Random Fashion Thoughts (Part 3: Style farmer strikes back) - our general discussion thread

[penanceroyaltea]

just tried navigating the BnS threads.

it made me nauseous honestly. pics and text so small, i can hardly see anything and the format gives me a headache.

@t3hg0suazn has a nice naissance sweater going for a nice price tho.

 

[clee1982]

Pic is normal size I thought (and you can enlarge by click on it). Though some seller doesn’t know how to post it for sure.

 

[Darkside]

just tried navigating the BnS threads.

it made me nauseous honestly. pics and text so small, i can hardly see anything and the format gives me a headache.

@t3hg0suazn has a nice naissance sweater going for a nice price tho.

I personally can’t figure out how to bump threads as a seller without having to copy and paste the entire old listing. Also having to pick a separate file to upload for the thumbnail is a pain. As a buyer, it remains cluttered as well.

 

[nahneun]

i still don't know how to post a wtb thread in the new b&s

 

[LA Guy]

If you live in Manhattan eventually you won’t be able to keep all the stuff (or got to pay for it..., at $1000/sqft even for coop)

I have a storage unit which is filled with stuff from back to about 2000.

 

[clee1982]

Why bother, when stuff goes storage they never come out (at least for me...), I would give away/sell at that point

 

[LA Guy]

Why bother, when stuff goes storage they never come out (at least for me...), I would give away/sell at that point

I just don't like the idea of someone else using my stuff, I suppose. In some cases, if it's something that I loved, but simply don't wear anymore, it seems too personal. Other things I bought because it was interesting but not really too wear much, and those I like just to have.

 

[Maxwellll]

AW18 must have accessory, your own head

 

[double00]

the proliferation of selling platforms is horrible for prices/sellers (normally i wouldn't consider a forum BnS a 'selling platform')

as if things weren't oversupplied as it is now a bunch of stuff is cross-listed multiple times across those various platforms. so the oversupply looks geometrically worse (even if the actual supply is more or less the same).

 

[Landau]

the proliferation of selling platforms is horrible for prices/sellers (normally i wouldn't consider a forum BnS a 'selling platform')

as if things weren't oversupplied as it is now a bunch of stuff is cross-listed multiple times across those various platforms. so the oversupply looks geometrically worse (even if the actual supply is more or less the same).

I don't know that most selling platforms operate on the same assumptions as SF/SuFu/SZ/Ironheart did though. Buying and selling here always felt somewhat self-curated, in that there were a certain list of brands that would sell well at that forum, and probably wouldn't sell well on any other platform. For example, old SuFu used to be the only place to really buy and sell things like WTAPs, Raw Denim, Japanese Repro stuff and Dior Homme Hedi. The prices there were higher than what they would probably sell for today on Grailed, but thats because they knew that the audience had very specific tastes, and that their chances of getting that exact run of denim from that mill near the sea that has virgins weaving on looms touched by the Virgin Madonna would be slim to none.

Grailed etc operate on a more substitute goods type of assumption, where if you can't find that sacai nylon olive bomber, you can find a million nylon olive bombers that look *almost* as good. In other words, on these platforms you tend to have to compete with sort of good enough lookalikes. There are a few things that the "market" values as non-substitutable like New Order Raf Coats or Helmut Lang Astros or whatever, but those are few and far in between. That culture has definitely spread to other forums since the advent of Grailed etc, and sort of eroded a sense of communities in a lot of the old fashion fora.

On the upside, its never been better to be in the market for generic good looking stuff.

 

[LA Guy]

just tried navigating the BnS threads.

it made me nauseous honestly. pics and text so small, i can hardly see anything and the format gives me a headache.

@t3hg0suazn has a nice naissance sweater going for a nice price tho.

I agree with the pic size. I've asked if we can make the thumbnails larger. We can also show the thing in grid form, with much larger pics, but we had a LOT of resistance to that in the beginning, so we changed it back to a list form. Unfortunately, I don't think that it can be chosen by the user. But I agree with you on both the pic size and the text size. At least the second can be changed. The first may be harder, since the developers may have hardcoded something in, but we do have a good designer who can hack things pretty well.

We have offered a fair chunk of money for the devs to make what we feel are pretty simple fixes, but they've been not particularly responsive. You can't motivate people with money if they are not really that motivated by money, and are not starving. /rant

 

[LA Guy]

I don't know that most selling platforms operate on the same assumptions as SF/SuFu/SZ/Ironheart did though. Buying and selling here always felt somewhat self-curated, in that there were a certain list of brands that would sell well at that forum, and probably wouldn't sell well on any other platform. For example, old SuFu used to be the only place to really buy and sell things like WTAPs, Raw Denim, Japanese Repro stuff and Dior Homme Hedi. The prices there were higher than what they would probably sell for today on Grailed, but thats because they knew that the audience had very specific tastes, and that their chances of getting that exact run of denim from that mill near the sea that has virgins weaving on looms touched by the Virgin Madonna would be slim to none.

Grailed etc operate on a more substitute goods type of assumption, where if you can't find that sacai nylon olive bomber, you can find a million nylon olive bombers that look *almost* as good. In other words, on these platforms you tend to have to compete with sort of good enough lookalikes. There are a few things that the "market" values as non-substitutable like New Order Raf Coats or Helmut Lang Astros or whatever, but those are few and far in between. That culture has definitely spread to other forums since the advent of Grailed etc, and sort of eroded a sense of communities in a lot of the old fashion fora.

On the upside, its never been better to be in the market for generic good looking stuff.

The bolded is absolutely true, an one of the reasons that Grailed could not be duplicated on Styleforum, regardless of the technology. When we've thought about investing a fair bit of money into B&S, it has not been in improving B&S, (though we have always had the eye to put some resources into that), but in building a stand alone marketplace that is bridged, so that your username here, works there, and clicking on B&S would simply open another tab to the marketplace, whatever we had decided to call it. Like I said before, B&S is both driven and limited by the fact that it is an integral part of a forum community, not a stand alone thing in and of itself.

 

[bry2000]

Why bother, when stuff goes storage they never come out (at least for me...), I would give away/sell at that point

This is far too logical. If you are a regular on SF, you have way too much stuff and, in most cases, are always grappling with where to put it. It never ends.

 

[Enexde96]

I think a site like Grailed could actually benefit from implementing the auction format. A niche audience for sure, but I think theres more than enough interest to support multiple bidders. Taking into consideration the smaller audience they could simply limit sellers to 1-3 auctions at a time while the system is implemented.

Now perhaps this is just my opinion as a seller, but I also think the Y!J bidding system (with the automatic extension feature) is far superior to eBay's and would be the best option to reach prices that would satisfy both sellers and buyers. From my own observations things on Y!J that actually generate interest seem to move the fastest and for the most agreeable price. As mentioned previously, buyers almost overestimate the value of the brands and labels they're interested in so why not let them decide the price?

Obviously sellers that are expecting their money back + shipping will be sorely disappointed, but I think items will start moving at least. A better alternative than items sitting for 8-10 months and going through multiple price drops, lowballs, flakers, etc.

The whole argument is probably moot though since Grailed seems more concerned with becoming a magazine than improving their marketplace

 

[MGoCrimson]

B&S text hulking out now