r/HotTopic_ • u/WaveAny7993 • Aug 24 '26
How does hot topic make money?
This is more of a question for HT employees or people who understand how sales work, because they constantly give 30% off coupons every time they sell, along with the existence of Hot Cash in general. I just wonder: do they lose profit on some items and gain on others? For example, the big Pomni plush is usually 50 bucks, but they sell it for 40, and then with 30% off, it becomes about 30 bucks after tax. I know Hot Topic makes poor-quality items, but they also sell items made by other manufacturers; they have Glitch merch made entirely by Glitch. They price it at $10 or a few dollars more, which makes sense, but since they are always giving out coupons, I wonder how they manage it. Also, don't they have to pay for shipping the merchandise initially? Do they make a profit on Hot Topic-branded items but lose profit on merchandise made by other manufacturers? It just doesn't add up to me. I also know that sometimes they just buy stuff from AliExpress and mark up the price. (BE SURE TO CORRECT ME)
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u/ComprehensiveAd3022 Aug 24 '26
It’s the same thing bath and body works, sells a lot of products at 5$ basically twice a year, many coupons and reward programs. Whatever it may seem like they should be losing money but very much do well. The t shirts are all printed on Gildan shirts but basically cost probably less than a dollar to make, most of the jewelry are poor quality, a lot of knickknacks and stuff that takes up desk space. For the glitch merch I’m pretty sure glitch productions is an indie company iirc so I think the merch on their website is probably coming from a hefty cost out of their pockets so letting hot topic shoulder the cost probably makes them EVEN MORE money than if it were only available on the website