Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 10:18:51 -0400
From: Karen Tiede
Subject: Offloading Plentys
Quote: “Secondly, you can always pay your employees a percentage of their wages in Plenty’s, so there will always be a means to offload them.”
I understood that most people who work in salons are not employees, per se, but independent contractors who rent booth space from the owner. Perhaps this is different at some places.
However, the bigger question is the use of the word “offload.” “Offload” is something I do to get rid of something I either didn’t want in the first place, or at least don’t want anymore. I am doing no favors to force someone to take something I didn’t want, simply because I have the power of the paycheck.
How much of what Antonella’s buys can be purchased from Chatham suppliers that accept the Plenty? When Progress Energy and Chatham Water start taking it, you might have a case. Until then, even insisting that Plenty can be exchanged for cash at a 10% loss is asking for a 10% cut in revenue. State employees are miserable about a 0.5% cut in their paychecks, but you can tell someone else that they have to accept a 10% cut to get your business? Are you offering to increase your tip 10% (that’s an ADDITIONAL 10%, not the 10 or 20% you planned to give) to make up for it?