I'm curious how much something of exactly that quality made in China in quantity ~50k/yr would cost. $10 per unit delivered in NYC?
Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag?
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Re: Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag?
#32So they've described how American Apparel makes their $45 polo shirts. But they haven't described how $30 of materials becomes worth $155.
$30 for the fabric, $30 for the store's overhead, $65 for the story that you can feel a part of every time it is on your skin.
Did you know my shirt was made in America and came in an Eco-friendly laundry bag? Oh don't worry darling, the Chinese peasant did a perfectly adequate job on stitching yours.
Re: Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag?
#33Solving the "direct from wholesaler" for American made goods is a monster opportunity. $65 is a lot more reasonable that $155 and I'd buy twice as many at that price ;) Etsy comes close but a startup that focused on a niche and curating quality could be a fun and profitable challenge.
I agree with you but there remains one difficult problem. How do you convince the brand to price their product lower and thus eliminate the possibility of selling in retail channels?
Re: Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag?
#34I used to work in a clothing store and the markups on clothing, especially more fashionable items, never ceases to amaze me. Unfortunately, this article didn't really get into most of it. They explained why the shirt cost $29 to make as opposed to $1-2 for a cheap shirt from China. What I find fascinating, is how we get from $29 to $155 at the store, or $2 to $30 for a cheaper shirt. The vast majority of the cost of…
But will this last? With the phenomenal cost of running a retail establishment, it's probably cheaper to run an online store -- even if you offer free, shipping-costs-paid returns for any item that doesn't fit! More and more people I know are finding themselves shopping online instead. There's a whole host of advantages: 1. The selection is way better, while the retail shop often has none of the styles you want, forc…
Some sites online offer actual, specific measurements for all their clothing instead of vague sizes like "6" or "10", whose meaning isn't even constant for a given manufacturer. I've never seen anything like this in a physical store.
But at a store you can simply look the item, and if it looks like it should fit try it on to see if it actually does fit. The actual size printed on the item isn't that important in those cases.
The other aspect is that stuff like stitching, button holes, collar construction, and general feel and quality of the material used is incredibly hard to judge online, while trivial to judge in person. Stuff like this simply doesn't matter when it comes to books and electronics.
Of course all these problems are solvable, but it is a much much harder problem than selling books online.
Re: Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag?
#35As an entrepreneur, I'm wondering how the MacLanes got an article written about them like this in the WSJ. It's a major, major PR boon for their clothing business. Are there any journalists or PR folk here who can comment? Or entrepreneurs who have had coverage like this for your own company(s)? How can other founders accomplish something similar?
I have had some "good coverage" in my niche from some big name magazines related to my products field (non-tech).
I did not use a PR company.
There isnt a secret. Just meet lots of people, ask them to suggest other people to meet and dont expect a story from everyone. I find that for every 10-15 journalists I have met, I have got coverage.
In my experience, after meeting a journalist they will often email to clarify points. Dont overload them with data here. Dont send them a pdf file. Give them well worded answers and maybe a few extra points that you wish to reinforce.
Luck also helps!
Re: Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
What if the person doing the washing/hanging is paid even less than the one at the factory?
If the maid's pay is 60% of the factory worker's pay, then you break even. I also ignored the time cost of shopping every 2 years to keep things simple. The only point I'm trying to make is that durability and preservation of material goods is often overrated, and replacing things every few years isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Yes, I forgot, I pay U$ 5/hour to the maid, and I'm paid U$ 10/hour (for now! :) )
And Uruguayans are used to earning very little compared to the U.S., plus brand clothes are MUCH more expensive here.
Re: Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
In particular they have these ERP systems that small brands cannot afford. Smaller brands end up outsourcing being plugged into their ERP systems as well which will also increase the cost of the article. This sounds interesting, can you shine some more light on it?
https://www.nordstromsupplier.com/NPG/EDIcompliance.html It's basically Electronic Data Interchange through which they make orders, track shipments etc. Here is how a typical one looks like: http://www.nordstromsupplier.com/Content/sc_manual/FLS%20810...
Thanks!
Re: Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag?
#38I have a few Polo (Ralph Lauren) shirts that i wear that I bought in the very late 90s. I'm not saying that the 300+% markup is valid, but I've worn a shirt in three different decades.
When shopping for a washing machine, I found some articles that claimed that the reason that Americans buy so many clothes and find that they don't last as much as the rest of the world, is because: 1) they use top-loading washing machines 2) they use dryers or even worse washing-drying combinated. While I don't doubt that Polo chooses good cloth, it's standard here in Uruguay for clothes to last that long. I've inhe…
Yeah, I'll believe this. I think it's a big culture thing too. I studied in Italy in college, and never used a dryer in my 4 months there, the washing machine was a little side loader, and if you tried to run that, the TV, and the microwave at the same time the breaker would flip... But here's the thing. EVERYBODY hung their clothes out to dry, dryers were just un-heard of. Here in the US, I've got my big washing machine, my big dryer, and I notice my clothes getting worn out before my eyes. I'd hang stuff to dry, but it's just a pain moving wet clothes from the laundromat to home. I'd like to get back to air-drying my clothes someday though, it was so much 'simpler' if you will, and nothing shrank.
Re: Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag?
#39It is for this reason (2.x markups) that I am working on an ecommerce startup idea. I like the idea of selling actual product, making actual revenue and knowing what your margins will be. While manufacturing your own clothing is much more involved and logistically complicated, its relatively easier to become an online retailer and buy clothing at wholesale from existing brands and sell that. That also helps me mitiga…
I used to be in the fashion business for a while. I owned and operated a number of brands, sold to major national/international retailers. However, from my knowledge the major issue with ecommerce is stock/inventory. Inventory is a huge problem since it is a cash hoard, and because of ecommerce/ brick-mortar retailers die . The basic problem: you have to buy before you sell, and what if you buy wrong? Most retailers/…
do you have a contact email ? mine is in my profile.
Re: Polo Puzzle: What Goes Into a $155 Price Tag?
#40It is for this reason (2.x markups) that I am working on an ecommerce startup idea. I like the idea of selling actual product, making actual revenue and knowing what your margins will be. While manufacturing your own clothing is much more involved and logistically complicated, its relatively easier to become an online retailer and buy clothing at wholesale from existing brands and sell that. That also helps me mitiga…
I used to be in the fashion business for a while. I owned and operated a number of brands, sold to major national/international retailers. However, from my knowledge the major issue with ecommerce is stock/inventory. Inventory is a huge problem since it is a cash hoard, and because of ecommerce/ brick-mortar retailers die . The basic problem: you have to buy before you sell, and what if you buy wrong? Most retailers/…
Hi, i'm part of a tiny startup working on a subset of this problem, and would love to pick your brain on a few of the challenges you mentioned. If you're willing to help out with some advice, what's the best way to contact you?