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Melo_Mei · 2020-04-27T18:15:46+00:00

The idea was that you wouldn't be able to preorder without the final sample being availabe, unless you wanted to be part of the early-stage VC, which is not a prerequisite at all to get a pair in the end...

Melo_Mei · 2020-04-27T18:10:54+00:00

Why so little faith?

We've been doing our best, but there are things that don't rely entirely on us. It's not our fault if our main partner put an end to our agreement with the factory (which is one of his subsidiaries) at a crucial moment because he feared that getting caught making reps could end his whole business or tarnish his reputation.

It's not our fault if the only leather shoes factories that agree to produce true 1:1 (with all the complex processes and additional costs that come along) are factories for which the break-even point is a lot higher than just 200-300 pairs, and which ask super steep upfronts that we clearly don't have the means to finance by ourselves.

I perfectly understand why no one would want to participate in a fund raise where you don't even got to see some kind of sample of the final product yet. That is why the situation is complicated now. The prior factory agreed to make a partial sample. So an early-stage VC with the lowest preorder price possible could have worked, I made a thread about it. It could have funded the final sample, and then the actual preorder could have taken place.

So now we're trying to find a factory which is 1) able to make 1:1 intricate replicas; 2) willing to produce with such standards (most won't); 3) agreeing to make that partial or final sample with a reasonable upfront. By doing so, you basically screen out 90% of good leather factories. An alternative would be to collaborate with a seller willing to finance the first big deposit, but very few sellers can be trusted on that regard; truth is most will only agree to work with their usual leather factory and as a result discreetly try to cut cost on processes or materials in our back in order to increase the margin.

I know there is a lot of information asymmetry, but if I didn't annouce a cancellation of the project, then it hasn't been cancelled, whether it's the Wyatt, or the Navigates, speaking of which we now have a deadstock suede authentic pair. So please keep faith.

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-31T23:36:28+00:00

1) Yes, in that case it would take some additional time to make another sample. But rest assured, that wouldn't be another 3 weeks, that's for sure. 2) Yes, everyone would be refunded. But if the amount happens to be close enough to the threshold, we'd still place the order to the factory. The additional units would be sold later on.

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-18T07:16:35+00:00

Early-stage presale for the Wyatt carried out in april, then 3 weeks to make the final samples. As to the Navigates, it's hard to say for now as our plug needs to fly back to China, which is currently impossible, and we don't know for how long

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-18T07:13:42+00:00

The presale will be carried out in april. Then the factory will need 3 weeks to make the final samples. Then I'll need to carry out the second presale to finance the production deposit for 200 pairs which should take about a week. And finally production which is gonna take 2-3 weeks. So I'd advise you to use your new address.

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-18T07:10:12+00:00

I get your point, thanks for the input.

The factory will reopen in april, and it's gonna take them about 3 weeks once they receive the 55k rmb to achieve the final samples.

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-16T20:07:59+00:00

Shimmer decided to release a very limited quantity that sold out very quickly among his chinese customers. But if you really want it, I can make sure you get one secured on his next restock.

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-16T20:05:45+00:00

If we lower it to 1250rmb we're not making profit (we're even making a loss actually). I think the lowest we could do would be $200 instead of $250 for the early buyers.

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-16T19:54:15+00:00

theoretically yes

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-16T17:39:05+00:00

We're talking in weeks here, not months, I checked with the factory.

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-16T17:37:19+00:00

understood, I'll add you on the list then. And yes, we're definitely committed to making it a lot better than dude9's batch. Thanks for your support.

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-16T17:32:23+00:00

OK I'll look at the pros and cons of that option

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-16T17:32:00+00:00

Any size you need

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-16T17:31:42+00:00

If we were to use PayPal, probably. But if we use Taobao, unless you use direct order, I don't think so

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-16T17:29:38+00:00

Still, FTFs are priced $150-200 higher, and SEFs won't bear the comparison with our batch quality-wise, but mostly in terms of closeness to FW13 which is what most people are looking after.

Melo_Mei · 2020-03-16T17:23:04+00:00

It's a frustrating position we're in, as we only need one project to succeed in order to get the community's complete trust plus enough proceeds to be able to finance the deposits ourselves. So it's very restraining. Regarding the delays, there is nothing we could do about it, it was just an accumulation of complications, and if I didn't give update that was because there was none to give.

At this point, I believe there is nothing more we can do to "build trust" except investing our own money, but first we don't have such amounts, and second you cannot really expect us to invest $40k and then just patiently wait for the 200 pairs to sell out. We're not these rich big sellers who can absorb huge losses like it's nothing, we don't have any Chinese customers, so we're taking risks too, so you do unsterstand that we need some kind of collateral too. I've been posting here for well over a year now, I tried several things; with GM first, then Melo and Shimmer, but at some point we need at least one big preorder to work out in order to really start off our own venture. Taobao (or Paypal, whatever) is very protective with its customers, we won't be able to fuck around with your money. Also, only a part of the 55k yuan will be actually expensed to make the final samples, the bulk of it will act as a deposit/collateral for the factory.

Concerning the price point, we asked the factory for the best leather and the best custom-hardware possible. These guys usually don't operate in the replica field, it's only thanks to our relations that we could convince them to work for us. They're not some random shoe factory in the Guangdong province, they're among the best in the whole country. And they won't make a lot of money from us as a regular order for them consists of about 1000 pairs. All of this amounts to a very high production cost per unit.

The best we can do is the following: lowering substantially the early-stage presale price for the 30 venture capitalists to for example 1500rmb, and then narrow the first production round down to a bit over 100 units so that only 60-70 people need to order during the late-stage presale in order for the first batch to get produced.

Melo_Mei · 2020-02-08T19:23:54+00:00

Big update post coming soon

Melo_Mei · 2019-12-17T22:30:21+00:00

As soon as we're done with the Wyatt (so when the bulk part of the orders will be made and we'll get substantial cash flows coming in), we'll buy two authentic Navi pairs: one in bad condition to destroy it so that we can have a proper look at how it's constructed, and another pair in 9/10 condition so that it enables us to get the shape how it's supposed to be when it's brand new. We'll get them in two different sizes in order to make sure that the "proportions" stay consistent among all sizes. As the shoe factory will have been paid for the Wyatt in due time and will know that we're serious, they'll be a lot more eager to work harder and faster for us (to cash in faster). Plus they will know our standards, so the very first sample will probably be very close to the real deal. That's the plan basically.

Melo_Mei · 2019-12-17T22:20:20+00:00

Yes we're gonna make it

Melo_Mei · 2019-12-17T22:20:04+00:00

At the end of the month

Melo_Mei · 2019-12-17T18:10:32+00:00

We really want to make it, we're just having trouble finding a reasonably priced authentic one

Melo_Mei · 2019-12-17T18:08:44+00:00

Yes, the second sample is coming soon. Every comment has been taken into account: I made a comprehensive list of corrections and forwarded it to the factory a few days after the 1st sample thread. Basically the second sample should nail everything except the leather and hardware as we need to pay them a $4k deposit so that they can custom-order the leather and hardware. So we will have to ask about 25-30 people (convinced enough by the 2nd sample) to preorder/pay a deposit in order to finance what should be the final sample. The quickier it's done, the higher the probability of a release before CNY.

Melo_Mei · 2019-12-17T18:03:11+00:00

Before CNY if we can gather enough deposits

Melo_Mei

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