Sometimes, standing up to people who have mistreated you for no reason can be incredibly satisfying, making you feel like the experience was ultimately worthwhile.
An internet user shared an incident, saying, “I spent $5,000+ to inconvenience and embarrass a competitor who treated me really bad. It was worth it.” Read on to know what happened!
Backstory
So, the Original Poster (OP) used to run a small business (wedding space), and she was very successful in a very short period of time. To the point that she was getting all-expense-paid invites to industry conferences less than 6 months after she opened.
Needless to say, this ruffled feathers.
Kate’s Entry
Enters Kate. Kate is a chief Karen who competes in the same space and has been nothing but awful to OP from the moment she became aware that she wasn’t just competition, OP was doing better business than her.
What Else Happened
Kate would complain that OP had gotten expenses paid, implied that it was because OP was pretty, said that she felt people who had been in the space longer deserved it more, and a vaguely racist statement about how OP’s outfit colors “don’t look good” on dark-skinned people.
Kate also reported OP’s booth for accidentally being less than 3 inches outside their 10×10 slot and has tried on more than one occasion to have OP’s competing products removed from vendors’ halls. Needless to say, OP despises this woman.
Fast Forward Into The Pandemic
Now fast forward a little bit into the pandemic, OP sees major issues on the horizon for her business, and so she decides to step out and sell for a pretty penny. Bought a condo. Took a job at a non-profit and moved along with her life.
But some of OP’s friends still in the industry would give her updates or vent, and she was absolutely right to sell – most everyone doing what OP does has already closed, including the person she sold to. Kate, however, was still going strong, though OP noticed her prices were really really aggressive.
Kate’s Private Conversation
OP’s friend then showed her a screenshot that Kate had bragged privately about claiming to be unemployed/disabled by using her long-time partner as a cover for her business, then dropping prices below what other sellers could do because she was double dipping.
OP Got Furious
This really really really made OP angry. OP has a mobility disability, and she felt horrible for the people she was running out of business by pricing so low. So OP of course reported her, but nothing seemed to come of that.
Then one of the biggest conferences in their local industry came up on OP’s calendar. This conference costs 8-10k to vend at, and many vendors make 50%+ of their yearly income from this one event.
OP’s Smart-As-Hell Move
OP’s friend runs the vending hall, so she asked her to place OP right next to Kate. When OP left the industry, she still had great contacts on the manufacturing side because she speaks Chinese fairly well.
Strategy
OP found the manufacturer for Kate’s top-selling items and ordered a sizable inventory to take with her to the conference. OP priced them at cost and made ginormous signs about inventory liquidation, and created these super aggressive bundle deals that made it nearly impossible for any business being right next to OP.
What Does OP Say?
“I could see her over there fuming, and she did try to come over and complain, but our booth was too busy to even entertain her obnoxious huffing and puffing.
She closed her shop last week. I lost about $5,000 doing this, but I got a lot of deals on packages/items that they never thought they could afford for their special day, and it was honestly fun to help people out, especially at her expense.”, says OP.
Now OP wants to know if this was wrong.
That Was Excellent!
“Such an excellent use of ‘Screw you’ money. $5k to push a racist price gouging fraudster out of the market seems like a small fee to potentially improve the market as a whole in that area.”
The Best Move Ever!
“This seriously the best and smartest ‘petty revenge’ story I’ve ever heard. The capper for me was ‘Oh, and I speak Chinese.’ You are a rockstar.”
You Rule, She Drools
“Yes. YES! I am in awe of the fact that you took a loss to stick it to her, especially because you face real hurdles and she manufactures them.
You rule, she drools.”
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This article was originally published on Mrs Daaku Studio.