Don't you hate when you are taken for a fool???
 

some online "boutiques" are selling the same products as Petedge for more than TRIPLE the price ...

http://www.hautedogboutique.com/Merc...roduct_Count=0

http://www.petedge.com/shopping/sear...ey=slipper+bed


I also have seen ZANY toys selling for $5.99 each when PetEdge sells them for $0.89 each cents .... and the blanket squeezey toy selling for $9.99 when PetEdge has it for $1.89 ... please check with PetEdge first!!! as they say
CAVEAT EMPTOR
The axiom or principle in commerce that the buyer alone is responsible for assessing the quality of a purchase before buying.
[From Latin caveat ēmptor, let the buyer beware]

Those slipper beds are similar but not quite the same. But, Petedge is suppose to be a wholesale distributor site. That is why you have to pay a processing fee in addition to shipping/handling when you order a small amount. I saw that Petedge slipper bed in a local petstore for $59.99 -- that is really a reasonable mark-up. They should be able to at least double their prices in a shop. Course I did not buy it.

Like you, I like to look for places that allow me as a consumer to order at wholesale prices. But sometimes I weigh the cost of everything, shipping and the extra fee and find I can get the product I want for a cheaper total price at retail. Case in point -- Topknot Gel -- Petedge has this for $6.99 -- but then you have to add the $6.99 processing fee and the shipping and handling.....while I can order through another online store for $10.95 with just the actual shipping charge added.

Want to hear something funny? When I just looked at the Petedge site, I have two of those slipper beds sitting in my shopping cart, one in pink and another in blue. When I have more to order at one time, I will get them.

thatz what I would do also ... the $6.99 charge only applies to small orders ... I would weigh the possible charges as well (into the price) ... there are other online stores selling the same 'slipper' bed I just could not list them all ....

ebay
 

I see alot of dog clothes on ebay right out of Petedge for alot more...

The Petedge bed is marked sown to $22.99..compared to $125..same size also...

Actually Petedge is considered a manufacturer/wholesaler that chooses to allow the public to buy thier products at wholesale prices. Before people get mad at small dog boutiques like the Haute Dog for their prices, I would just like everyone to know small dog boutiques get to compete with large companies like Target, Petsmart, etc who have all of their products made in factories overseas in mass quantities and put 500-1000% mark up on thier retail prices. You dont get mad at them becuase you can not purchase from thier supplier. Small dog boutiques pay much much more for their products with a lot smaller mark up and have a high overhead with all sorts of business expenses that I never even dreamed about before I got into this business. Also before judging the haute dog by saying they are tripling the price, keep in mind shipping cost are fixed into thier pricing too (this is a price factoring cost people like to forget). For example, say the slipper bed cost $20 wholesale from Petedge, well because of its bulky size, it probobly cost about $10 to be shipped to the retailer so if they mark it up to $60 this is only a one time mark up not 200%. And then out of that $30 that you think they took you for as a fool, out comes a ton of other business expenses (marketing, rent, merchant credit card fees, storage fees, employee wages, website fees, shipping material cost, and many many more business expenses, etc, etc) and I gurantee the haute dog boutique is lucky to make $5 in the end. Sorry if it was a long post, I just wanted to throw that out there. Petedge does have nice products and I highly recommend :)

Well put, I couldn't have said it better....also, small boutiques cannot order in the massive quantities that Petedge orders so they obviously get charged a lot more! It's like comparing Walmart's prices to a small store down the road. It's just not the same. On Ebay, the sellers do not incure the kind of fees boutiques do. I had to pay hundreds of dollars just to get my business started with the appropriate licenses required. On the other end, small boutiques like mine and Shana's probably much better/faster customer services than these conglomerates that have millions of customers. Just some other things to keep in mind. There's just the personal touch added.

:thumbup: :thumbup: In total agreeance! It should also be mentioned that certain manufacturers who also sell to the public put a minimum retail price on items sold to other retailers. Whereas if you buy from them you have to charge a certain price (they don't want to be undersold and have specific requirements for pricing).

