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

[dieworkwear]

can anyone tell me why this terrible website grailed took over the secondary clothes market for men recently? It only has resellers who try to recoup the cost of the purchase or sell absolutely damaged clothing for more than half of retail cost. Even hosting scammers without any consideration for buyers - as it brings them revenue. While at the same time posing as some fashion critique website, which reads like hypebeast II.

It wouldn't be an issue to me if there were alternatives, but i've yet to find anything. It seems like if people are selling used they flock there. Its become the defacto website for used goods, and laughably has items, which are "grailed" way over an acceptable price. You use to be able to find items from older collections at an almost fast-fashion level price, but thanks to "hype" its caused a hivemind to justify skyrocketing prices. I could only imagine being some streetwear schmuck buying supreme nowadays.

I don't know if Grailed is responsible for the hype in fashion. I mean, that would be a lot of power. Fashion has always been hyped, but it went into turbo mode when it merged with streetwear. That happened before Grailed even existed.

 

[steveoffice]

correct me if im wrong, but mens high fashion streetwear was never really mainstream until Kanye then ASAP Rocky

celebrities like brad pitt, jude law and lenny kravitz wore ccp/paul harnden/rick and etc but people mostly didnt care

 

[shopcanoeclub]

i think social media is worth noting too

 

[g transistor]

can anyone tell me why this terrible website grailed took over the secondary clothes market for men recently? It only has resellers who try to recoup the cost of the purchase or sell absolutely damaged clothing for more than half of retail cost. Even hosting scammers without any consideration for buyers - as it brings them revenue. While at the same time posing as some fashion critique website, which reads like hypebeast II.

It wouldn't be an issue to me if there were alternatives, but i've yet to find anything. It seems like if people are selling used they flock there. Its become the defacto website for used goods, and laughably has items, which are "grailed" way over an acceptable price. You use to be able to find items from older collections at an almost fast-fashion level price, but thanks to "hype" its caused a hivemind to justify skyrocketing prices. I could only imagine being some streetwear schmuck buying supreme nowadays.

hey bud what have you been up to

 

[Lane]

hey bud what have you been up to

hey whats up man, just wanted to vent about the state of the secondary clothes market and social medias influence on fashion. I do appreciate being able to see older Undercover stuff on grailed, but the prices are hilarious.

I, for one, am grateful for it. I’ve picked up several NOS items that I’ve never seen anywhere else for reasonable prices. Leder shirts from a guy in Germany, Nigel Cabourn Japan from a guy in Australia... there is a fair amount of junk and terrible sellers to wade through, though. But, it’s much more effective than eBay.

I understand, ebay is terrible, but I found forums much better for buying and selling, since there is an established community, which weeds out people who scam and allows for everyone to exchange garments at a lower than average price than retail. What you see on grailed is people buying items on sale, and listing them for higher than that price, and claiming they bought it retail, waiting for some person who is unaware - to think he is getting a great deal. All the rick owens im seeing on grailed is insanely overpriced. I use to buy basics for around $90-120 easily with no holes on superfuture and here. Now you see these guys with stains and tears trying to get $150. You even see people re-using pictures from ssense and farfetch to make a profit off items they bought for 50% off. It's quite distasteful to have to sift through that. When the rick owens store is cheaper on sale than prices on grailed, then theres a huge problem...lol

 

[noob in 89]

If you like Grailed, you’re going to love depop.

 

[kevenmee]

hey whats up man, just wanted to vent about the state of the secondary clothes market and social medias influence on fashion. I do appreciate being able to see older Undercover stuff on grailed, but the prices are hilarious.



I understand, ebay is terrible, but I found forums much better for buying and selling, since there is an established community, which weeds out people who scam and allows for everyone to exchange garments at a lower than average price than retail. What you see on grailed is people buying items on sale, and listing them for higher than that price, and claiming they bought it retail, waiting for some person who is unaware - to think he is getting a great deal. All the rick owens im seeing on grailed is insanely overpriced. I use to buy basics for around $90-120 easily with no holes on superfuture and here. Now you see these guys with stains and tears trying to get $150. You even see people re-using pictures from ssense and farfetch to make a profit off items they bought for 50% off. It's quite distasteful to have to sift through that. When the rick owens store is cheaper on sale than prices on grailed, then theres a huge problem...lol

My 2 cents as a seller - it's gotten progressively worse over the years. Think it's a symptom of everybody lowballing so most seller start at double an acceptable price so they can reach an agreement. In the past 3 months, none of buyers offers have been more than 60%.

That being said, Grailed still has a place - I have very specific filters and have been able to pick up a couple of pieces at a steal. I browse it for a few minutes a week as opposed to a few minutes a day a year or two ago.

