Mid-Term Price Roll-Backs

Late last month we did our first Member wide price roll-back. That is to say that every member at that time had their prices rolled-back, or were relocated to a tier level with lower prices. When we did that we mentioned in our newsletter that new members joining after that date would occupy tier level 1, the level that most members were moved from when we did the price roll-back. At present we are using 3 tiers. Tier 3 has our lowest member pricing and it looks like that will probably stay at its' current level until 2010 when we hope to be able to do another member wide price roll back. Members that occupied tier level 2 when we did the member wide price roll back last month were moved to tier level 3. Tier 3 is occupied by customers who were with us before we began our membership program and have met the purchasing criteria we have set for level 3.



Mid-term roll-backs refer to new customers that have joined since the member wide price roll back, they are at tier level 1, and members who occupy tier level 2. When member purchases meet our criteria to move to a lower level we roll em back. In other words any member that is not already at tier level 3 has the opportunity to move to that tier level at any time throughout the year. We'll be monitoring member purchases monthly, and when you meet our criteria we'll move you to the next level. We're going over member purchases now to determine who will be moved this month. If we move you to a lower level we'll send you an email to let you know. Since only about 10% of our entire membership is at tier level 3, a large portion of our membership has the opportunity for more price reductions. About 90% of our members are still in a situation where the more they buy, the more they save. From now on, we'll be monitoring member purchases each month, and once each month we'll roll-back prices for members who meet our purchasing criteria.
We encourage your comments and/or questions. You can post them here, or contact us directly.

The Trail of Painted Ponies Trends

You'd be surprised how often we get asked if the Painted Ponies collection is slowing down. To tell you the truth, it's really hard for us to tell because, we just keep selling them. Here's what we have noticed: It used to be that when the new releases were announced all the dealers would place their orders. There are 10,000 figurines in each edition, and within two weeks of the announcment those would all be bought up by Painted Ponies retailers who wouldn't actually receive them for another couple months. In other words, the whole release of first editions had been bought up before they even hit the shelves. That's pretty good! On the last release, the 13th release, we know for a fact that did not happen. In fact, that release has been in stores for several months now and we're still getting first editions on our re-orders. This looks like a slow down to us. What the cause is, we don't really know. It could be the bad economy or other factors maybe both. We'd like your opinion. What's caused the slow down? Is there anything that TOPP can do to reverse this trend? Please give us your comments here.

Breyer Horse Trends

I was talking to our Breyer sales representative last week and she asked me about this years Traditional Pony Slumber Party Set. Evidently Breyer had asked her how the re-orders had been on that item. She thought Breyer may be considering producing more items along that line. All of this got me thinking about my Breyer Horse sales for this year. It may be the economy, I've been noticing a trend to more sales in the Breyer Stablemates and Breyer Classics. It seems as though people are still making the same number of purchases, but that they may be spending slightly less on those purchases. Since the Breyer Pony Slumber Party Set has a relatively low price point as far as the Breyer Traditional line goes, and it's a value because it's a play set, it may be a good way for Breyer to go.

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I think it's been very interesting how Breyer has handled the whole weak economy thing. Looking back to the end of last year we saw Breyer retire the largest number of models since we've been selling Breyer. This created the largest number of new models introduced in 2009 that we've seen since we've been selling Breyer Horses. Then to top that off they reduced their prices for 2009. Let's face it, Breyer has been around for a long time; they've been through a recession or two. It makes you wonder if they don't have a standing plan that they roll out whenever the economy goes South. Interesting, don't you think?
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Breyer Horse Lovers Country Vet Playset

Yesterday, we received our Breyer Traditional - Horse Lovers Country Vet Playsets. At $117.86 and free shipping, these are a great value. We've seen them on AMAZON for $129.50. The playset includes a traditional white dually truck, traditional red trailer, traditional collectible horse and a fully articulated veterinarian doll. What a bargain. It's a great gift for any Breyer Horse Lover.

Joan Baker - The Trail of Painted Ponies - Painted Glass

Great news from the fine folks at Joan Baker Co.. Since the release of the news that Joan Baker Co. would be producing Trail of Painted Ponies painted glass sun catchers, art panels and candle plaques we've had them on pre-order. They're expected to start shipping in mid-April. Our opening order was placed in pre-packs as was required by Joan Baker Co.. We sold out of 3 of the sun catchers right away, but had been told by our sales representative that all sun catcher re-orders had to be placed in the pre-packs until October. This created an inventory challenge for us in that ordering more pre-packs would load us on the slower sellers and we could potentially sell out of the better sellers again. This morning we received an email stating that once we receive our initial pre-pack orders we can order the sun catchers from open stock. For us, more sales - for you, more selection in what you want. Props to Joan Baker Co., a manufacturer who listens.

New Category

If you go to the LAGH store today you'll see a new category, Home & Garden. If you click on that category you'll see one of those clever "Under Construction" images and it appears that's all that is there. In reality, behind the scenes we're busy filling that category with merchandise. Spring is in the air and we've found all kinds of great products for your yards and gardens. Much of this merchandise has not hit our warehouse yet, but we're adding it to the store so we'll be ready when it gets here. We hope you like this new category, we sure had fun selecting products to fill it with for you. We'll be sure to let you know when construction is finished.