What's a $4000 Suit Worth? • Hacker News Board

Re: What's a $4000 Suit Worth?

#191

Post by phaus » Thu, Sep 06, 2012, 12:05 AM UTC

katabatic wrote: post #141

phaus wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And just to show how significant a 20% price increase would be: If he raised the price just $1k, that's $2k a month, or $24k a year. That would increase his take home income by almost 50%, as he claims his current income is around $50k.

You're forgetting to figure in withholding, self-employment tax, etc... that $24K/year increase would be to his gross income, not his take-home income. The article said he averages 2 suits a month, or $8K in gross revenue, so that extra $1K per suit would increase his gross by 25%, and his take-home by less. As a sole proprietor craftsman, there's no math that can get you a 50% increase in profit with a 25% increase…

I did misstate the percentages, as you noticed.

I don't think that whether or not he wants health insurance should matter when talking about his income. Won't his health insurance cost the same amount if he increases his pre-tax income by 25%(I'm a bit ignorant of health insurance costs, I still have TriCare through the Army). It seems to me that even if he paid about a third of the extra $24k in taxes, that he would still be adding $16k to his current take home income, which is still over 30% more than he was making.

Re: What's a $4000 Suit Worth?

#192

Post by cperciva » Thu, Sep 06, 2012, 12:48 AM UTC

fleitz wrote: post #58

dredmorbius wrote: post #40

Yet another submarine: http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html The suit is dead for any number of reason, dittos bespoke clothing. $4000 is several times what I spend on clothes in a year. It's several times what I spend on clothes in several years. There's a far less expensive option that's highly satisficing. Suits, once an inexpensive, practical, standardized alternative to more ornate and expensive clothing, are now…

In Vancouver it's hard enough to find french cuffs on shirts, or even a super 150. No one wears suits anymore and those who do just want cheap garbage, that's pretty much the point of the article. The bespoke suit is the new Mac Pro, cheap to those who value it and overpriced to those who have no use for it, hence virtually no bottom line. (Mac Pros aren't a $24B business, but to those who desire them there is no sub…

In Vancouver it's hard enough to find french cuffs on shirts

I've had no difficulty finding french cuffs here -- have you tried Moore's?

Re: What's a $4000 Suit Worth?

#193

Post by fleitz » Thu, Sep 06, 2012, 4:26 AM UTC

cperciva wrote: post #192

fleitz wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Vancouver it's hard enough to find french cuffs on shirts, or even a super 150. No one wears suits anymore and those who do just want cheap garbage, that's pretty much the point of the article. The bespoke suit is the new Mac Pro, cheap to those who value it and overpriced to those who have no use for it, hence virtually no bottom line. (Mac Pros aren't a $24B business, but to those who desire them there is no sub…

In Vancouver it's hard enough to find french cuffs on shirts I've had no difficulty finding french cuffs here -- have you tried Moore's?

Yeah, Moore's was the first spot, even the one on Granville didn't have them.

Eventually I found a couple at Metrotown, and a whole stash at the YWCA thrift on main, walked out with 5 for $25.

Re: What's a $4000 Suit Worth?

#194

Post by dredmorbius » Thu, Sep 06, 2012, 5:55 PM UTC

christensen_emc wrote: post #159

dredmorbius wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I'd kill for isn't a suit, but a decent set of casual clothing that actually fits (see my post elsewhere on this post). I rarely-to-never wear suits. While not completely fashion-averse, I'm pretty pragmatic when it comes to clothing: it should cover my nakedness, not be uncomfortable, be easy to care for, and look reasonably well. Jeans or khakis and button-downs work well for me, a washable wool could also wor…

Do you have a tailor? I buy cheaper department store clothing and have it tailored. It fits me like a glove. The quality isn't quite the same, but the price come out in my favor.

That's the alternative I've generally taken, and it's cost effective.

The problem I'm running into these days is that clothing cuts are so constrained that there's simply not enough fabric present (shirts especially) to construct a fit. For slacks, it's that or that the alterations are sufficiently extreme that the results aren't appealing.

Most jeans cannot be tailored to any significant degree (other than inseam length).

Re: What's a $4000 Suit Worth?

#195

Post by dredmorbius » Thu, Sep 06, 2012, 11:55 PM UTC

noonespecial wrote: post #137

dredmorbius wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some people, there's a risk on the outside as well. Pacemakers. Less so these days, but still. My understanding is that there's a possibility of creating induced current in the pacemaker. Which is to say, the non-ionizing radiation has an effect at a distance, albeit in a manufactured artifact, not (in this case) organic tissue.

It is not the 2.4Ghz radiation that causes the trouble with pacemakers. Its the plain old magnetic field generated by the inductive inrush from the giant coils that convert the power to feed to the magnetron tube in the microwave. Any large inductive load poses the same risk.

http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/ionize_nonionize.html

Effects of radiation chart showing induced current effect.

Re: What's a $4000 Suit Worth?

#196

Post by blasdel » Fri, Sep 07, 2012, 9:34 AM UTC

redbad wrote: post #150

dredmorbius wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is: can I find something equivalent for less cost. My experience has been, with sufficient searching (and yes, there's a time cost to that), yes, I can. The upsides: I can see, feel, and fit the garment before buying it. When committing to tailored items, particularly online, no such luck. Clothing's pretty personal, I've never much been a fan of the online or mail-order experience. Their only advantage…

The question is: can I find something equivalent for less cost. My experience has been, with sufficient searching (and yes, there's a time cost to that), yes, I can. As far as I'm aware, there is nothing equivalent to Outlier on the market today, much less anything at a lower price point. If you have information to the contrary, please do share.

I love Outlier, my first two pairs of their pants are almost clapped out with at least 5000 miles apeice in them, and I recently got another two pairs.

Surface Clothing is closest to being Outlier at a lower price point.

You're right that there's noone else in direct competition, but they do have siblings in converging verticals. You should definitely look at Rapha, nau, and Bonobos, each of which overlaps in a different way. You should also look for RRL shirts in boutique fashion stores, they've got some insanely great merino button-up shirts (they're never listed online).

Re: What's a $4000 Suit Worth?

#197

Post by robomartin » Fri, Sep 07, 2012, 1:55 PM UTC

huhtenberg wrote: post #177

robomartin wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the time proponents of price-elasticity make me laugh. And, I do say this with respect. I used to be one of these proponents. I inhaled business book after business book once done with engineering school. And, I played the game. And I got my ass handed to me. In the real world price elasticity works within a very narrow range that is industry and product specific and can --and usually is-- highly dependent on…

> Added features Try removing features ;) Incredibly in some cases this increases value, because it creates a product that is narrowly specialized and fulfills very specific need. People with that need would rather buy a product that does exactly what they need instead of something that also does it. Specialization and a higher price point serve as indicators of higher quality, and through that - a higher value.

Tried that too. Didn't work. I was Gucci. People wanted Walmart. At one point the entire thing becomes highly illogical. For example, people knowingly choosing to buy product that is known to be of low quality and unreliable. One of my resellers back then told me "if we sell ten of those, twelve come back broken". Still, people, for some reason, continued to buy that product. This is just one example of what woke me up to the reality that price elasticity only applies to specific, and sometimes only textbook, examples.

Re: What's a $4000 Suit Worth?

#198

Post by marcamillion » Fri, Sep 07, 2012, 7:21 PM UTC

I wonder what would happen if he created a marketplace for his services. So rather than taking orders, people would bid on his time.

I guess the downside to that is he is still fighting the 'time to delivery' problem - of people wanting it now.