Liberty Beauty Drop Subscription Box Spoiler Part 6

[Housewife2010]

Shiny new thread

Having worked in the offices of Liberty, albeit some years ago, trust me, you really don't want to work there.

It took me a good few years after I left before I could bring myself to set foot in the store again.

Aaaargh. Now I’m interested in what goes on there generally 🤨. Didn’t they do a Christmas fly on the wall type documentary with channel 4 (?) a while ago? They never tell you anything though, they’re always just a long advert.

Surely they must of realised the majority of people would leave. My best guess is they want to shut it completely and the boxes going forward won't be worth the £15 so ensuring they can end it altogether.

We were saving £240 a year to spend with them. It can't have been worth it. There's no way they didn't do the maths

Also, perhaps the conversion rate wasn't high enough. Firms supplying samples will expect an uptake in sales going forward.

If that doesn't happen they are not going give any more samples

So if our £240 wasn't being spent on the corresponding products the whole scheme is no longer viable.

Absolutely - £240 per year per customer is nothing to Liberty. Even with thousands of new (I’ve no idea how many there were) members who never shopped there before the cost of the whole thing must have been unsustainable.

I think the ‘free box’ aspect made it too popular with those who never spent more than the £20 per month and they haven’t just ended it because someone’s baby and they want to have another go at keeping it small. As anither pp pointed out though, the customers they actually want are not going to have any interest in a £20 a month savings plan and a quarterly box of samples so…🤷🏻‍♀️

https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/services/london-dog-grooming-company.html

I’d have liked to have spent the £240 on some of the box products. The ones I like are never in stock though, or far too expensive to buy even if they are. One of the serums they included was something like £665 for 30ml and a lot of the other products are over £200. A free box scheme isn’t going to get you that kind of customer.

OMG 😂😂😂 Doggy mud bath is the only one mine might accept. She prefers fox shit cologne.

That’s a really good question. I think Liberty’s core target customers will always be those rich enough to not have to look at the price tags on anything. But whenever I go into London, I don’t see Liberty drawing the big crowds of wealthy Arab and Asian tourists like Selfridges does. Liberty doesn’t offer the gloss or the mainstream designers (the Chanels, LVs and Diors etc) that Selfridges does. I see it as more quirky, indie and quintessentially British - and in need of a solid base of small-time middle class customers choosing Liberty over their competitors. Which is where the Beauty Drop came in.

It did feel a bit too good to be true though. I can’t see it lasting the year.

Middle Eastern customers are the biggest spenders in their fabric department.

Several times I tried to buy the full sized version of the Beauty Drop product to find that Liberty actually didn’t stock it at all, or it was permanently out of stock. That was very frustrating.

That’s a really good question. I think Liberty’s core target customers will always be those rich enough to not have to look at the price tags on anything. But whenever I go into London, I don’t see Liberty drawing the big crowds of wealthy Arab and Asian tourists like Selfridges does. Liberty doesn’t offer the gloss or the mainstream designers (the Chanels, LVs and Diors etc) that Selfridges does. I see it as more quirky, indie and quintessentially British - and in need of a solid base of small-time middle class customers choosing Liberty over their competitors. Which is where the Beauty Drop came in.

It did feel a bit too good to be true though. I can’t see it lasting the year.

……………………………………….

Very Well Said.

A couple of excerpts from Liberty's latest accounts. Like I said, it's a hard business to make a profit from. (Tbh these figures don't look wildly better or worse than they did years ago). This is just the store and the website; the Liberty fabric wholesale business is reported as a separate company and is far more profitable.

£4.9m income from the Beauty Drop for the year ended Jan 2023!

I'm not sure I read that in the same way @RockaLock - I can't see that the £4.9 million figure relates to the BD?

It does. It probably makes a bit more sense if you read the whole note, but in that extract, the previous sentence refers to the beauty drop, and then they state the income from it.

Earlier on in the accounting policies note, they also make reference to their subscription and state that they recognise this income over time - which is what that except is also saying.

Later on there is a provision for £1.4m costs related to "unavoidable costs of delivering the goods and services under the beauty drop scheme", which presumably is only costs that they were committed to as at the end of Jan 2023 i.e. it's probably not a whole years worth of BD costs.

I’ve just uncancelled. I’m going back to my original plan of waiting for the April box and then cancelling. Im also due a voucher so I think it will pay for itself, if paying for itself means me paying for it

Im sure everyone is blown away by this plot twist!

Well it took me a day or so to decide what I think. I’ve only been in 5 months but it was too good to be true. I’ve not cancelled yet. I don’t think I will now, as it probably only has one or two more boxes left in it even with the charge so I’ll enjoy it while I can.

In related news my Lisa Eldridge Lipstick is arriving on Saturday so I’m looking forward to that, and DH has offered to pay the rest of a bottle of Wild Rosinda for my birthday if I put my £100 beauty drop balance in. I’m considering it 😏

Ha!!! I’m going to hold on a bit too. I did do a panic buy yesterday to use up some credit - I possibly overreacted 🤣

Well if nothing else they’ve had a stonking February for sales!

After my over-optimistic post a couple of days ago I used up my very built-up credit (didn't get the AC - was underwhelmed) after being spooked by recent accounts and most of my wish list incl. non beauty being out of stock.

I had a gift card too so splurged on Missoma and I'm pretty grumpy that they shipped with Amazon and it was just left behind a bin on full display on our very busy pedestrian route.

Luckily it was still there 7 hours after delivery but completely soaked through

I think shipping with Amazon cheapens the experience of choosing to shop for luxury goods at Liberty. Especially for those of us who are not able to visit the store.

I’m old enough to remember the Liberty Store on Davygate in York. It was wonderful. I bought the fabric and trims for my first university evening dress there and still remember the smell of the place.

www.net-a-porter.com/en-gb/shop/product/net-a-porter/beauty/samples/plus-joanna-czech-beauty-kit-2023/1647597310433208

Beauty bargain that includes Bioeffect eye serum which alone is £72!
Currently £55 with p&p
Thought I would share after the disappointment this week.

Perfume nose being my No1 ideal job, I think I've found No2 ideal job - cat groomer & dog masseuse!

Edited for spelling

Well done for taking the time…I want to buytlife keeps getting in the way. I haven’t really decided yet but I will probably unsubscribe which is a little sad as I was an original member from when it started. Sigh.

@CinnamonCoffee thank you I have gone for that - a nice little treat! I’ve never ordered from NAP before. Delivery is steep but the kit is excellent value.