by tomkinstinch on 12/17/18, 11:48 AM with 88 comments
by LeoPanthera on 12/17/18, 6:24 PM
by redial on 12/17/18, 11:07 PM
The only thing I can think of is the fact that in this case you can easily track the supplier and find out the "original price" of the item in a way that is very hard to do for let's say a pair of Nike shoes, but that's about it. Walmart is also full of these watches and you can believe they don't sell them for $5.
Or do you really think it costs Dell exactly $679,95 to build a laptop on one of their entirely owned factories where they manufacture and store every single component that goes into it? And, if you call them now they even give you a $200 discount because wouldn't you know it they just happened to have a "promotion" just for you?
There is no such thing as a free anything, yet when Apple offers FREE BEATS WITH EVERY MAC PURCHASE no magazine would dare to call them out on the obvious fact that both of these items are so "overpriced" that they can even afford to give one away "for free" and still come out ahead. They instead run "articles" praising what a great value the offer is and also you should act now before the sale is over.
This "article" could be written about any company, literally any company.
by teachrdan on 12/17/18, 7:00 PM
by benj111 on 12/17/18, 7:59 PM
Customer> I can buy this watch for $2 elsewhere.
Retailer> Then why are you here?
On some level, yes they're selling overpriced rubbish, but then everyone else is, especially in fashion. Their sin seems to be making it explicit.
How long before people are buying these watches to make post modern 'statements'?
by chaostheory on 12/18/18, 12:19 AM
This is a really old strategy for getting credibility. Some scholars believe that Sun Tzu's Art of War is really much younger than what is claimed in the book. They believe that Sun Tzu focused on the book's supposed age and history, in order to give it more credibility.
by rmason on 12/17/18, 9:44 PM
In my grandfathers day it was a free lunch. Today a free watch and tomorrow a free light saber perhaps?
by 1zee on 12/17/18, 6:43 PM
by owenversteeg on 12/17/18, 8:59 PM
[original w/comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15158422]
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So a few years back I started a watch company in a similar way.
I think I was actually one of the first to do it, since when I started I couldn't find many competitors. I tried a million kinds of promotions, from "free, you just pay for shipping" to offering people discounts and referral codes.
I actually created my own watch designs (well, modifications of the face, case, and strap with the same Chinese movement.) Some of my improvements started to be used by the manufacturers.
I'm not at all invested in it anymore: I left the business after selling a substantial, but not massive number of watches and finding that it wasn't terribly profitable if you included the cost of advertising, shipping, and (most importantly) my own time.
My own "watch company" was more real in a few ways: watches that I did in fact design myself, shipped from my address in the US, and the quality of the watches was actually quite good. To this day I wear a watch from my company and it has held up to an incredible amount of abuse. I say this as someone who (used to) collect watches. I also was upfront about the cost of shipping and the watch itself - I might have, for example, a banner that says "Free 3-Day US Shipping" and then the price of the watch would be clearly labeled as $20, so people would know that they would only be paying a total of $20 for the watch. The prices varied a lot over time, from $10 to $40 per watch, but surprisingly my profit was never huge even though I only spent about $3 on the watch itself and $7 on shipping.
If anyone's curious about the whole thing (and lives in the Netherlands) I still have hundreds of these watches and I'd be happy to sit down over a coffee, tell my stories from the business and show the watches. (My email's in my profile.)
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A few comments I'd like to add now, in 2018:
1) the watches (mine & that of other "companies") are of a surprisingly high quality in many cases. Not always, but often. For example, my watch has survived everything from bilge fluids to boiling water and it's the same cheap one I sold. Definitely far more durable than a comparable mechanical watch. I can see myself still using this thing 10+ years down the line. Furthermore, it actually does look classy and I get compliments on it. Most of the time, if you buy a cheap $3 Chinese alternative to something that's normally 10-1000x the price, it is neither beautiful nor durable.
2) The unexpectedly high quality of the watches is what fueled the explosion of sites IMO. You don't see "free earbuds", "free clock", or "free keyboard" sites, despite the fact that all 3 of these things are available for under $5 shipped from China. What I think happened is that people bought a watch on a whim, then it arrived and they realized "wow, this feels like a premium product!" Which it did! I was blown away when I first saw the quality level and instantly thought I should start a business. I suspect hundreds of other people had this same "eureka!" moment. When you get a $5 Aliexpress keyboard, it feels and looks like it cost $5 to make, and it excites nobody. Furthermore, Amazon makes a $13 keyboard with great reviews, and being Amazon it ships with Prime instead of "30-to-infinity day slow-boat-from-China shipping." Meanwhile, these watches felt like they cost at least $20 to make, and the only competitors for classy analog watches would be $50-100 or so, but they cost $3 (drop)shipped!
3) I highly doubt anyone made much money. When I started, dropshipping was not a thing the manufacturers offered (probably the reason why I was one of the first.) When manufacturers started offering dropshipping, these "businesses" exploded because you could suddenly run them entirely behind a laptop. The problem, of course, was that the number of such "companies" exploded, all competing for the same customers, Facebook ads, Google results, "underground marketing" spots, etc etc. That led to people getting a bit suspicious. If you saw one ad for a cool watch, maybe you were interested, but if you saw 20 in a week, all suspiciously similar, you'd think something's up.
by mti27 on 12/17/18, 7:44 PM
I bought a "Tagheuer" watch on the streets of NYC for five dollars. At a glance, it looked OK but by the end of a day's wear it had completely self destructed.
by rezmason on 12/17/18, 8:16 PM
by jboles on 12/18/18, 8:28 AM
by neogodless on 12/17/18, 6:24 PM
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15154934
by pvarangot on 12/17/18, 7:17 PM
Not defending what this fake stuff brands are doing, and they not only exist for watches but also for jewelry, leather bracelets, etc, etc... but just saying it's also comparable to what cheap shopping mall brands sometimes do with accessories and watches but adding renting and expensive place in the middle and marking up everything way more.
by nithi2023 on 12/18/18, 9:10 AM
by tomatotomato37 on 12/17/18, 9:01 PM
Feels and is a scam. Worst ever. I live in SF where it "claims to be" Why the hell is my shipment coming from Shanghai?
Going to miss my girlfriends gift date. WASTE of MONEY!
by dang on 12/17/18, 6:23 PM
by csours on 12/17/18, 6:30 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_ain%27t_no_such_thing_as...
Also, people will pay more for a good story.
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> "25. Maybe this explains what’s so galling to people about the Folsom & Co. not-really-scam: It simply lays bare the categorical deception at the heart of all branding and retail. The different watch values are, in the strictest sense, speech acts: the watch is $29.99 because someone said it’s $29.99. It’s $29.99 because a certain person is wearing it on Instagram; it’s $29.99 because it’s photographed next to flannel and a Chemex. While “Bradley” of “Bradley’s men’s shop” may not be the most fleshed-out character, he – and the entire existence of Folsom & Co., Soficoastal, etc. – are examples of the now-household term, “brand storytelling.” And the internet makes it possible for anyone to tell any story, about anything, from anywhere."
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> " thateffingasian: Capitalism is making your own product and selling it. Capitalism isn't buying a piece of shit and telling people they're worth 25x the price, and lying to them about the actual value of the product. Your idea of capitalism is fucked up @soficoastal. Then the idiots blocked me, LOL. "
If Capitalism isn't buying shit and lying about it to sell it for higher, I don't know what Capitalism is. This is only a difference in degree, not kind.
by CapacitorSet on 12/17/18, 10:24 PM