Those of you who received the Shyam email today.....

[edmorel]

Looks like we are in need of an exterminator. It was bound to happen as a thread or two about the upcoming project leaked out.

 

[whoopee]

A real shame. But part of me didn't expect it to last in light of our recent paradise lost experience.

 

[aportnoy]

Sad news indeed Ed. But what disturbs me most is that EG has had Shyam's deposit for months and only now pushes back. Clearly some external pressure was exerted.

At the end of the day, Plal's pricing wasn't that much better than you can do elsewhere and EGs do go on sale 2x year like clockwork in London. Not to mention what you can via Saks, Asprey and RLPL on sale.

 

[Stu]

I think we should all chip in and fly Shirley or whatever her name was to Malaysia to check out PLAL first hand. She sort of left that open, that they wanted to see the shop first hand.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by aportnoy

Sad news indeed Ed. But what disturbs me most is that EG has had Shyam's deposit for months and only now pushes back. Clearly some external pressure was exerted.

At the end of the day, Plal's pricing wasn't that much better than you can do elsewhere and EGs do go on sale 2x year like clockwork in London. Not to mention what you can via Saks, Asprey and RLPL on sale.

Yes, but Shyam is a good egg and I like doing business with him rather than a SAKS or Asprey. I also think their is a bigger issue here at work, has the forum gotten to popular and widespread for it's own good? It's a rhetorical question and I do believe that forums such as this are better served the larger the membership is.

 

[aportnoy]

Originally Posted by edmorel

Yes, but Shyam is a good egg and I like doing business with him rather than a SAKS or Asprey. I also think their is a bigger issue here at work, has the forum gotten to popular and widespread for it's own good? It's a rhetorical question and I do believe that forums such as this are better served the larger the membership is.

I agree compleetly with your sentiments Ed. Shyam's service is exceptional and he's about the friendliest guy around. The whole thing stinks but I don't know if I can handle another freedom of trade thread.

As for the Forum's growth, I think it's quite clear that retailers have discovered us and are using information that we post for their own benefit/protection. I don't see any chance of stopping that, though.

 

[whoopee]

Tangentially, there has been talk about Google being too big for it's own good too.

I hope the actual emails don't cause any more trouble.

 

[DocHolliday]

I almost hate to suggest it, but perhaps it's time for the forum to exempt itself from Google searches? Another forum I frequent does that, and it has far less reason than we do here. Maybe we could devise some way to let searchers know of SF without giving away too much info?

 

[Tibo]

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

I almost hate to suggest it, but perhaps it's time for the forum to exempt itself from Google searches? Another forum I frequent does that, and it has far less reason than we do here. Maybe we could devise some way to let searchers know of SF without giving away too much info?

This seems appropriate to me; letting SF appear in Google search pages, but not the contents. Although I'm far from being a Google expert, I'm sure we can achieve good ranking for SF with a decent list of keywords, without disclosing its specific content to "foreigners"

 

[LA Guy]

Originally Posted by aportnoy

As for the Forum's growth, I think it's quite clear that retailers have discovered us and are using information that we post for their own benefit/protection. I don't see any chance of stopping that, though.

I understand that you guys may be frustrated. On the other hand, I don't grudge manufacturers distributors and retailers wanting to protect their own interests. The luxury retail world is tough, and profit margins are not particularly wide.

We are not interested in decreasing the prominence of Styleforum on the net, either. The more people who know about this place, the more dynamic it becomes. We benefit from fresh faces.

Please let this drop. We've had enough bad blood on the forum recently.
That's all.

Fok.

 

[aportnoy]

Originally Posted by LA Guy

I understand that you guys may be frustrated. On the other hand, I don't grudge manufacturers distributors and retailers wanting to protect their own interests. The luxury retail world is tough, and profit margins are not particularly wide.

Please let this drop. We've had enough bad blood on the forum recently.
That's all.

Fok.


Please let's not endure another economics lesson on why certain markets/sellers should be protected and others should not. We are well aware aware of your opinions on the matter.

As for this situation, fact is, EG accepted this order from Shyam and took and held his money for several months. He didn't operate some rogue sales operation, he placed an order directly through the manufacturer of the product and that order is now not being honoroed (for whatever reason).

Shyam is left holding the bag and I think that's bad form on EG's part.

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by LA Guy

We are not interested in decreasing the prominence of Styleforum on the net, either. The more people who know about this place, the more dynamic it becomes. We benefit from fresh faces.

Please let this drop. We've had enough bad blood on the forum recently.
That's all.

Fok.

I agree that the more the better and they have as much right as anyone to browse the forum and also to protect their interest.

I disagree that whenever this type of issue arises that we should "please let this drop". Vigorous discourse on matters that effect us (yes, I know it's only shoes which at the end of the day are meaningless in the scheme of things) are another positive attribute that only help this or any forum and make it stronger (assuming it's kept civil and personal attacks are not leveled). Aportnoy is right. EG took the order from a retailer and has now, a few months later, decided not to honor it. The retailer is left to apologize to his customers. EG's excuse is lame.

 

[RJman]

Originally Posted by aportnoy

Shyam is left holding the bag and I think that's bad form on EG's part.
I hear sysdoc's legal team has some time on their hands...

 

[itsstillmatt]

Originally Posted by LA Guy

I understand that you guys may be frustrated. On the other hand, I don't grudge manufacturers distributors and retailers wanting to protect their own interests. The luxury retail world is tough, and profit margins are not particularly wide.

We are not interested in decreasing the prominence of Styleforum on the net, either. The more people who know about this place, the more dynamic it becomes. We benefit from fresh faces.

Please let this drop. We've had enough bad blood on the forum recently.
That's all.

Fok.

Neither you nor these manufacturers, retailers etc seem to have a very good understanding of the economics of retail.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by LA Guy

The luxury retail world is tough, and profit margins are not particularly wide.

Edward Green is not a luxury retailer, it is a luxury goods manufacturer. Here is some public information on luxury goods margins (Richemont historical gross margin):

62% trough gross margin is not exactly thin. 11-12% operating margin after sales and general expenses is actually pretty good.

(I chose Richemont to illustrate the point because (a) there are few luxury public companies, and (b) they do a particularly good job at disclosing information to the investor community)