TL;DR: Buyers lowball leading to sellers jacking up prices. Still appreciate Grailed and think it has a place in today's marketplace.

 

[bry2000]

Grailed has absorbed its fair share of criticism on SF over the years and especially recently. In light of that, SF should dedicate resources to become a meaningful B&S marketplace player.

I have only used SF B&S to sell things on-line directly and have generally enjoyed my interactions with buyers. But sales can be painfully slow. The biggest issue, in my mind, is lack of traffic. Most people here look elsewhere for secondary market purchases.

 

[Callusing]

Grailed is a lagging indicator. I'm pretty sure Kanye, A$AP Rocky, Demna & Alessandro Michele account for most of what we see today. (at least the origins of it, in 2010 - 2015) I don't even know if Virgil Abloh had an impact at expanding any of the trends, he just rode em. Grailed was just at the right place at the right time.

Grailed has gotten worse in direct proportion to the broadening of the audience and, as expected, the declining expertise of that same audience. On the rare occasion I deal with somebody (as a buyer, but especially as a seller) who has at least a few dozen transactions under their belt (and those transactions aren't a bunch of hypebeast ****), it feels a lot like old Grailed. In my eyes, it's just an influx of immature, entitled people acting predictably ******. These days, "iF th 1st msg lks like ^" I just give em a highball offer and hope they bugger off and that works pretty well.

I can't make this point without sounding like Eugene Rabkin, but it would be nice to simply have a marketplace where everybody just treats each other with a modicum of respect, where I expect others will have some semblance of the value of the stuff that's being bought and sold (and expect the same from me), and where clothing isn't used as a tool for low-grade arbitrage.

As for the prices, that's just a reflection of the fact that there's more buyers. I regularly see stuff I sold a couple years back get reposted - now with extra wear - and actually sell for 30-40% more than I previously sold it for. And I'm OK with that.

 

[noob in 89]

There’s nothing wrong with buying low and selling high; it’s pretty much the premise of eBay and how many people make their money. A lot of time goes into obtaining the items (either thrifting or obsessively hunting online) that a lot of people don’t account for. There’s also the time spent listing and the waiting and responding to inane questions. It’s too easy to say, Well, that made it to final sale three years ago... overlooking the actual retail or the rarity or the value to people searching for that one special thing.

An item is an item regardless of what someone may have paid for it. More often than not, if you want it for rock bottom, you’re going to have to sacrifice that same time yourself.

 

[bamgrinus]

What you see on grailed is people buying items on sale, and listing them for higher than that price, and claiming they bought it retail, waiting for some person who is unaware - to think he is getting a great deal.

Honestly I don't see why what a seller paid for something matters. It's worth what it's worth, and if the buyer wants something that's a few seasons old and not really available anymore, what does the fact that it hit 70% off on clearance at some point matter? Listing prices are almost always inflated but as noted most people are listing for higher than what they're expecting to get.

 

[dieworkwear]

Spoiler

 

[Lane]

Honestly I don't see why what a seller paid for something matters. It's worth what it's worth, and if the buyer wants something that's a few seasons old and not really available anymore, what does the fact that it hit 70% off on clearance at some point matter? Listing prices are almost always inflated but as noted most people are listing for higher than what they're expecting to get.

The item I was talking about was some shirts from recent collections. It was so blatant because he used the same pictures from farfetch. I have no problem with seeing undercover jeans from scab listed at $600, but to try and get more for a shirt you just bought on sale a week ago is annoying. Why are hypebeast sneaker resell tactics being employed for stuff I use to easily find for good prices from much better collections. Obviously its my own selfishness, but I even see have people who rudely tell me they won't measure a jacket at times. I just find the "customer service?" a little crappy, some of these guys are stores. I found it much better when superfuture was poppin and it was a great place to buy stuff used. Also, its kind of funny they dont budge on price, when they have 7 months on the listing at times too.

I can't make this point without sounding like Eugene Rabkin, but it would be nice to simply have a marketplace where everybody just treats each other with a modicum of respect, where I expect others will have some semblance of the value of the stuff that's being bought and sold (and expect the same from me), and where clothing isn't used as a tool for low-grade arbitrage.

lmao, well put. And wow has "goth-ninja" fallen quite a bit since I was really into it. I went into atelier recently and its in a new part of town and its run by chinese apparently, wtf happened. When you put it that way, I see why sellers are much more abrasive, but a modicum of respect should be there always.

 

[UrbanComposition]

View attachment 1210911

Spoiler

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Terrible, but can't say I didn't feel the same way when I saw that headline...

 

[dieworkwear]

Terrible, but can't say I didn't feel the same way when I saw that headline...

Me in November, when the clothes don't really suit my style, but they're basically free: