Since we believe that gender should not impact the cost of living, and that access to menstrual products is often too expensive, we have chosen not to make any profit on sales of menstrual products on karavel.ca.
Although we would love to be able to make menstrual products free for everyone, it's not really something that's possible for us 😅 That's why we choose not to profit from the sale of menstrual products on karavel. Thus, all of the gross profits we make from the sale of these products will be donated to the Monthly Dignity organization.
How does it work?
For the vast majority of our producers, karavel operates through bulk purchasing. That is, we buy products at a discount (“cost” price) and in high volume and then resell them at normal price (consumer sale price). It is this difference that constitutes our gross profits.
Net profit is the money we have left over after factoring in all our expenses (marketing, shipping, packaging and boxes, rent, etc.).
A little mathematical recap 🙄:
Consumer selling price - “Cost” price = Gross profits
Gross Profit - Expenses = Net Profit
So it is the gross profits that we give to an organization, not the net profits.
The only expense that will reduce the amount we give away is the cost of shipping. With our free shipping policy, we normally cover the costs for the majority of orders on karavel. In this case, we will therefore subtract the total cost of shipping from the profits we give away.
We go into a little more detail below with some examples of calculations in our FAQ .
Our philosophy on profits
Why give gross profits and not net profits?
There are three reasons:
- Gross profits represent much more than net profits. We want to be concrete in our approach and it is by giving back more than a third of the sale price that we believe we are able to do so.
- Gross profits are stricter, unlike net profits which are very fluid. They can be manipulated easily (employee bonuses, expansion projects, etc.). With gross profits, it is more objective and difficult to manipulate, and it allows you to validate the impact more easily.
- This reason is a bit more complex. In reality, we also see expenses as a long-term investment. What we spend on our marketing, social networks, product development, etc., represents more than just an expense. It serves to grow the value of karavel, and this growing value is what we benefit from. To say that we do not make a profit when we only give back our net profits is hypocritical. For us, it would be a lie. And that is the main reason behind this decision.
How to benefit from it
The truth is that we might still benefit a little from it. We are aware that this action can potentially attract new customers and get people talking about us. On the other hand, and at least, the more we grow thanks to the project, the more we will benefit our community and those who need it.