by Ed Brazier November 24, 2021 2 min read
When I started Airdrop Bikes I had one goal and that was to build something I could be proud of. I had quit a career in design at a big retail chain and I needed to do something more meaningful than hard-selling junk that people don't need. We'd been extremely successful, and some people (not including me) had grown very rich as a result. I'd worked hard and I was good at my job, but I didn't feel proud of the part I'd played.
That idea of pride became a founding principle behind Airdrop Bikes and it underpins everything we do.
What has that got to do with Black Friday?
This is about how we price our bikes. I could go into detail behind how promotions work and the effects they can have on people, companies, industries and the environment*. But Airdrop customers are a clever lot and you understand that already. So let's just say that we believe Black Friday is not a good thing and leave it at that. We're not greedy, and we're not willing to sell our values out just so we can make a bit more money on one day of the year.
Black Friday is just another Friday to us, and an opportunity to underline the fact that our prices are designed to be reasonable and fair to everyone, all the time:
We make prices as affordable as possible.
We charge everyone the same price.
We only change prices when we have to.
We pay our suppliers in full and on time.
We make bikes to the best of our ability and never try to take cost out.
We pay ourselves fairly (although not always well).
We pay our taxes.
That's something we can be proud of.
*If you're interested to know more about the effects of Black Friday, Ethical Consumer has a good article here.
Ed is the owner of Airdrop Bikes. A former web and graphic designer, he sacked off his job one day and decided to start up a bike brand.
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