free will to buy or not to buy:). Waiting for the Lavender….
January 2nd, 2007 at 5:55 pm
I had to stop reading some of the vitriolic comments, as they brought back too many memories of helping my husband sell his own products. We made some of the same mistakes in the beginning–we set our prices way too low. We later learned that it was much better to overestimate, and then have a big sale. People LOVED that!
Seems like there’s always someone out there that gets terribly offended because he can’t get a top-quality, handmade, original-design item at a mass-market, “Walmart” knock-off price. They love your product, but they expect you to provide it at sharecropper wages. Am I bitter? You bet.
In our case, after many years of running ourselves ragged, having a wildly successful line of products, yet not making enough money (we were not very clever as businesspeople) we started licensing his items to big companies who mass produce and distribute them. The prices are cheap. But the customers are getting a product that is inferior in almost every way.
I think $65 for 50 ml of perfume is ENTIRELY reasonable. Especially when it is such exquisite perfume. If you do not agree with me, that’s fine, but why be so angry? Why dwell on it? There are zillions of perfumes out there that are not worth their price to me, but I can’t imagine plagueing their websites with repeated comments.
To Andy: I’m only just discovering your ‘fumes, and the 3 I’ve tried are absolutely MIND-BLOWING. Incredibly compelling. Really. My family is used to me walking around in the likes of Frederic Malle, Serge Lutens, Caron extraits, etc., but when I entered the room wearing La Maroc Pour Elle the other night, they were all astonished. Can’t wait to try Lonestar M., and really can’t wait to see what you do next!
Many good wishes!
January 3rd, 2007 at 6:38 am
Dear Suzy
Thank you for discovering my perfumes! I had guests yesterday and we did a little tabac blond and Lonestar comparison, just on the side and it was truly fun. Looking back to my Lonestart I have to admit: It is very close to the campfire indeed …. I personally love it. Depending on my mood sometimes more than the L’air. Enjoy and have fun.
January 6th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
I’m just delighted you make your perfumes available to us. Period. At whatever cost. Frankly, I find it sort of a nice thing that in this day and age where everyone obsesses over the business side of things, you’ve focused so much on the creative process and not so much on the bottom line. I am *very* glad you are now realizing, though, how much you need to charge and I think it is a completely fair price. I know how hard it is to run a small business, especially a creative one, and I just want you to continue being able to make perfumes. I am very much looking forward to your lavender scent’s release.