If you’re reading this, we hope you're enjoying a nice day off, spending time with your favorite people or animals, and recovering from a delightful food coma. We’ve gotten some questions on Black Friday for TOM BIHN, so we wanted to share our perspective on why we do not participate in Black Friday.
First, today is a well-deserved day off for the crew. You can, of course, continue to shop and place orders on our website, but our Fulfillment team won’t get to them until Monday. And any questions emailed to our inbox during this Thanksgiving holiday weekend won’t be answered by our Customer Service team until Monday either. Sometimes, it’s hard to resist the frenzy of the holiday season, but we are committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance and acknowledging the hard work and dedication of our crew.
As for promotions, we stand by our long tradition of pricing fairly year-round, and thus, we do not on Black Friday, or any other time, run sales, discounts, or coupons. We recognize that our prices are not cheap but each TOM BIHN bag is designed and hand-crafted in our own factory in Seattle with high-quality custom materials and dedicated artisanship. We have one of the best teams of cutting, sewing, and joining professionals anywhere and we are committed to operating an ethical, safe, and pleasant facility in Seattle. Ultimately, we believe our formula creates great, long-lasting products. Paired with an incredible TOM BIHN community, we are proud to be recently told by our customer reviews vendor that we have one of the highest customer review engagement rates and average review across all brands.
While we refrain from promotions, every year, we debut new designs and bring back some old favorites for special reruns on Cyber Monday. Dive into the details in our holiday debut blog. Our team has been diligently working on this for months, and we can’t wait to finally share these bags with you on Monday.
Cheers and we are so thankful for your support and the entire TOM BIHN community!
Edward - November 25, 2023
From the very first days of finding Tom Bihn bags years ago I knew there was something quite unique and special about this company. And those feelings have only grown as has my respect and appreciation for all that Tom and his wonderful crew provide us. Thank you!
Andreas Demetriades - November 25, 2023
I completely agree with and support the Tom Bihn approach to Black Friday. I believe that when you have a great “total customer experience” (great design, top quality, uniqueness, customer service) then you do not need and should not engage in promotions etc. Tom Bihn has another very special and unique ingredient in its magic recipe: the passion and strength of its customer community. In my view this was sorely tested and damaged over a year ago when we discovered that Tom Bihn the man had secretly sold out to new owners, thereby compromising his own values and honesty, openness and transparency. I for one had been inspired by Tom Bihn the man and the wonderful team he had built around him, and I purchased many products throughout the early months of 2022 without knowing that he had already handed over to new owners. When the news finally leaked out, I felt let down, betrayed and cheated. And I felt sorry for Tom Bihn the man who had (probably due to imposed conditions in selling his company) to leave without saying goodbye to his devoted fans, thereby damaging his long term legacy. But the world carries on, and fans like myself have continued to support the company (if a little more skeptical and a little less naïve), hoping that customer trust will continue to be restored over time. I have recently become the proud owner of the new Trinity bag, which again hits a sweet spot in both design and quality, and has become a valued little brother to my beloved Tristar.
John Serrao - November 24, 2023
I am an unabashed lover of Tom Bihn products and I remember telling them I would buy anything that they would make. I love the commitment that you have for your brand and your products and have been using them for many years and with deep levels of satisfaction. I have junked all my other bags. Every of your products is built with remarkable quality and it’s a joy to use your products everyday. And not having the Black Friday sales is a further testimony of what you believe in. Kudos to you all at Tom Bihn.
From Bangalore, India.
Desiree - November 24, 2023
I have been using my Synapse 19 for almost a year for work and it still ooks as good as the day I got it. I ordered my second bag and ironically it arrived today on black Friday. I immediately moved into it and went to my local gaming store for some sale shopping fun!
Adriel - November 24, 2023
I feel like discount days such as Black Friday or other days just leads to more stress for both employees and customers. If I think of buying something that’s not needed at the moment, I’ll start to think, “If I just wait a few weeks till the next holiday, maybe I can get it at a discount…” and so many people are doing this kind of thinking and when the holiday comes, items become sold out or sometimes highly sought out items aren’t barely discounted so the whole holiday discount thing becomes exhausting. Knowing that prices are the same all year round helps keep a peace of mind that we’re not messing out on anything. Thank you for that.
Edward - November 25, 2023
From the very first days of finding Tom Bihn bags years ago I knew there was something quite unique and special about this company. And those feelings have only grown as has my respect and appreciation for all that Tom and his wonderful crew provide us. Thank you!