If a business can not triple profit on its merchandise it most likely wont stay in business. I opened a business retail clothing . A wholesale shirt, cheapest I could find $5 plus shipping from hongkong which was usually more then the merchadise total. I found a way to get things really cheap but took alot more work, I still wonder with gas prices etc if I was doing any better. Its good to find a deal but you have to understand that small shops cant buy a large enough amount to sell it for a dollar more then wholesale. Its rough out there...Pet edge isnt doing its wholesale customers any favors by selling to the public, but maybe thats also what keeps them a float. I gave the business I started to my brother & it does well but its a headache. Thank god I figured out how to get our merchandise below wholesale & sell namebrands cheaper or comparitive to walmart cost, you know every stores favorite thing to hear..... "Well I can get that at walmart for $.......LOL I had to start going to walmart and looking at their stuff & prices before I could make a decision to buy anything-damn walmart, lol. But I love the deals & need to save money so i shop there & petedge & ebay , but I never tell a store owner they are to high .

I agree with this as well! I am in the online retail industry and I have to say it's hard to find things that are rock bottom in prices without sacrificing quality.

Shana is right. I have been investigating opening my own store and you HAVE to mark things up to even cover your most basic expenses. Pet Edge even lists these "suggested" retail prices in their catalog. My only frustration is that Pet Edge has a wide range of quality. Their zanies toys are pretty good, but their clothing is marginal. Loki has a soccer sweatshirt that I've washed 50 times and it's still in good shape. But I threw away a T-shirt and a sweater I bought from there after 1 washing. So while I would have paid $15 for that $5 sweatshirt, the other 2 items were junk. No way would I sell the junk for a huge markup, but I wouldn't feel bad charging $15 for a $5 sweatshirt that I know is decent quality.

thats what sucks about being a store owner...you think it looks nice on the site, buy 1-junk/toss it. They just bought 25-100 & in store you are able to see the quality. Sometimes you can ship back at your own expense but shipping can be expensive. So they try to pass them off & eventually clearance them down to nothing. Good thing we the customer can see it in their stores, decide yea or nea then go buy it on petedge, lol. Its just wrong, but i'm guilty of knowing I saw something at a local business & not buying because of price & then running across it on the net for a savings & getting it. it is very tough for small business & large, the goverment/irs is not nice to small businesses , I will never do it again. The best business you can own is a yard sale in your front yard,lol. I respect but dont envy biz owners, its very hard work.

I wasnt able to get onto to that link yesterday but now I finally could. That is not a Petedge brand bed. The bed that Haute Dog is selling is actually a very expensive slipper bed designed by Pawsitively Posh and has been around for as long as I have been in business (so its been around at least 3 years). Petedge actually just came out with thier slipper beds last year, they actually stole the design idea from pawsitively posh. This is something Petedge has been known to do, here is an article about the celltei design they stole: http://www.celltei.com/si1knbyyope.html

I love Pet Edge and I buy from them all the time. I also shop at MANY other dog stores on-line and in person. I believe if you really like something, you'll buy it regardless of the price (at least that's how it is for me). :D

That is horrible! Celltei must have been livid when they found out. So much of that happens with companies from countries with no copyright protections, but I am surprised about Petedge doing it -- and asking for a free sample to copy is just evil! :mad:
I may empty that shopping cart and forget about ordering "wholesale." Someone always pays......

I fully uderstand. I see things in other online pet stores with a major markup and I think - Hey I could sell that. But then with all the costs incurred. I am staying with things either I or someone close to me makes.
I may not make a ton but I would rather have great repeat customers that refer me. :)
As long as I cover costs and have some fun $.


As far as stealing Ideas. I know of at least one customer that purchased a dress and a few weeks later was selling the same dresses on line :(
Gosh - at least change the pattern to make it your own. :mad: