Discounts Are Here!

Lest we bury the lede: discounts are here! Get 20% off on everything in your cart today and tomorrow only using the code “DISCOUNTSAREHERE” at checkout. Go now!

We’ve been hard at work building a discount engine and all we have to show for it is this tiny little box.

If anyone is still here, we want to talk a little bit about why we built discounts at all.

Starting a retail site from scratch means we don’t get a lot of features for free out of the box. We have to choose carefully. Discounts might seem like a slam dunk—and, indeed, they are an essential tool for running sales, providing top-notch customer service, tracking external advertising, etc.—but with great power comes great responsibility.

First, we want to be clear, buying a discounted shirt does not change the amount of money designers receive. Any discounts we offer come directly from our cut. We think that’s only fair. Don’t you?

Second, as we’ve said on more than one occasion in the past, we’re committed to making sure Cotton Bureau is profitable and sustainable. That means we have to balance the needs of designers, customers, and ourselves. Running sales is sort of like taking out a loan. Sure, there’s an immediate cash influx, but there are undesirable long-term consequences. For Cotton Bureau to work, prices need to be more or less what they are. Sales bring new customers, help price-sensitive customers get over the hump, and reward everyone for being part of this little community. Unfortunately they also tend to undercut our business model of making money by selling people t-shirts. We’re happy to “make it up on volume”—so long as our margins are still positive. What all this boils down to is that sales are by necessity going to be few and far between. Enjoy them while they last, use them as an opportunity to introduce a friend to Cotton Bureau, but don’t get too attached.

Used in moderation, discounts are good for everyone. We’re thrilled to finally be able to offer them. Today won’t be the last time you can save a few bucks on Cotton Bureau, but it might be the last for awhile, so head on over and use the code “DISCOUNTSAREHERE” at checkout to get 20% off on everything in your cart. Offer expires midnight Eastern tomorrow. Thanks, yo.