random fashion thoughts

[TriggerDiscipline]

cold blooded killer

[Indes]

byhand gets it. I have a hard time sympathizing with people who try to call you out in the comment section of a Grailed listing. Flipping clothing is not wrong in any way shape or form. It is simple business practice. Buy low, sell high. For some reason this basic principal of capitalism is lost on many users of Grailed. I understand that many of us who are passionate about clothing can get worked up over someone trying to sell a piece for more than what they bought it for. At the end of the day clothing is a commodity. (Not to understate fashion as a whole, obviously it is an artform as well...)

[newp]

It's not this particular seller's job to educate potential buyers where the best deal can be found. That's the buyer's job. I don't have any issue with what he is doing. He's taking the risk of buying something that he thinks he can sell for more than he's paying. That's how commerce works.

I've purchased items that I believed to be underpriced with the sole intention of selling those same items for more than I paid. I've done this more than a few times on grailed. Grailed is peopled by a lot of young folks who can't really afford items that they covet. Credit cards allow people to live the dream for five minutes until the bills start arriving. Eventually the realization sets in that the $2000 boots must go to pay the past due rent. Needing quick cash can mean the price is set low to make a fast sale. I have time to wait for a buyer who is willing to pay more. I buy and relist. How much profit I make from the transaction is not the buyer's business. I've had people on grailed raise a stink about what I am doing. They are usually people who were watching the item and waiting for it to be reduced in price. They see me swoop in and pay the full ask price and they then throw a fit when I repost the same item the following week for $200 more than the price they originally saw it at. I usually offer a quick lesson about capitalism when replying to their cries of foul and wish them well.

Totally wrong.
Some Yoox stock left clearly indicate the seller never bought anything in the first place. He wait till he is paid, then buys the item at Yoox, gets it and sends it to the buyer. If the item is sold out at the same time he is paid himself, well, "sorry another guy bought it from me at another site and I forgot to take down my listing, here is your refund".

[BSR]

Totally wrong.
Some Yoox stock left clearly indicate the seller never bought anything in the first place. He wait till he is paid, then buys the item at Yoox, gets it and sends it to the buyer.

isn't it the definition of shorting?

well, using grailed as a market place and clothes as auctions seems a bit weird to me but to each his own...

[delicious_not]

I have all of one drkshdw piece with the beige drawstrings but I find them quite distinctive.
All of the designers copying this detail is testament to this.

i like how these super long strings swing while walking and i like the soft contrast of black and beige, but when i wear them out i feel like i'm trying to add some "fun" to the look. idk, it's just me.

[vtlynch]

byhand gets it. I have a hard time sympathizing with people who try to call you out in the comment section of a Grailed listing. Flipping clothing is not wrong in any way shape or form. It is simple business practice. Buy low, sell high. For some reason this basic principal of capitalism is lost on many users of Grailed.

Sounds like you and byhand are upset when buyers try to exercise their rights.

I have flipped clothes myself. I think its permissible when someone is using their knowledge to buy something they think is undervalued. However, when they are trying to take advantage of asymmetric knowledge in the market, I take offense.

Perhaps I should have been more clear in my example. The user in question had a nearly full size run of a particular item listed on Grailed. Nearly all those items were still available on Yoox, where he had bought them, for less than half the price. This is what upset me about the particular situation (I knew he bought them from Yoox because their hangtags were visible.)

He was trying to profit off the fact that some people might not know to check Yoox. He is not entitled to do so, and I am not restricted from educating others about this. Its no different than posting a link to an item at a retailer and someone follows up and shares a link for the same item on sale elsewhere.

I agree with Newp's post, though I do think its possible that the user really had bought the items and just intended to return them if he could not flip them.

[byhand]

I don't mind when people use the comment tool on grailed. I try to respond to the comments. Sellers and buyers on grailed are familiar with this particular marketplace, and I assume everyone involved has an idea of retail value of an item before selling/buying. When I see a much-wanted item in good condition being offered for a price considerably below the typical resale value, my business mind sees opportunity. These items tend to sell quickly.

The last thing I bought to resale on grailed had been listed for 9 minutes and already had 20 people watching it. It wasn't my size, but I knew that the seller was undervaluing it to make a quick sale because the item was rare and in superb condition. I knew it could sell for more money than the list price, and I also knew that the item would be sold at the listed price within the hour, so I immediately bought it. When I relisted it the following week for a lot more than the price I paid for it, two people who had been watching the original auction raised a fuss in the comments, and I suspect that these comments prevented me from selling it faster than I would have otherwise, but the item still sold within two weeks of my listing at my higher price.

This isn't asymmetric information. It's not as if I'm selling land to a person who plans to build a house on it when I know that the land will not accommodate a house because of erosion or whatnot. If I sell that land knowing that the buyer wants to build a house but will never be able to get a permit to build, that is asymmetric information.

Your yoox example is also not asymmetric information. It's of course your right to alert potential buyers that they can buy whatever is being sold at a better price elsewhere, but it's also the sellers right to buy an item in one marketplace and sell it in another. That's not immoral. It's business.

I think it's a good idea for everyone to make a practice of learning how to assess value in whatever market or markets interest you and always be on the lookout for opportunity.

[byhand]

Totally wrong.
Some Yoox stock left clearly indicate the seller never bought anything in the first place. He wait till he is paid, then buys the item at Yoox, gets it and sends it to the buyer. If the item is sold out at the same time he is paid himself, well, "sorry another guy bought it from me at another site and I forgot to take down my listing, here is your refund".

This practice is very common in business. It's called drop shipping. Usually it occurs when a seller (in your example this would be the guy on grailed) has a business relationship with the supplier (in your example yoox). The seller sells an item and collects the money and then forwards the order to the supplier who fulfills the order.

[vtlynch]

This practice is very common in business. It's called drop shipping. Usually it occurs when a seller (in your example this would be the guy on grailed) has a business relationship with the supplier (in your example yoox). The seller sells an item and collects the money and then forwards the order to the supplier who fulfills the order.

Please elaborate on the "business relationship" that some random stooge has with Yoox.

[byhand]

It's important to understand how this world works. That understanding can prevent you from being a serf for life. Maybe a basic economics class is a good place to start.

[lowrey]

Not really taking sides here, but saying the above scenario is "basic economics" or flipping from yoox a "business relationship" isn't exactly accurate.

[mikko]

Sounds to me that vlynch is in the crowd of grailed lowballers that throw shade after they've been shorted.

[Faust]

Soon bynand will be preaching the gospel of capitalism like in the good old days. Making money as a moral end in itself.

[cloakroom]

If Byhand would not judge how the world goes by his bank account, but make his opinion from news and he would know capitalism and globalization failed, a long time ago, but it's hitting hard right now. The main reasons being greed, injustice and selfishness. Congrats Byhand.

[bukka]

Soon bynand will be preaching the gospel of capitalism like in the good old days. Making money as a moral end in itself.

CA$H IS KING