18 East

[robat19]

People aren’t botting 18 East.. yet

 

[kevinfinnerty]

A lot of this has been discussed in the past. Antonio makes the range of sizes according to what sells the best: medium, large, and extra large sells the best. This can be seen in the leftover clothes that didn't sell on the website. If you want him to continue making XXL you will have to buy more.

For sizing, Antonio did say his clothes is meant to fit so that customers can take their normal size in everything. It's just that the customer's perception of how clothes fit does not match his. I have the same issue with the tees. The length used to be shorter on the first 2 drops. They made it 1.5 to 2" longer and it is still slightly shorter than I prefer although I am trying out the graphic tee from this drop. If the Jamal tee is too cropped for you I wouldn't even bother looking at any of the tees anymore.

I am also appreciative of Antonio answering questions in the forum but even if he didn't everything would still sell out.

while I understand your point, that isn’t what I was referencing. I’m not necessarily concerned with how much of each size is in stock, vs what sizes will be in stock. For instance,stating the hoodie will be available only in S-XL vs the shorts being available in a XS-XXL can help a portion of buyers when the time comes.

Plus putting out size charts before a drop I understand is something that a lot of brands don’t do, but I imagine it can only help reduce returns and help buyers narrow in what size they need in items. Even if it’s just a new color of model, the site closes and then you have to try to remember numbers from the website. it’s a small brand obviously, and these are only suggestions that no one needs to listen to, but I think it can help people making purchase decisions quickly, and probably help 18E when it comes to returns.

 

[briancly]

while I understand your point, that isn’t what I was referencing. I’m not necessarily concerned with how much of each size is in stock, vs what sizes will be in stock. For instance,stating the hoodie will be available only in S-XL vs the shorts being available in a XS-XXL can help a portion of buyers when the time comes.

Plus putting out size charts before a drop I understand is something that a lot of brands don’t do, but I imagine it can only help reduce returns and help buyers narrow in what size they need in items. Even if it’s just a new color of model, the site closes and then you have to try to remember numbers from the website. it’s a small brand obviously, and these are only suggestions that no one needs to listen to, but I think it can help people making purchase decisions quickly, and probably help 18E when it comes to returns.

As it is right now, this brand is still very much iykyk, Antonio is very much active here and on IG and answers all questions about sizing and whatnot. Having to worry about getting things in a cart and checking out is something that appears to have been happening only recently, and as I've said, is a result of the recent buzz around 18 East and supply not meeting demand. With new releases, sizes are being allocated to represent more of what the customer base is buying, and I imagine stock levels will increase accordingly. You'll still have to be on the site at drop time to buy, but hopefully it does allow for a more leisurely shopping experience where you can check out sizing and pics.

Remember, Antonio's just operating by himself out of his basement right now, so once things open up, I imagine things will change.

 

[kevinfinnerty]

As it is right now, this brand is still very much iykyk, Antonio is very much active here and on IG and answers all questions about sizing and whatnot. Having to worry about getting things in a cart and checking out is something that appears to have been happening only recently, and as I've said, is a result of the recent buzz around 18 East and supply not meeting demand. With new releases, sizes are being allocated to represent more of what the customer base is buying, and I imagine stock levels will increase accordingly. You'll still have to be on the site at drop time to buy, but hopefully it does allow for a more leisurely shopping experience where you can check out sizing and pics.

Remember, Antonio's just operating by himself out of his basement right now, so once things open up, I imagine things will change.

yup, agreed. Just offering up suggestions, that’s all.

 

[NickPollica]

It would be great to see a some pre-order options if possible?

Obviously there’s many factors that going into pre-orders, but having cash up front, zero risk of the stock sitting and happy customers (getting what they want) seems like a win/ win. Even if it was just one or two main styles per season.

