please read IF you enjoy discounts

[Mauro]

^^ there is NO way you bought a current BoO for 120.00 .

I am by no means saying dont buy something on sale hell I give a good discount so you can buy something you like in season for a good price but margins are margins and branding is branding.
If you don't care your shirt is 2 season old and you dig it that's awesome but you can't have a successful business model like that. the system would implode or at least the affiliates on this forum wouldn't exsist.

 

[Listi]

Originally Posted by blank

Do you no longer like Band of Outsiders because their price point has diminished to essentially $120 or so for a shirt on inevitable discount, so WMMK can buy it now?

Hey! Teenagers can like nice clothes too

And JD May said it pretty well I think, despite it being impossible to say perfectly. Retailers feel special to be able to carry EG, they want it to be a product which reels people in. If the product is hard to find, people look, if when they look online they find it way cheaper than in the one store that carries it in their town... Then they're just going to buy it online and that store is going to be like:

"I'm the only person in town selling EG, how come it isn't moving off the shelves at all? Why are people trying it on, saying, "this fits great!" and then leaving without buying? Why are people buying it and returning it a couple of days later? This is hurting my store more than it is helping."

 

[wmmk]

^Sorry, should've clarified. I was just lucky enough to get something off the wait list from Gilt. The shirt is a couple seasons old, but I don't really care.

Anyway, Mauro, I didn't mean to offend; I was just responding to blank's reference to me. Off topic, but when you do the Farinelli's x SF x Crate, will you also start carrying other Crate stuff? I'm thining I'll go with Routes for my next pair...

 

[Oxnard]

I like affilliates. I like EG. Wouldn't have discovered EG without this site and it's affilliates. I know I will buy just as much EG as I would have before, and if this is necessary in order to keep everyone in business happy, well more power to it then. ****, I am thankful just to be able to buy these brands and shop at these stores.

 

[whacked]

To be fair, I think this is how said (harmful, apparently) disclosure actually happened:

Buyer(let's call him robin:toungue: in the context of this dialogue): I want to return this 19th Century shirt

Retailer: Cool... May I ask why?

robin: Yeahh... I really like it, just that I found a better price elsewhere.

Retailer: Really? Hhmmmm....

(at this point said retailer may ask where specifically, and robin would reveal it's Farinelli's. Or the retailer could also just look up the (very short) list of EG stockists and take an educated guess. It's not like Mauro's SF discount is top secret material).


May be I will be proven wrong, and that I have too much hope for people, but that's my 2 cents.

 

[why]

Originally Posted by Epaulet

It's not a common brand, it's not a common look, and it's not found everywhere.

Really?

 

[Davidko19]

Originally Posted by Listi

Hey! Teenagers can like nice clothes too

And JD May said it pretty well I think, despite it being impossible to say perfectly. Retailers feel special to be able to carry EG, they want it to be a product which reels people in. If the product is hard to find, people look, if when they look online they find it way cheaper than in the one store that carries it in their town... Then they're just going to buy it online and that store is going to be like:

"I'm the only person in town selling EG, how come it isn't moving off the shelves at all? Why are people trying it on, saying, "this fits great!" and then leaving without buying? Why are people buying it and returning it a couple of days later? This is hurting my store more than it is helping."


Guilty.

I go into stores just to try it on only to buy it online. I actually feel bad about it too most of the times, like they know Im doing it. The price markup at a brick and mortar is not insignificant. All things equal, Id like to walk out of the stores with a piece I have inspected. Unfortunately, if you can get it for 20% cheaper elsewhere....

 

[Epaulet]

Originally Posted by blank

And these are the risks inherent in starting a small business -- whether you want to start a boutique, a law firm, a grocery store or a clothing line. There's going to be a bully on the block who challenges you, takes a lot of your market share, and steals your customers because they can do what you can do, for less money, and the person forking out the cash ultimately leads this debate.

How does this apply to EG or what we're talking about? They're not in a price war with any direct competitors. They're making clothing that people want. And employing the NYC garment district and US woolen mills to create it. And supplying small independent shops with it. And protecting both those shops and their profit margins by not allowing discounting.

If your design and brand is strong enough to support this strategy - like EG, Alden, and many others - then this is a workable strategy. The customer can take it or leave it if they don't like the price. Many do, and many are really satisfied with their purchases - knowing that their garments have value and care put into them. Ultimately, it helps retailers like Mauro because it protects him from competition from larger money-losing enterprises. Everyone liked his EG discount, but how many people would buy from Tobi.com rather than him if they ran a "suit up in new Spring Engineered Garments at 30% off sale!" They do that stuff weekly, so the the better brands on their site have to opt out.

The alternate scenario is J.Crew. Anyone buy things from them at full price? Feel like a fool later on when they have fire sales or one of a million discounts? In order to sustain that promotional business, they need to scrimp on materials, raise the markup, and keep things as mainstream as possible. There's a place for that - but no one is going to ever put J.Crew on the same level of brand appeal or cache as EG.

