BPL Members-
Please accept this apology. I am a new member and saw this channel as an opportunity to advertise our website. While we may not have any one item at an extreme blowout, every tent and backpack we offer right now is at a discounted price. We are an extremely small store that carries a good amount of high-quality products and wanted the outdoor community to realize that even a small store such as ourselves can offer the same quality goods as our larger competitors, and do it at better prices. Feel free to compare a few products to the rei.com's and Backcountry.com's and notice that we do strive to be competitive.

Our intent was most certainly not to deceive the outdoor community and please be assured this is not a spam technique just to get clicks, as some of you suggest. We are simply trying to make our presence known on the internet, from which we receive upwards of 70% of our business. I would like to offer a 10% discount and free ground shipping to those who felt mislead or deceived by our advertisement. To receive this, please email me at joshua@hermitshut.com

From here on out, I give to you our word that we will be active members of this community and make every effort to promote our business honestly and effectively.

Edited by hhuts on 05/03/2007 13:51:26 MDT.

10% or less off. One sale price listed is the same as regular price for one of the packs.

Such blatent advertising with such shallow discounts is...embarrassing.

I wonder if Hermit's Hut has hired one of these viral marketing companies? Regardless, this strategy is incredibly counterproductive.

Hi Guys-

Several of you reported the original post on this thread to me for spam removal. Thank you for your watchful eyes on our forums! I try to blast spam as quickly as possible.

In this case, the original post technically meets the requirements for posting in the "gear deals" section (which allows commercial posts if they are announcing a sale or coupon).

We've contacted the poster about this issue and suggested that they would likely get a better response if they were a contributing member of our BPL community rather than a "drive by" blatent advertiser.

Cheers,

-Mike

While this posting doesn't violate the technical rules as spam... I think it violates the spirit of the forum. I didn't average the discounts... but eyeballing the prices on "fast and light tents", it seems like the average discount is something like like 5% and the best seems to be around 15%. That is not what I would call a "heck-of-a sale"! I am not even sure if these are "sale" prices, or just the normal prices of Hermit's Hut which might sell some items below MSRP.

Of course, the reason why folks do this sort of thing is because they can see that they get extra clicks, and maybe a few purchases. The cost? Nothing. At least that's what they think. I think it would be good to help these folks understand that there is an opportunity cost.

What might that be? That while these sort of tactics might net a few unsuspecting folks, it will also anger enough consumers that it will actually cost them business. In my case, I am removing Hermit's Hut from the list of companies I will do business with, I am putting them on my web page as a company I don't do business with, and am sending them a message about this. How much business are they losing? Not as much as I would like :-). I would guess between $50-200/year because they have never been high on my list. I would guess that once or twice a year I have purchased items from them when the stores I like don't have a particular item. No more.

--Mark

Edited by verber on 05/03/2007 10:10:05 MDT.

Thank you, Mark.

If they get a few more responses like yours, maybe they'll:

a) Respond on this thread.

b) Edit or remove the original post.

c) Become genuinely involved in the BPL community.

-- OR --

d) Offer a "deal" or coupon of substance to BPL readers.

Cheers,

-Mike

Joshua:

Thanks for revising your original post. Hopefully, you will choose "Option D" as outlined in Mike's post above. Cheers.