Preorders are something we will be exploring when it comes to unproven styles that we do domestically like tees and sweatshirts but likely not things out of India. That said, we have meaningfully increased our buys for the summer and fall on some styles, though obviously not everything (as you can see it’s not like we are selling out of every piece on every drop). That said, the size runs have been altered dramatically so there will be very little xs and s.

As for stock things, this was actually something I began working on on my last trip to India but was an idea we put on hold and then covid hit. Thankfully we did as I wouldn’t want to be in that inventory position right now. I think what will likely happen when things begin to normalize is that we may start placing two buys, one for the web and one for the studio. We’re still working it all out.

As for returns, we thankfully get very few of them and, interestingly, they are almost always the sizes that are the hardest to sell (xs and s)

 

[robat19]

@NickPollica any word on the berry fleece shorts? I ordered them last week but wasn’t sure if they were something you had with you or if they were at the studio.

 

[SimModa]

People aren’t botting 18 East.. yet

I hope not. When I used to collect sneakers, Shopify bots were the only way to even have a chance of snagging new releases on sites powered by Shopify. I'm sure the 18 East site is personalized enough where the bots may not work as effectively or the site has some sort of measures that prevent this. But considering how accessible Shopify bots are, I don't think it will be too difficult to code a bot to monitor certain keywords and mimic human behavior in order to snag coveted items.

 

[NickPollica]

@NickPollica any word on the berry fleece shorts? I ordered them last week but wasn’t sure if they were something you had with you or if they were at the studio.

pretty sure I just packed them. sorry for the delay. been working really hard on the future for the last two weeks that shipping has been on the back burner. All past orders that don’t include fall back stock or earlier should go out today. Will do a run on monday to the studio to grab the older pieces for people waiting on those.

 

[robat19]

pretty sure I just packed them. sorry for the delay. been working really hard on the future for the last two weeks that shipping has been on the back burner. All past orders that don’t include fall back stock or earlier should go out today. Will do a run on monday to the studio to grab the older pieces for people waiting on those.

Thanks, and no worries. Just wasn’t sure if it was something you had with you or not.

 

[leisurewear]

people need to chill a little bit with the unsolicited business advice on the thread with zero visibility into the logistics, finances and everything else that is going on in the background. it's become a regular occurrence every time there's a drop and people miss out on things. the fact that the owner has the patience to sit here and actually address a lot of the concerns is crazy in of itself but the fact that the same questions keep popping up and the start of comments basically insinuating that "if things don't change you're going to lose my business" is even crazier. it's incredibly selfish for people to want a business that's essentially still a start up to carry inventory as if it's a big box retailer, invest money / time in trying to investigate if there are shopify bots (there aren't) and try to predict the future on sizes / order quantity for specific styles when there's a multi month design and production process is absolutely absurd. let's be a little more self aware. the owner has already given us insight into changes being made going forward to mitigate some of the current concerns and that should be more than enough.

 

[ecerratic]

I’m just glad every other post isn’t “when is the sale?” or “retail price is too high, I’ll get that when it’s maybe 60% off“ like many other threads here.

its refreshing.

 

[Mariokartfever]

18East should sell on the block-chain

 

[NickPollica]

I’m just glad every other post isn’t “when is the sale?” or “retail price is too high, I’ll get that when it’s maybe 60% off“ like many other threads here.

its refreshing.

This is wholly because of our drop based business model. In reality, most of our pieces should cost at least 35% more than they do. It’s why we don’t wholesale and it’s why we will continue to try to buy a bit less than we can sell.

 

[justridiculous]

Antonio, you make really, really dope clothes. You're successful with what you do for a reason. Your prices are more than fair and getting to interact with you about the clothes on here is awesome. Been stoked on 18E since the first drop, usually try to grab a piece or two with each drop (this often means buying it secondhand because I wasn't quick enough) and am always excited to see what's coming up next. Keep it up bro.

 

[briancly]

this often means buying it secondhand because I wasn't quick enough

Lucky that you can even find the stuff you want secondhand!