OK, it’s a slightly unexpected topic for a first blog post, but then I’m not a great believer in doing what people expect.  So given the time of year, I thought it a good idea to explain why we just don’t do Black Friday, and what we do instead.

In our humble opinion, Black Friday is largely a clever marketing ploy to promote the rabid consumerism of poorly made, mass produced, often imported cr@p.  

It pressures people to buy stuff they don’t need, sometimes spending money they don’t really have to spare, and ultimately creates a good deal of waste.  And don’t even get me started about peoples behavior in the shops!!!  The social and environmental impact of this sh!tshow just isn’t sustainable – for people or the planet.  

 Here are a couple of depressing Black Friday facts for you:

• Only 1 in 7 Black Friday deals are genuine bargains

• Carbon emissions generated from Black Friday online sales alone are equivalent to 215 flights from London to Sydney

• 89% of shoppers reported finding Black Friday highly stressful

• A quarter of Brits surveyed said they regretted their Black Friday buys

• In a recent UK poll, half of UK small business owners said they’re genuinely concerned that this will be their last Christmas trading, as they find it increasingly difficult to compete with large chains.

As business owners, we’re facing increasing pressure to join in with this madness!  But here’s the thing – large stores buying mass produced items in bulk can afford to offer massive discounts and still make a profit.  But for small businesses, especially creative ones like us who lovingly handcraft every item they sell, it’s impossible to compete.  So here in the Storm & Grace workshop, we don’t even try to compete.  We’re not at all comfortable with putting huge markups on our prices, just so we can offer big discounts once a year.

So what do we do?

We offer the best materials, the best designs, the best customer service, and the best value for money.  Every.  Day.  Of.  The.  Year.

Whether you’re treating yourself to something from our ranges of equestrian jewellery and horsehair jewellery, a luxurious and timeless piece of pearl jewellery, a little something from our silver and gold range, or a totally bespoke commission for that special something, our promise to you remains the same. 

And what, I hear you ask, is included in that promise?  Let me tell you…

Every piece of Storm & Grace jewellery: 

• Is made with fully recycled sterling silver and gold
• Is made using only ethically and responsibly sourced gemstones, or synthetic gemstones (made, not mined) 
• Can be tailored to your exact requirements – materials, sizes, gemstones, embellishments – we can custom make the perfect piece of jewellery for you
• Is made with responsible and sustainable practices
• Is fully hallmarked (which is your guarantee that we’ve used nothing but the best quality silver and gold)
• Is handcrafted and finished to the highest standards by us in our Devon workshop
• Comes with excellent customer service
• Comes wrapped in our covetable high quality, eco-friendly, reusable/recyclable packaging

And you also have the option of spreading the cost when you buy from our website, using PayPal’s Pay in Three scheme.

You just don’t get all of those benefits from the big businesses who mass produce their jewellery.  Or those who mass produce any product for that matter.  And if we don’t support our small independent businesses and creators, mass produced low quality tat will be all we’re left with.  And that would be an absolute travesty.

So we’ll be practicing what we preach and buying less this year, but buying great quality, uniquely creative pieces from independent makers and businesses.  It would be awesome if you could do the same.

Of course, there are some really good, genuine Black Friday deals to be had, and I wish you well in finding them.  I’ll leave you with some words of wisdom from the Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis.  

“If you were going to buy it anyway and it’s half price, you’ve saved 50%.  If you weren’t going to buy it, but do because it’s half price, you’ve wasted 100%”. 

(If I had my way, that chap would be Chancellor!)

Well, that’s all for now – I’m off to polish my soapbox!!

Thankyou for reading, and much love.

See ‘ee  drekly, 

Chelle x