I recently read an article about how large supermarket chains were selling gift baskets and hampers that cost three times more than the individual items. The writer of the article calculated the cost of each product sold in the said supermarkets as opposed to buying a gift basket filled with these products. The writer however did not allow for the fact that the products she had priced already had already been marked up by the supermarket, and if she had calculated the price at the cost to the supermarket, not the consumer then these large supermarket chains in effect made more than three times the amount of the gift basket than the individual products would have cost.
Now all businesses need to mark their products up, if they weren't making profit they would not be in business, but there is a big difference between making a profit and greed. Having said that on the other end of the scale you have home based businesses that charge too little for their gift basket creations. I am sure as the consumer you may be thinking how can charging too little be relevant to you,
Think about it this way, if something went wrong, would the seller be able to afford to put it right. Many sellers particularly in home based businesses, consider themselves to be hobbyists and do not add a markup to their baskets, but in many cases they have not covered their costs. When you consider the cost of the basket, contents, wrap and bow in most cases the seller is selling at a loss, because they have not covered all of these costs. Even if a seller was breaking even on the sale of a gift basket, the minute there is a problem that needs to be fixed they are already losing money.
No business can survive by just breaking even as they have not covered their running costs and do not therefore have the funds required to put problems right, Let us say the gift basket you ordered arrived with you damaged, or worse still, got lost in the post. The seller would have to honour the sale by sending out a replacement basket. If they are just breaking even then the funds to create and send another basket would have to come out of there own pocket, and this is one of the reasons that many small home based businesses do not survive.
You as a consumer need to know that the company that you are dealing with has the resources to survive particularly in the case of small home based business. If home based businesses are not covering their costs and end up closing down, you would find it difficult to get a replacement basket out of them should there be a problem with the basket they sent you.
For these reasons you need to know what is a fair price to pay for a gift basket. You do not want to be paying the extortionate prices that large supermarket chains are charging, and neither do you want to risk purchasing low cost gift baskets from a home based business that is not covering their costs, and will therefore not be able to deal with any problems should they arise.
Ideally a small gift basket filled with quality products should cost you in the region of around £20 - £30 depending on the products provided. Should the contents of the basket be of higher quality then the price should reflect this. A small basket filled with items that can be purchased on the high street should cost in the region of £15 - £20. These prices do not include any packaging or postal costs and would reflect the price should the basket be collected. If the gift basket should be sent by courier then you can expect these prices to rise to the region of £20 - £35 This is to cover the cost of packaging including the box and packing materials, and this does not include the cost of delivery, which is additional. Obviously the larger the basket the higher the price.
So when you next look at purchasing a gift basket you should expect the prices to be in the region of £20 for a smaller basket to £50 and upwards for a larger basket. Again this would depend on the size and contents of the basket. Spa baskets tend to cost more as good quality skincare products can be quite costly. Go for a basket that is priced to high and you will feel ripped off,and if you go for a basket that is priced too cheaply you take the risk of problems not being solved should they arise.
For baskets that are fairly priced please feel free to visit our website www.worldofhampers.co.uk
Article written by Jayne Groenewald - Owner of World of Hampers and Founder of UK Gift Basket Association.
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