Multiple successful low-cost copies demonstrate the barrier to entry is low, and in doing so, improve the efficiency of the market.<p>Unsuccessful copies <i>may</i> demonstrate that the barrier to entry is high (for whatever reason), and may in doing so still improve the efficiency of the market. Likewise, a failed clone may simply demonstrate the copying entity's inability to compete.<p>Regardless, I don't see how attempts to copy (and improve?) are a bad thing for the market.
I don't think it's 'unclassy' to replicate a successful model in another vertical, but this model usually doesn't translate well.<p>BirchBox gets all of their samples for free. Beauty companies are used to giving out free samples and consider it a marketing expense.
Business is about competition, every product in history has had competitors so I don't see what the big deal is. If you know a market I can enter where I will face no competition please let me know because I want in.
I'm sure the BirchBox team are lovely people and good on them for building a successful business, but they did not invent the idea of subscribing for a box of goodies.<p>BirchBox launched in May 2010 (source: <a href="http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-11-08/strategy/30372330_1_customer-tech-challenges-job-descriptions" rel="nofollow">http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-11-08/strategy/3037...</a> in which it's already described as a "NetFlix [clone] for beauty", NetFlix having started in 1999).<p>startupschwag.com started operating in mid-2007, sending startup t-shirts by subscription.<p><a href="http://testtube.newbeauty.com/" rel="nofollow">http://testtube.newbeauty.com/</a> appears to have been running since early 2007 in the exact same market that BirchBox is in.<p>Wine of the Month Club (.com) pre-dates the Internet, sending wine by subscription since 1972.<p>Why would you consider applying an existing business model to a new market to be cloning or copying; especially when there's no market overlap? Applying a successful model from one industry to enhance another seems to be the very definition of innovation.
Why? Any good business idea will be copied and adapted. Most of those changes won't be good and most of the clones will fail. But that doesn't give the original creators of the business model any right to be annoyed. A new york company is no different.