Opinions on this malo cashmere sweater

Malo makes some of the best cashmere out there. Whether or not it's worth 200 bucks is up to you. Generally, if I can find top of the line cashmere (Zegna, Malo, Loro Piana) for under 100 bucks, I buy it on general principle. I have quite a few. That said, it's a nice looking sweater and, in my opinion, not a rip-off at that price.

This is a pretty reasonable price for a Malo sweater; yes, the $780 price may be a bit inflated, but maybe not all that much. FYI, there is a Malo outlet store at the Clinton Crossing Premium Outlets in Clinton, CT. You might give them a call to see what their things are selling for these days; I do know that they are quite expensive at full price but are beautiful cashmere. The other question is whether you like the color; I love royal blue, but sometimes I feel it is a bit bright to wear all that frequently. This e-bay seller has some pretty ridiculous list prices, IMO; Zegna "Soft" suits at $1900+ list -- what gall.

I've never been able to figure out where this seller gets his retail prices from. In some instances, they seem reasonable - the Barbera shirt at $195 - for example, seems about right. But some of the other quoted prices are blatant exaggerations. YSL pour Homme - a YSL diffusion line not commonly available in the US - suits do not retail at $2400. They are actually about 250-300 pounds in Britain. And Canali suits (excluding some from the Exclusive Collection) retail at about $1200-$1600. Zegna Soft suits top out at ~$1200. For some reason, I've always associated this retailer with the now defunct Zillioni (sp?) store that used to be at the top of Wilshire, right before Rodeo Dr. I really hated that store. The goods were okay (Armani Collezioni/Zegna/YSL Pour Homme) and the discounts were good (about $700 for an Armani Collezioni or Zegna) but the salesmen (they were all men as far as I could tell) were a little creepy and really pushy, and treated you more like a mark than as a valued customer. And their retail prices were inflated too. One time, they tried to tell me that a YSL pour Homme suit was a bargain at $600. And another time, they had Zegna suits marked as MRSP $1600, when a nearly identical suit was selling for $1200 at Barney's just down the street. I refused to buy anything there. BBB, I would strongly advise against dealing with sellers that exaggerate the retail prices of their goods. For me, someone who lies to you about one thing will lie to you about another. Why don't you look to Bluefly or Yoox - both of which are very, very reliable - and the customer service at Bluefly is impeccable - and both of which carry Malo and other cashmere sweaters, instead.

Looking at this seller's auctions brings to mind another thread about "fake" Italian brand suits (e.g. Naldini, Enrico Coveri) that were made cheaply for discount stores and grossly misrepresented as $1500 suits on ebay. This seller is guilty of that practice, which I is why I have avoided his auctions, even though he has some stuff that I might have otherwise bid on (like the Malo sweaters). In the specific case, I would assume he's inflating the price somewhat, but in fairness the retail prices he lists are the same as what Bluefly claims; of course Bluefly has been known to exaggerate retail prices as well. Hell if I know how much Malo sweaters retail for though. I agree though, that yoox and bluefly have better selections and a proven track record for quality service. If anyone has any working coupons, I think it would be much appreciated if they were posted. On a sidenote, how is the cut of Malo sweaters? I'm gonna order one as soon as I figure out what size to get.

The problem with retail pricing is that it in fact varies, especially for accessories. For example, I've seen Fendi baguettes retail for as much as $499 in duty free shops (usually huge ripoffs btw) while at Saks, they were $450, last time I checked. Bluefly generally does not exaggerate the prices on those items (Levi's Premium jeans and Puma sneakers, for example) where the prices are standard across the board, or on stock that I assume they must have sourced from the U.S. But on other hand, I haven't ever seen Hugo Boss suits retailing for over about $900, and Bluefly has a bunch that they claim retailed for $1100. Say what? I've also found that better deals can be found on smartbargains.com for similar merchandise. Nonetheless, there is a difference between quoting the retail price that is realistic, albeit a little high, and making things up wholesale. A Naldini suit for $1200? Get real.

