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Ask HN: How does fancy.com make money?

5 pointsby flashahhahhalmost 11 years ago
Manage operations for a fashion brand, recently we were contacted by an Andrew Tuch (EVP of Operations @fancy) to help him out with an order&#x2F;exchange he had placed. The order was filled out processed as a personal order for Mr. Tuch himself. Our product was returned to us marked up with Fancy.com packaging and barcodes. This is interesting since we do not sell wholesale to Fancy.<p>After a quick look at their site, I was able to find the product for sale. Same price, no markup. Difference in shipping costs were negligible.<p>Reached out to Andrew to let him know if he was interested in wholesale I would be happy to discuss the particulars. After this conversation the product link was updated to remove the ability to &quot;checkout&quot; with our product.<p>According to their wikipedia page, &quot;In return for selling other merchants’ products, Fancy takes a 10% cut of every purchase that is made through the website.&quot;<p>Fancy purchases our product at the going rate, charging their consumer the same amount. Where are they collecting&#x2F;pulling that 10% cut from... Dorsey &amp; Hughes? Is this a standard business practice to resell online vendors goods without gaining consent from them to list? At least someone like http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.farfetch.com&#x2F; puts a premium on their pricing.<p>Similar account noted here: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.etsy.com&#x2F;teams&#x2F;7722&#x2F;discussions&#x2F;discuss&#x2F;10441928&#x2F;<p>Screen shot of our product in their cart after they have removed the ability to &quot;add to cart&quot; http:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;GfVkEL4

5 comments

tehwebguyalmost 11 years ago
Maybe they sold the product first and bought yours in order fill the order, testing to see if a wholesale convo is worth having? Could come from product scraping?<p>Just guessing here, haven&#x27;t even heard of them before now.
WriteYourRepalmost 11 years ago
Pure guess -- they may take a loss or zero profit on some items in exchange for having a wider selection available.
kimcheemealmost 11 years ago
Fancy is an unsustainable business model. period. they don&#x27;t know what they&#x27;re doing.
pitsocialalmost 11 years ago
They charge a 20% commission fee for everything sold.
Modafinil_Caalmost 11 years ago
affiliate marketing through skimlinks or similar service.