So for this BPL year end sale…

[BlackHatGuy]

"Me thinks MLIFERS will never see a return on their investment."

oh, I don't know. Some of us think we already have.

[carlos fernandez rivas]

Pffttt….

I paid the MLIFE three months before that my subscription finish to find an "out of stock sale" (as usual)

Really disappointing :-(

[CW]

BPL is both a community and a business.

Being a member of the community is 100% free. You choose to pay money and become a customer of the business. Be it for a discount, private article access, or whatever else your reasons might be it is a choice.

We whine about things not being in stock so BPL the business decides to reduce the amount of items they carry and relocate the inventory in order to better manage the availability of offered items. As part of that they mark down items that will no longer be available in order to clear them out. The announcement for this is made ahead of the sale details. Whether you chose to read it or not is again, a choice. The sale announcement is then made and we whine again that nothing we want is in stock.

It all comes down to choice.

Those who choose to follow the members only forum knew the reasons behind the sale and knew there would be limited inventory available.

[James Patsalides]

Well, I ordered that Cacoon UL60 vest that I've been hankering after for like a year, and got $50 off. I feel pretty good about the direction this is going.

I do agree with one of the posters above, on the need to bring some more professional communications to the business side of BPL. Ryan and Sam do a great job communicating with the community, and the other staff moderators are on the ball too.

It just feels like a little more "polish" is needed to keep the tone of the business side of this community in line, especially around the store and keeping things in stock (or even just showing them as out of stock on the search results pages)!

Ahh, on the other hand, maybe we're just a bunch of ornery hikers and nothing can change that…

[Jim Sweeney]

As far as I know, these merino wool T-shirts are still in stock. (I think they're made with the same fabric as the lightweight hoodie). These are fantastic dual-use items, and a great deal at 40% off. Even though I'm an m-life member (but surprisingly, don't seem to be getting the respect I expected when I get on the local bus), these were all I bought on mlife day–they're great under a sweater (free odor control), great on the trail, and at $20+ much, much, much less than anything from Ibex, etc.

Also, on the M-life day, Stix didn't double-discount–believe me, I tried.

But the next day, they did!! So now I've got a pair coming at a price low enough I can consider them my workout pair when I'm doing laps on the local hills.

[Marc Kokosky]

I also found it very discouraging to not be able to buy a single thing that I have been eyeing now for a month since I joined. Someone else mentioned that this is a free site… not quite, since I had to subscribe just to read several threads and reviews… thus not free.

If BPL wants to be a responsible business, responsive to its customers and respect the niche market that it has captured in the ultralight community, then it can make it up to us. As others have mentioned, there is nothing wrong with selling out of stuff in order to reduce their moving costs… completely understandable IMHO. However, I also agree that it should NOT have been billed as an end of the year sale, just like all other end of year sales in the past. If BPL wants to make it up to us, then once they move to their new, much bigger space (ideally to hold more inventory), then they can have another end-of-year type sale that truly is members only and orders could be placed on out of stock items at the sale price, with the understanding that they would be shipped immediately once back in stock. This is the way you don't alienate your consumers and make up for the poor communication, marketing and response to all of its members.

[Jason Lee]

So is anyone aware of people joining BPL over the past week just to gain access to the sale? That would be pretty harsh for them to find out there wasn't really anything in stock after being lured in by the main page banner.

I don't feel BPL owes me anything, I use the site for the information and not necessarily to shop for gear deals here. Besides, I'm saving money for when BPL starts selling M-Eternal memberships for extra special benefits and when a lifetime just isn't long enough.

[Marc Kokosky]

Although I joined just over a month ago, one of the primary reasons was to get the end-of-year sale. I have been perusing the forums for quite a while without a membership and for the most part was fine with it. Then there was an article that I really wanted to read, and since I knew the sale was coming up I figured I'd just order it a little earlier than planned. Otherwise, I would have signed up just prior to the sale… so yeah, I feel somewhat shafted.

[Jack H.]

It's kind of wacky that they're still promoting the year end sale as an incentive for signing up as a member on the front page….

[George Matthews]

Don't wait for the year end sale my friends.

The year end sale is for moving unsold inventory. Items in great demand will already be sold.

I disagree with those that want BPL to become too much like a big business. There are plenty of those to buy your gear from at all times.

Some of you want all products to be available at a big discount. That is the big box retail store model.

I for one believe the membership only sale is smart. If it makes someone join, then good – memberships are good – somebody has to pay the bills.

Happy New Year!

[Tom Caldwell]

"It's kind of wacky that they're still promoting the year end sale as an incentive for signing up as a member on the front page…."

Yes, tomorrow is the last day to get access to the one product left! So become a member today!

[Marc Kokosky]

"Some of you want all products to be available at a big discount. That is the big box retail store model."

I have to disagree. If you look at the prices at the store, most of the items are only a couple of dollars off of the regular prices. Judging from the responses thus far, I don't think anyone is upset about the prices of the items… it's that every day we get an email about how we just have to check out the members only sale, only to find NOTHING in stock. It is more the frustration that if you are going to market a sale, ensure that at a minimum, the paying members have access to items. All of us paying members already know the website, and the benefits of being a member… but we don't need to be reminded every day of a sale that probably 95% of us can't partake in.

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