Marsden Brothers Promotions

I would recommend MBP to other jewelers without hesitation, they are positive, professional, and organized. They are true gentlemen and ladies and I really enjoyed working with them. A gem supplier/friend couldn’t have recommended anyone better in the industry! Even with the Covid-19 issue, people were lined up, waiting to get in my store. MBP was prepared for this, sending me masks and sanitizers to have on hand. My sale went better than I expected. I achieved my goals and then some. I was told that the opening preview party and opening weekend would be about 27% of the total sales, I didn’t believe it. Well, sure enough, that was really close. I actually did about 35% of my total sales that first 4.5 days.
Jan 8th, 2021

Overall I think this company has good intentions but are operating on a business model that is no longer relevant. Going into the process of trying to liquidate my inventory by running a retirement sale, I was extremely nervous. Let's face it you only get one chance to run a retirement or going out of business sale. The team at Marsden Brothers came back with a low, medium & high projection of what my revenues should be. I spoke to Dennis Marsden a number of times about the "what ifs" of not hitting these numbers and he assured me over and over that these were real and very obtainable. They asked me to follow their direction exactly to how they have it planned. I did. We were very strong out of the gate the first weekend. Over all the store was busy and Dennis was in regular communication excited to see the revenue stream. As we crept closer to Christmas our numbers grew weak and the foot traffic even less. During this portion of the sale, I am not hearing from Dennis at all. They do send a person (director) to work in your store during the entire sale. They told me the purpose of the director was to execute the sale, weekly promo items, inform staff of promos and assist in selling. She did put in a lot of hours but was not an asset on the floor or to my team, and was basically there to monitor the commissionable sales for Marsden. There was a "free with purchase" item that mistakenly got promoted as just "free". It was a mistake on Marsdens part and when asked no resolution or compensation was offered. The accounting method they use to track additional inventory and all sales is so antiquated that it made it impossible for the director not to make mistakes.These were not severe but that risk was there. This paperwork accounting system also made it impossible for me to monitor for accuracy. After all was said and done we fell short of the LOW projection. A couple of weeks passed and not hearing from the company to discuss the results, I phoned Dennis Marsden. I questioned the reason for falling so short and that he had verbally assured me we would probably exceed the expectations , his reply was that due to all of the big box stores running the GOB's etc and 70% off sales , the public must be getting immune to the urgency to buy that once existed. I replied that these big discounts sales have been going on for well more that 10 years and perhaps their projections would have taken this into account. I asked what type of retribution they could offer me from their 6.5% commission and event expenses I paid them and his answer was simply.... none. My advice would be to ask in advance for a sample of how they track sales. Meet the director in advance to make sure she is a good match with your clients and team. Create a sliding scale for their commission percentage based on weekly goals. If the store isn't hitting the projections given by Marsden then they should also be making less money.
Oct 30th, 2020

My wife and I have known and worked with the fine folks at Marsden Brothers Promotions since spring of 2011, when we had our first Going Out Of Business sale for our retail jewelry business. We followed their instructions and format, which resulted in the liquidation of a large portion of our stock, manufacturing equipment and display fixtures. Looking back, we could not have had nearly the success had we tried to run that sale on our own. The experience they provided in doing a Going Out Of Business sale was instrumental and differs greatly from any normal business promotion or sale we'd had in the past. We were able to close that business with much needed money that was previously tied up in our inventory and equipment. A couple years later, we moved to a tourism based community in another state and opened a new fine jewelry business there. But after 4 years of just OK revenues, we decided to close that business. We again contacted Marsden Brothers for help and with their assistance, had another successful store closing sale. For those of you reading this, who are considering a store closing sale, you have several choices of companies nationally to help you with this. But you really only have one choice if you want a team that places your success above their own. And although there are no guarantees for success, and each sale has its own challenges, but with hard work and determination along with the help of the Marsden team, you will have the best opportunity to raise capital, pay off debt, and retire with with a financial cushion that would otherwise, not be fully realized.
Sep 20th, 2020

Hiring the Marsden Brothers Promotion company probably was the wisest decision we have ever made in our 52 years in the jewelry business..We cannot say enough how organized and supportive they were. Our director worked as hard as we did to make the project successful for all of us. In the end we achieved our goal, and were truly grateful on all accounts. we cannot say enough great things about them, and their wonderful team.
Jun 27th, 2020

It was back in 1999 that I was introduced to Cliff Marsden by Margaret (my new Bride), when she was considering closing her store in Montana. I had a store in Wyoming and we took a stab at trying to keep both locations open. We eventually realized that this was not the way we wanted to work and Margaret decided to sell her “baby”. That’s when she put Marsden Brothers Promotions to work. In a personal visit, Cliff estimated a low and a high sales figure and she came in just short of the high number. After her sale and cleanup Margaret moved to Wyoming, where she joined me in operating my family business. In 2013, after nearly 40 years in the business, in Wyoming, I decided it was time, for me, to retire from the business and we contacted MBP to discuss a GOB. Cliff & Dennis drove in to “visit” with us and we had a nice comfortable chat. Not once did I feel any pressure, from either of these two gentlemen. Somewhere during our conversation, Cliff gave us his opinion of what kind of business we could expect by staging a Going Out of Business sale. Knowing that Cliff, Dennis and Joe, and their great crew, had helped, somewhere around 1000 jewelers, and from working with Margaret during her sale, there was no question, in my mind, that MBP would assist us with our store closing. If we had tried to run a GOB sale, without the Marsden Brothers assistance, there is no way that I would have had the success that Cliff, Dennis & Joe helped us achieve. Although MBP did augment our inventory in a few of our weaker areas, we did succeed in selling nearly 85% of our inventory. We wound up with total sales amount a bit higher than Cliff suggested and that 6-week sales figure was higher than our previous best year. If I had it to do all over again (a GOB/RETIREMENT sale, or even an INVENTORY REDUCTION sale) I would absolutely call Cliff, Dennis or Joe to help get the ball rolling. P.S. Suzanne Cannon >> You got a deal at 6 ½%
Mar 20th, 2020