Buffalo Head Leather Blog

August 24, 2024

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Price Increases: Strategy or Necessity?

 

 

 

 

 

Why We're Raising Prices: A Necessary Step to Sustain Our Quality and Business

Running a small business is not just about passion; it's about navigating a challenging landscape that constantly shifts due to external factors. As a proud purveyor of high-quality leather goods, including belts and wallets crafted from premium hides, we want to maintain the exceptional standards you've come to expect from us. However, recent economic pressures have forced us to make the difficult decision to raise our prices on certain higher cost items beginning Sept 1, 2024. Here's why this change is necessary:

The Impact of Inflation

Inflation has been a pervasive issue, affecting virtually every industry. The cost of everything from raw materials to transportation has surged. For a small business like ours, these increased costs cannot be easily absorbed without compromising quality. To continue providing you with the best leather goods, we must adjust our prices to reflect these changes.

Supply Chain Challenges

The global supply chain has been under tremendous strain. Material shortages, particularly in high-quality leather, have become increasingly common. This scarcity drives up the cost of our raw materials, making it more expensive to produce the goods we pride ourselves on. Larger corporations may have the leverage to negotiate better prices or absorb these costs, but as a small business, we face a more difficult reality.

Rising Transportation Costs

Transporting goods has also become significantly more expensive. Fuel prices have spiked, and shipping delays have become the norm, further increasing costs. These logistical challenges add another layer of expense that we must factor into our pricing to ensure our products reach you without compromise.

Price Gouging from Suppliers

Unfortunately, not all suppliers have responded to these challenges fairly. We've encountered arbitrary price hikes that feel more like price gouging than adjustments based on genuine cost increases. This practice puts additional pressure on our business, making it even more challenging to keep our prices stable without affecting the quality of our products.

Competing Against Giants

We are a small business striving to compete in a market dominated by large corporations with vast resources. These companies can afford to sell at lower prices, but they often do so at the cost of quality. We refuse to take shortcuts in our craftsmanship. Our commitment to using the best materials and maintaining the highest standards is unwavering, but it does mean our products cost more to produce.

A Commitment to Quality and Sustainability

Raising prices is never an easy decision, but it's one that allows us to sustain our business and continue offering you the best. We believe in transparency, and we want you to know that these adjustments are necessary to keep delivering the high-quality leather goods you love.

We deeply appreciate your continued support and understanding as we navigate these challenging times together. Your trust in us is something we don't take lightly, and we are committed to ensuring that every product you purchase from us is worth every penny.

Thank you for being part of our journey.

Greg 


 

August 01, 2024

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Elevate Your Style

A well-chosen leather belt can be the perfect finishing touch to any outfit, offering both functionality and fashion. 

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March 07, 2023

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What a Warranty!

What's in a warranty...

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July 26, 2022

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"Call Me"

I had a customer call me recently with a simple inquiry about a belt he liked on our website.  When I picked up, the first words out of his mouth were, "I can't tell you how awesome it is to dial up a company and have my call answered by a real person!"  We talked about that for a minute and I stated that he should not be surprised that a business would answer the phone in person.  In fact, that shouldn't even be an issue or a pleasant surprise - It should be the norm.  Oh sure, if you dig down through the layers and choose the right options and wait on hold long enough and listen to the same irritating six bars of garbled music until you go nearly insane, you might talk to someone who then may say, "Let me put you on a brief hold while I get you to the right department for your problem."  More garbled music, more silent cursing, more teeth clenching as the fury begins to well up in you. 

Statistics show that 90% of customers prefer to talk to a real live agent or representative but apparently, the big corporations didn't get the memo.  In fact, according to a recent news article, more and more companies are replacing humans with artificial intelligence for customer service.  Some  AI's are so sophisticated that they have become seemingly (but not quite yet, thankfully) sentient, meaning they can feel and sense and respond like real people.  And, don't cuss it out like you do the automated voice...they may have feelings and you'll have to choose option seven to record your profuse apology.

You'll avoid all that when you call us and - wonder of wonders - we answer in person or call you back ASAP.  Even if you don't end up placing an order - We've got time to hear about your dogs or that your daughter passed the New York state bar or that it's been rainin' non-stop in Toledo for four days.  It's all good!

Talk to you soon,

Greg 

April 06, 2022

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Grab a Chair

 

It's been way too long since we communicated here and I apologize. We'll get caught up on what's going on here over the next few weeks and months, so bear with us, please. But first, we have to share one bit of fun, exciting and interesting news!

 

Several months ago, we noticed an order come in from Netflix in Pittsburgh, PA. Since the order was for multiple belts, we called to verify that the sizing would be correct and that the order was not fraudulent – just due diligence in order to avoid being scammed (it happens). After we established it was a legit order, I had to know what this was all about. Turns out, they were shooting a new series called “The Chair”, centered around the adventures and pitfalls of a fictional university English department starring Jay Duplass, Sandra Oh and David Morse. Further more, If I wanted to see our Buffalo Head Leather belts being worn by the “principle actors”, I should tune in and check out the show. Well, we did indeed tune in and we indeed saw our belts in all their glory streamimg to our very own flat screen in a real Netflix production! We watched all six episodes and it is actually a very funny and sophisticated series with great comedic performances by Duplass and Oh. I can heartily recommend it for a Friday night binge...who wants popcorn?

 

All the best,

 

Greg and Oxana

 

 

In case you are wondering, the most visible belt and the one worn by Jay Duplass, is item #BHL125K.

Type that into the search bar on this site to view it!