You walk into the grocery store to buy a simple, folded piece of paper. You get to the checkout, and that single card rings up for $5.99, $6.99, or even more. Why are greeting cards so incredibly expensive? It is not just about the cost of the paper and the ink. The high price of a greeting card is a part of a brilliant and highly profitable business model. It relies on a few key secrets that manufacturers like Hallmark and American Greetings do not want you to know.
1. The Massive Profit Margins
The number one secret is that the markup on a greeting card is astronomical. The actual cost to produce and to ship a single card is just a few cents. The rest of the price you pay is almost pure profit. This makes the greeting card aisle one of the most profitable sections in the entire store. The stores and the card companies are splitting this huge profit margin.
2. You Are Paying for “Emotional Value,” Not Paper
When you buy a greeting card, you are not just buying a piece of paper; you are buying a pre-packaged emotional sentiment. The card companies are masters of this. They are selling you the perfect words for a difficult situation or a happy occasion. The high price is for the convenience of buying that perfectly crafted message, not for the physical card itself.
3. The “Hallmark Holiday” Effect
The greeting card industry has a long history of promoting and even creating minor holidays to sell more products. These are often called “Hallmark Holidays.” The company has a vested interest in making you feel like you need to buy a card for every single occasion. This includes things like Grandparents’ Day, Boss’s Day, and even the anniversary of a friendship.
4. The High Cost of Shelf Space
A grocery store has a limited amount of shelf space. The greeting card companies, like Hallmark and American Greetings, will often pay a high “slotting fee” to the retailer. This is to get that guaranteed, large footprint in the store. This cost is then passed on to you, the consumer, in the form of a higher price for each card.
5. The Price Covers the Unsold Inventory
A greeting card aisle is a very inefficient business. A huge number of the cards that are printed will never actually be sold. The ones that are left over after a holiday, like Valentine’s Day or Christmas, are a total loss. The high price of the cards that you do buy is designed to cover the cost of all the ones that the company has to throw away.
6. The Decline of “Snail Mail”
In the digital age, fewer and fewer people are sending physical mail. This means that the greeting card companies are selling fewer cards overall than they did a few decades ago. To maintain their high profit levels, they have been forced to charge a much higher price for each card that they sell.
7. The “Convenience” Markup
The store knows that when you are buying a greeting card, you are often in a hurry. You are on your way to a birthday party or a baby shower. You need the card now. This makes it a “convenience” purchase. You are much less sensitive to the price. The store can charge a premium because it knows that you do not have the time to shop around for a better deal.
The Price of Sentiment
The high price of greeting cards is a perfect example of a product whose price is emotionally based, not on its material worth. The industry has masterfully created a cultural expectation. It has convinced us that a pre-written, store-bought card is a necessary part of celebrating a major life event. The next time you are in the card aisle, you should remember that you are in one of the most profitable and the most psychologically manipulative places in the entire store.
Do you still buy greeting cards, or do you think they are a waste of money? What is the highest price you have ever seen for a single card? Let us know!
What to Read Next
- 7 Cart Placement Tricks That Encourage Buying Candy
- 11 Seasonal Aisles That Drain Wallets Every Holiday
- 8 Retail Shopping Habits That Died With the Pandemic
- 9 Budget Mistakes Made During Holiday Shopping Rush
- 7 Holiday Coupon Hacks Stores Wish You’d Stop Using
The post Why Are Greeting Cards So Expensive? 7 Secrets of the Card Aisle appeared first on Grocery Coupon Guide.
