Australian Members

[thebrownman]

I'm uncertain of how this will resonate with most people here, particularly because it's not a nice thing to say, but I highly doubt that everyone is as rational in their decision-making about purchasing clothes as recent discussion would have an outsider believe. Naturally, I include myself in this category.

We can debate about the objective merits of production and country of origin, or canvass the features of certain fabrics over others; in fact, I think it's a good debate to have and one I'm enjoying following. Ultimately, though, you can't remove yourself from the emotional element that is within every commercial transaction. It's there, and it's why there'll never be mutual consensus on what is/isn't of value/"worth it". I think that's actually a good thing.

 

[thebrownman]

Off topic >> but if anyone likes The Weeknd, his Trilogy album is now available on Spotify. I hope their catalogue continues to expand. I like the bit in The Morning when he says something about his competitors wanting to hold on to their credit so he tells them to use a debit, but they won't 'cause their image will lessen (i.e. they stop having all the nice things).

Anyway, clothes. Consume

 

[jaypee]

Got it on loop this week TBM, big fan

 

[thebrownman]

^ Yeah, he's good. Can sing.

 

[Prince of Paisley]



As I opined a few posts back, I think that there are lots of Australian consumers who are prepared to pay a higher price, as long as they consider that they are getting some extra value for the price that they pay.

This is the crux of it. But on the other side (and I think you also made reference to this), there's the fact that there aren't lots of Australian consumers who value paying $500 for shoes, full stop - whether online or from a shop in Collingwood. As brownman alludes to, maybe they are the sane ones?

 

[Gilmour]

On the subject of casual leather belts http://www.handmadeleatherbelts.co.uk/tanning.html by far the best made and value for money option via England. There used to be, years since I have been there, a couple of good leather workers selling belts at Paddington markets.

I visit my sister every couple of years in Devon, I feel like I have been going around with my eyes closed.

http://www.afinepairofshoes.co.uk/collections/polish-creams-cleaners-price-asc

Service is excellent, postage reasonable.

Cheers thanks for info

For anyone looking for belts: http://luxeswap.goodsie.com/belts

Thank you for these checking out now.

 

[CHECKstar]

WTF has happened to this thread? The quality of discussion has dramatically fallen over the last couple of months to the point where it seems that every page is now littered with complaints about pricing (or some random one line open question). Not wanting to point the finger, but this activity is seemly to be coming from the newer forum members.

You’re either willing to pay for a product at a particular price point or not. If you’re not, it’s really not necessary to share with us your gripes over, and over again.

I also think it’s in rather poor taste to be opening discussing the profit margins of other members who are offering great products and services that is obviously lacking in the Australian market, and let’s not forget are great forum contributors. Again, you either are willing and able to pay, or you’re not.

 

[Gerry Nelson]

Ever wanted to wear super sleek shoes but didn't have the properly shaped feet? A solution is at hand!
Quote:
On another note, I'm wearing my Henry Carter gingham shirt, HC orange knit tie and blue PJ suit. Only thing missing is RMs on my feet!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

 

[fxh]

A loan officer sets up a meeting with an aspiring entrepreneur to inform him that his application has been denied.
“Mr Smith, we have reviewed your application and found a fatal flaw in your business plan. You say that you will be selling your donuts for 60 cents apiece.
“Yes” says Mr. Smith, “that is significantly less than any other baker in town. This will give my business a significant competitive advantage!”

The loan officer replies, “According to your budget, at peak efficiency the cost of supplies to make each donut is 75 cents, you will lose 15 cents on every donut you sell.

A look of relief comes over Mr. Smith’s face as he realizes the loan officer’s misunderstanding.

He leans in closer, and whispers to the loan officer “But don’t you see, I’ll make it up in volume".

 

[Romp]

Just to clarify - my markups are actually pretty slim just so i can reach a price point that most people would deem reasonable to pay. This started as a hobby for myself and my business partner sourcing stuff that we'd personally want to wear day to day but not easily available in Australia.

We only work with small workshops, nothing is mass produced, a person cuts and sews each garment rather than a machine.

To illustrate a point - my shirts are from the same guy who makes Sid Mashburn shirts but

We
1) do much lower volumes = +10% due to no terms
2) Have to pay huge shipping costs to get the garments to Australia = +10-15% of the garment
3) Pay GST + customs duties on the items = +15%
4) Pay FX conversion and intl payment +5%

Yet I still try to keep a similar price point or $5-10 less than Sid because I think that's all the market is willing to pay for our relatively new brand's products.

The hard thing is that because our margins are small, all money is reinvested into next season's stock so we never actually pay ourself for doing all of this work but its something we enjoy as a hobby, hopefully it will grow after a few years to a stage that will actually benefit us.

I could very easily go and source lower quality, higher margin product but we wouldnt be happy selling it and would lose interest quickly. We actually REALLY enjoy running O&J.

 

[elvish]

Syd & Bris

i am shipping some goods from the states if anyone is interested in joining my proxy. i'll be using RKD from the forum.
PM me if interested

 

[Henry Carter]

Same here Rob (and well written btw).

I still work full time outside of the business and will be for the foreseeable future, probably put in around 30 hours to the business as well so as far as profit to time ratio goes, you'd be better off investing your money in property than starting a business in clothing. But that's not why we do it. I also personally get a lot more satisfaction having and building my own brand rather than on-selling better known labels which is a lot easier, but our way is the harder road and I like it like that.

At the end of the day, unless you own a big business like Industrie, (and I use that example because I just read this morning that it's owners have just bought a $15 million home in point piper or something) then there is not much chance of getting rich selling clothes.

 

[thebrownman]

You could rent clothes to people.

Rent-A-Swag

If you caught the latest episode of Parks & Recreation you'll know what I'm talking about

 

[JimmyHoffa]

You’re either willing to pay for a product at a particular price point or not. If you’re not, it’s really not necessary to share with us your gripes over, and over again.

Checkstar, no offense, but if you can't spend 20 seconds reading something, don't have a big whinge about it.

Someone (DR) talked about a new AUSTRALIAN SHOE SHOP that is being established.
Someone else said that given THE AUSTRALIAN RETAIL SCENE it is likely to fail. EDIT: PoP to be precise.
A discussion about WHY THAT AUSTRALIAN SHOP will not do well followed. (JM, myself, TBM, PoP).

IT IS 100% RELATED TO THIS THREAD.

Everything that has been discussed has related specifically to Australia, shoes in particular and a new Australian shop. I am sorry, but your not the dictator around here, if you don't like talking about Australian shops or you don't like talking about shoes, then please leave. Otherwise, stop whinging.

No one has complained about pricing you stirrer. In the last 200 pages I have not seen one post that has insinuated that something is overpriced and is not worth the money. People have caps on what they can spend. If someone asks for a $300 jacket, that is what they can spend. Don't have a ***** because you can spend $500 and they can't. I never had a whinge about O&J pricing, I was justifying it. O&J was used in an analogous argument, you probably don't know what that is, in fact you have probably stopped reading by now.

I am sorry that your 'precious thread' has been degraded so much that you are having a *****. I have read the first 400 pages and the content was very similar to what it is now. Some of the more experienced members in the past have asked very similar questions to the newer members. So drink your high tea and carry on, sister.

 

[thebrownman]

Meanwhile, Clarke doesn't give a **** and is stockpiling the runs.

Any word on Steyn's condition? I hope he's back on the field very soon. Really do rate Dale.