Comments on: Sample Sales from a Designer’s POV

By: cathryn

cathryn — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 18:54:34 +0000

Late to reply to this post- but I was struck by the uh….cranky tone…having been to a number of these sales as a customer I am almost always struck by the not very friendly reception- and the “why are you bothering me!!!!” attitude of the peoples manning the sale. Why should the customer care at all about your profit margins? Do you care about theirs? I’m guessing…..probly not.
Don’t get me wrong- I am not aflame, I truly understand the trouble, the sleepless nights, the endless grind of tasks, the shock at being treated like…well…you know…having been on the other side of the counter/machine and cutting table as well.
Sample sales- to me are an excellent snapshot of the disconnect referred to in myriad ways on this blog between the customers’ needs/desires and requirements and the same of the manufacturers’- the cat and mouse game-and the semi concealed contempt, the mismatched objectives of the parties involved and the end result. For example, if the customer feels she’s gotten a great deal- THE NERVE!- the manufacturer feels ripped off,”shoulda charged more!” and vis versa.
One other comment- once when I was a stitcher, the designer I worked for received a letter from an adoring customer- that included a picture of adoring customer garbed head to toe in our clothes. Our designer was completely freaked out because the customer looked too suburban and soccer mom-ish. No, she did not look pathetic- actually she was quite cute, and totally appropriate…the response of designer bummed me out- I saw the divide then for the first time. So sweetly naive was I.

By: Trish

Trish — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 05:47:21 +0000

Verbal Croquis, you are hilarious. I loved reading your post. Thanks for the reality laughs!!

By: Yahzi Rose

Yahzi Rose — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 03:35:43 +0000

After I got my first sample made, I thought who the hell has sample sales??!? this thing cost me too **#@ much! lol

Although I don’t have much yet, I’m trying to head down the ‘zero waste’ road also. When I was doing custom clothing I would never throw any cloth away (annoying my husband to no end). I would just bag it up by size and donate the scraps 3-4″ square or more to schools to use in arts & crafts and if it was unusable it would be used as stuffing. Once a friend that was opening up a martial arts gym came and got bags to fill up his punching bag.

By: Heather

Heather — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 18:09:16 +0000

We put all cutting scraps together for local preschools to use in collages, art projects, etc.

Unsaleable merchandise gets cut apart and we use whatever we can from or just stored.

I remember from when I used to work at a non profit in Marin County, that we would dispose unusable clothing at a fabric recycler in Richmond. I think they’ve closed, but if anyone knows any fabric recyclers in the Bay Area,I’d be interested.

We’re trying for zero fabric waste being put in landfills from our operations. Hopefully, planning, efficiency, donations and recycling will net that goal.

By: Lisa NYC

Lisa NYC — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 12:35:47 +0000

Years back, I used to work for a real estate mogul who owned many “showroom” buildings. We’d always get a phone call from the designer’s staff saying they’d be having a sample sale on Friday and to stop by.

They were never advertised to the public. Those where the sales to go to if you were a size 8 or 10. I was able to pick up several black basics and a cocktail dress or two. But once word spread, it was no longer worth going.

It turned from a quiet shopping consultation to mass hysteria once the word got out.

These days I wouldn’t even dream of attending a sample sale–too many people and did I mention I’m no longer a size 10? LOL.

By: carissa

carissa — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 04:30:04 +0000

Yeah, I remember someone posting on the forum. Her website address is http://www.jennysherman.com

I think this is what you mean by remanufaturer? She takes used material and crochets it(?? I think? Forgive me if I’m wrong.) to make purses. She wrote on the forum at: machines/equipment, buying your first machine.

I can see where you could use this idea for rugs, placemats, even woven loosely for curtains, table runners etc. and the value of the products could be increased depending upon the type of fabric used.

Maybe an option would be to sell clothing whose construction was botched, but was sewn using finer fabrics to an art to wear person who weaves with mixed media. We have a local artist who does that out here. There’s also some really interesting books on that topic. The artist would get a trash bag full of fine, funky, inspiring fabric, and the designer would get a bit of a return on their fabric costs. Hey, every little bit helps!

By: J C Sprowls

J C Sprowls — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 23:47:19 +0000

Zoe,

I haven’t ever shopped or sold at a sample sale. And, I’ve been on the fence about whether it can be a successful waste recovery model. I’m still not convinced it is.

I have old Tailor & Cutter magazines from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century. The ads in them are a real stitch to read! In any event, there are many ads of remanufacturing firms buying up cloth scraps (pennis on the pound) to make into sundry items, like: batting, pillow stuffing, mattress ticking, even wool crepe!

I think that the most efficient waste model involves several avenues of disposal. For example:
a percentage of samples can be donated to charity, which reduces the maker’s tax liability. But, there’s a ceiling to how much.
another *small* percentage might go to trunk show to introduce the line to other regions.
But, the largest percentage, however, should probably be ripped down to go to remanufacturers as it is ecologically (and, economically sound).

Has anyone in the community heard of remanufacturers on the North American continent? How should I go about tracking them down?