What's Behind the Exodus from Rent the Runway? • Hacker News Board

Re: What's Behind the Exodus from Rent the Runway?

#51

Post by harryh » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 9:55 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #50

harryh wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The depreciation issue is offset by the fact that you could get more usage out of a single outfit before it goes out of fashion if it was shared. People aren't wearing the same thing every day. Clothes sit unused in closets for weeks at a time while they are still in fashion.

> The depreciation issue is offset by the fact that you could get more usage out of a single outfit before it goes out of fashion if it was shared. Remote sharing of clothes imposes latent constraints; being available "on demand" is a key part of the value. And the things for which not having the clothes immediately on-hand is most acceptable are the things for which personal tailoring/alterations are most likely to…

Indeed, all of that is true. Not saying any of this is easy, but when I see giant closets stuffed with clothes that are rarely worn I continue to see opportunity. Feels like someone will crack it eventually.

Re: What's Behind the Exodus from Rent the Runway?

#52

Post by notahacker » Thu, Nov 19, 2015, 11:03 PM UTC

harryh wrote: post #24

notahacker wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also sure people actually feel inclined to rent movies more often than they need to rent clothes. People buy the clothing they need to wear every day.

People also tend to throw out a lot clothing because they're bored with it, not because it gets worn out. There does appear to be a pretty big opportunity there.

Sure, it's not a nonexistent market, but the number of people willing to spend $1200/year to be allowed to borrow three items of second hand clothing at a time from a catalogue is likely considerably smaller than the number of people wanting to regularly watch movies and TV series. Their current model seems to need a target audience that's both willing and able to pay a premium for designer clothes and focused mainly on value for money. That might not be the smallest niche in the world, but it's probably not Netflix-sized either.

I'd have thought second hand trading would be easier to get right than juggling all the variables of a rental model too...

Re: What's Behind the Exodus from Rent the Runway?

#53

Post by greatjones » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 12:17 AM UTC

harryh wrote: post #47

ismail wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* Note: not a women, Do not fashion trends. This is purely based on my observations of the women around me (wife, sisters etc etc), and some cursory reading on Zara etc.* 1. Things come and go into fashion, you have trends and 'mini-seasons' or something like that. 2. This is still driven by the major fashion labels 3. A critical thing has changed though: quite a number of companies have optimized their supply chain.…

It's interesting that you admit that this is a topic on which you are largely ignorant and yet you speak with such confidence about your beliefs.

It's interesting that you are unable/unwilling to address the points the author made and instead chose to just attack the author.

Re: What's Behind the Exodus from Rent the Runway?

#54

Post by danieltillett » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 1:04 AM UTC

magic_beans wrote: post #43

danieltillett wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also fail to see how this service could possibly work. Based on my observation it is not like women walk into a store and know exactly what will look good on them just by looking at some dress hanging on the rack. The more fancy the dress the more fussy the whole process. I have often wondered if a book-of-the-month type model would work with dresses. Lots of women have no real interest in following fashion, but th…

This exists already: https://www.trunkclub.com/

Very interesting (glad my wife and I are in Australia). This seems to be more aimed at the selling side rather than the dress rental side. A model more focused on just renting and not keeping each dress might appeal to a different market.

Re: What's Behind the Exodus from Rent the Runway?

#55

Post by danieltillett » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 1:28 AM UTC

erroneousfunk wrote: post #49

danieltillett wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also fail to see how this service could possibly work. Based on my observation it is not like women walk into a store and know exactly what will look good on them just by looking at some dress hanging on the rack. The more fancy the dress the more fussy the whole process. I have often wondered if a book-of-the-month type model would work with dresses. Lots of women have no real interest in following fashion, but th…

I've used it a few times and loved it (I know, this sounds like an ad. I promise I have no personal involvement or investment in the company). They have a system where you can rent an extra size of the dress for no charge, so if you're unsure, or between sizes, you can almost always get the one that will fit you best. You can also get an extra style of dress for an extra $25, along with an extra size in that one too.…

I am wondering how cost effective all this shipping is especially if people are using it as as a de facto rental service.

Re: What's Behind the Exodus from Rent the Runway?

#56

Post by joezydeco » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 2:23 AM UTC

FussyZeus wrote: post #3

"Rent the Runway has been valued at $500 million. It asked Fortune not to publish this story because it could hurt the company’s ability to raise money." It's not the media's job to help you raise money, it's their job to report the facts. And frankly if your executive churn is that freaking high and so many prior employees have issues like they seem to, you probably shouldn't be raising money. Also, this might just…

What's worse is that RTR was earning a solid amount of revenue. My wife is a very happy customer of theirs.

But when it's all about growth, not just plain boring 5% growth but hockey stick growth, then everyone comes out the loser.

Re: What's Behind the Exodus from Rent the Runway?

#57

Post by ismail » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 9:09 AM UTC

harryh wrote: post #47

ismail wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* Note: not a women, Do not fashion trends. This is purely based on my observations of the women around me (wife, sisters etc etc), and some cursory reading on Zara etc.* 1. Things come and go into fashion, you have trends and 'mini-seasons' or something like that. 2. This is still driven by the major fashion labels 3. A critical thing has changed though: quite a number of companies have optimized their supply chain.…

It's interesting that you admit that this is a topic on which you are largely ignorant and yet you speak with such confidence about your beliefs.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_fashion

"Fast fashion has also become associated with disposable fashion because it has delivered designer product to a mass market at relatively low prices"

Re: What's Behind the Exodus from Rent the Runway?

#58

Post by forgingahead » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 3:25 PM UTC

FussyZeus wrote: post #7

forgingahead wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not the media's job to help you raise money, it's their job to report the facts. Have you notified TechCrunch and the rest of the so-called tech "media"?

Fair, but I said it's their job, I didn't say they all (or even most) did it well.

This does relate to the second part of your comment above though -- "tech media" is simply sponsored content benefitting the investor groups, and nothing else. Hacker News is similarly inclined (to a lesser extent though) for YC.

But yes, I agree with you that it's better to focus on actual cash generation in a business. It's not a relic of the "old days" though, plenty of us do that, we just choose not to participate in the microcosm of "startups", "investors", and the rest of that shtick.

Re: What's Behind the Exodus from Rent the Runway?

#59

Post by erroneousfunk » Mon, Nov 23, 2015, 3:14 PM UTC

danieltillett wrote: post #55

erroneousfunk wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used it a few times and loved it (I know, this sounds like an ad. I promise I have no personal involvement or investment in the company). They have a system where you can rent an extra size of the dress for no charge, so if you're unsure, or between sizes, you can almost always get the one that will fit you best. You can also get an extra style of dress for an extra $25, along with an extra size in that one too.…

I am wondering how cost effective all this shipping is especially if people are using it as as a de facto rental service.

They ship all four of the dresses in a single priority delivery bag. They actually pack fairly tightly -- most of them are sheath and cocktail dresses, not "big ball gowns" (It's the style now, and I imagine they probably consider it for shipping cost reasons as well). The dresses get sent out three days before your rental starts, you have them for a few days, you send them back on the last day in the pre-stamped priority bag they provide. Shipping, altogether, is probably around $20, and the dresses are out of commission for likely 8 days in total, including dry-cleaning.

So a rental for a $1200 dress might be $120, and if they're renting it out half the time (dresses are often unavailable in certain sizes/days because they keep things fairly densely rented), you can see how they'd make their money back pretty quickly.