And in regards to BoO, think of it this way. Most of their value stems from their awesome branding, high price, and exclusive distribution. Many customers (granted, maybe not SF members) feel good wearing their clothes for those reasons. The fit and quality of materials are only part of the equation.

What if they didn't exist? Instead of BoO, someone like Old Navy made those exact shirts and introduced them for 30 bucks? I don't believe that they would be that cool. GQ wouldn't dress up Christian Bale in them. They would just be those interesting too-short oxfords at Old Navy. This stuff plays a real role.

 

[ctrlaltelite]

a lot of what sounds like is happening is SFers come to believe that their discount comes as a right, not a privilege. these affiliates pay to keep this forum running, and many give a discount as an afterthought to the community, some affiliates don't even offer one!

mauro has been gracious enough to extend his store's SF discount to most of the items in his store, yet many people try to get him to hook them up with cheaper prices. seriously? the "if you give a mouse a cookie..." mentality is pretty bad from what i've seen and heard from some of his employees.

quality clothing is never cheap, nor should it have to be. mauro's willing to take a bit of a hit because he is a lot more of an active participant in this community than many other retailers, which shows in the fact that he's willing to throw parties just for us, and this comes straight from his pocket.

behavior like this -- taking advantage of his discount and spitting in the face of other retailers -- is really immature and looks bad on this community (re: whodini's "What is it with this place?" post).

look, if you're new to luxury brands -- and there's nothing wrong with that -- don't expect any discounts. by now it's pretty common knowledge that a lot of us, including myself, save up for months and splurge occasionally. not all of us have the budget of Socal or LabelKing. good things like what mauro has done for us for years are an exception, NOT the standard.

please, don't ruin it by taking advantage of it.

 

[why]

To everyone up in arms about this: welcome to business. When EG hears complaints from stockists they're going to alleviate them. Most consumers don't know, and the ones that don't know often don't care. This is a fairly common practice in most of the fashion industry.

 

[Mauro]

wmmk _ no offense at all. I will be doing a lot of business with Crate and when you guys see our jean you will be floored.

oxnard_ I repsect that!

everyone for the most part brings up great points. I hope to do business with all of you just keep your traps shut....lol

 

[AR_Six]

Originally Posted by blank

And these are the risks inherent in starting a small business -- whether you want to start a boutique, a law firm, a grocery store or a clothing line. There's going to be a bully on the block who challenges you, takes a lot of your market share, and steals your customers because they can do what you can do, for less money... I think those companies [like EG] should be more nimble.
Okay two problems. First, this isn't direct competition, it's someone taking a manufacturer's product to create that competition. There is an intellectual property issue here: it's not "I can cut hair better than the guy down the street", it's "I have something X designed and made, and despite the fact that I don't have X's approval or any relationship whatsoever, and that he disapproves thoroughly of what I'm doing, and that it may in fact prejudice his economic interests, I will use his creations to make money for myself". That's the problem with grey marketing. Now there's a separate issue that IS competition-based, and that's between the shops: shop A doesn't want shop B underselling him and so complains to X to put a stop to it. But again it all comes back to the manufacturer: if they feel it's in their interests to give B a talking to to appease A (and all others who are of the same mind as A) they'll do it, if not, they may be content to lose A's business by doing nothing. But generally they won't be content with that, particularly in a niche area like this one, because 1. there isn't enough business to be able to afford to just lose accounts like that, 2. their interests will often align with A's not only in the sense of appeasing retailers but brand identity etc., and 3. a lot of people in the industry will know each other or have some fondness for a particular brand and want to see it flourish, so are willing to help each other out. Really it all comes back to the manufacturer maintaining some semblance of control over their products. If they can extend the same to the retailers, that will probably help them sell more stuff, because retailers, particularly given the current state of things, will be much more comfortable making larger buys if they're confident the manufacturer will have their back.

 

[robin]

Originally Posted by whacked

...

 

[chanimal]

ughh this is terrible. honestly with this and all the dumb threads cluttering up the forum lately i wouldnt mind seeing SF charge a 50-100 yearly fee for members, personally for the affilate's alone its worth it and it might get rid of some of the marsupialed members that we seem to have. did ppl really return EG while mentioning that Mauro provides it for cheaper? my brain is going to explode just thinking about this.

 

[dusty]

Originally Posted by chanimal

ughh this is terrible. honestly with this and all the dumb threads cluttering up the forum lately i wouldnt mind seeing SF charge a 50-100 yearly fee for members, personally for the affilate's alone its worth it and it might get rid of some of the marsupialed members that we seem to have. did ppl really return EG while mentioning that Mauro provides it for cheaper? my brain is going to explode just thinking about this.

I don't think you get the point of this place.