This $599 Boss suit on Bluefly was sold to me on ebay for $123. Well, the one that I got was a display model, and still have to wait for the shipment to actually see the real thing. The seller got 100% feedback rating so I hope it's ok. Although it's a bit interesting when I asked if he could describe the shoulder style in more details, he replied he's not sure about what I meant, but it has shoulder pads. http://www.bluefly.com/pages....499282# http://cgi.ebay.com/ws....01&rd=1

LA Guy is right on as usual. There really is a range in retail prices but you can spot those sellers who are just making things up if you pay attention. I must say that, sometimes, the differences in retail prices can be quite dramatic. For instance. Carrol & Company in LA sells an Oxxford suit for less than $2000 while Neiman Marcus carries the same model for $3300. And if you go to a store like Wilkes Bashford, things start even higher. I don't think I've ever seen a Brioni suit at Wilkes for less them $3700 and most of them are substantially more. Yet you can get Brioni elsewhere, at retail, for $2900. Nonetheless, there are a million sellers quoting retail prices that are far outside the bounds of reality. I recently sent a scathing email to ebay seller Nitr-o because he is making a practice of claiming ridiculously high retail prices for his fused-front Gianluca Napoli suits. An example of which is: This suit I said: "Lying about the original retail prices for these Gianluca suit is going to backfire on you - it is a rather simple matter to go down to Nordstrom and look at the price tags on the suits at retail, which will reveal that the price for a SUIT is between $800 and $900. I don't think that will make your customers too happy. How about telling them the truth in the first place??" His reply: "You are looking and/or confusing the "STREET" price with MSRP. Ever buy a new car? did you pay what the sticker indicated? Actually, Isaia doesn't put price tags on any of their products, the PRICE tags are printed up by what ever store is selling them. There is a law/statute "Robinson-Patman act", which states that no Mfg can dictate what a product MUST be sold for.. Base rule is, retail is 3-4 times what the wholesale cost is. In any case, you act as if I am listing these at more money than you can buy them at Nordstrom's etc. Unless you are referring to an Gianluca Isaia, and comparing to a Gianluca. Nordstrom's do not sell the black, and grey labeled Isaia, only the Gianluca." What the heck is he talking about?? Is he saying that since, by law, there is no set-in-stone retail price he can just make up a retail as he see's fit?? I have no idea why he brought the real Isaia suits into the picture but since he mentioned it, the SF Nordstrom store has an extensive selection of Gianluca Isaia suits, and, unfortunately, the GianLuca models as well. The REAL Isaia's start at about $1900 retail, not the $3350 that Nitro claims: Gianluca Isaia suit And the Gianluca models go between $800 and $900, not $2550... So the advice is, BUYER BEWARE. You would probably be best to stick with sellers that honestly represent their merchandise.

Any recommendation? I trust the regular guys in this board are.

discostu004 (sp?) and theworldsfinest (previously Vintage_USA, and one of the very few sellers I have done business with, are both quite honest about their prices.  discostu004 is sometimes guilty of inflating the prices of his lower end goods (Campers for $250, where?) but his prices do not reflect this exaggeration.  theworldsfinest sells a great selection of shirts and suits.  Not absolutely the best deals, but very good ones, and you will sleep easily (unless you are broke, in which case, don't buy the Attolini suits he offers.)  evalueville is terrific, but the descriptions often leave much to be desired.  Like Yoox, it is best if you are familiar with the merchandise already.  Oh, Scott&Co has nice stuff, but don't really offer much of a (relative) bargain. nitr-o is wrong about the retail markup, btw.  Most stores mark up about 100% from wholesale, varying by about 10% depending on the store's overhead and size (Boston prices are consistently lower than NYC ones, for example; and smaller boutiques are often marginally more expensive.)  Maybe, Andrew, you can email him regarding this.  I think that nitr-o is doing himself a disservice for another reason.  Customers who know to buy Isaia, even the Gianluca line, 1) are savvy to know better, or 2) are more likely to become savvy, given their interest in tailored clothing.  Either way, he comes off alienating customers and potential customers.  It is worth noting that his prices and merchandise are actually reasonably attractive otherwise.   There are also many smaller sellers, especially of designerwear (with Jil Sander, Helmut Lang, John Varvatos and Martin Margiela and Dries van Noten, in particular) whom I have no reason to suspect, but unlike these sellers, they are not always active. Oh, except for asisaz1 to asisaz15. They seem to get returns and/or overstock - I've seen Bergdorf stuff there - and are the equivalent of the Ebay rummage bin. Fun, but you've gotta be on the lookout.

I second LA Guy. Both discostu and worldsfinest are reliable. Worldsfinest is a little slow on the communication but ships immediately nonetheless.