Codependency of a sale

Last year I was over the moon when Baby, the Stars Shine Bright announced a re-release of the Elizabeth OP set, JSK and blouse. Naturally I purchased all three of these pieces as soon as they went live to ensure I could get the colorways I wanted most: the OP in red and both the JSK and blouse in black and white. I had to wait more than six months for these items to be shipped and it was definitely worth it. When I explained this to my colleagues they were confused to hear I'd waited so long for these pieces of clothing, which got me thinking on how we, Lolitas, see this as something quite normal. Even now I've purchased, or rather, my husband gifted me the Heart bunny Ears Fur Cape in pink, Usakumya Muffler in white as well as the Celestial a Rose Head Band in white. According to Baby, the Stars Shine Bright the first two will arrive in mid-September (yet I'm guessing it'll be more like mid-October). After all, it has to pass through Belgian customs first so they can charge me formalities, value-added tax and customs duties (I love my country). These costs are inevitable unless I fly to Japan and pick it up myself, which I don't think would be a smarter financial decision.

A common practice on the business-consumer (B2C) side of Lolita fashion is preordering and build/made-to-order pieces. These practices are done by brands to keep their unsold inventory at the end of the season to a minimum. Most brands in the West struggle with convincing their customers to adapt to this practice because they fear the amount of returns or cancellations they would have to deal with. Luckily Baby, the Stars Shine Bright and Angelic Pretty have figured out a way to make sure customers don't do that by outright not allowing it, except when the product arrives damaged. Angelic Pretty Paris is the only place where you can return your items within fourteens days because they're under the French Consumer Code. In the past, Japanese Lolita brands would sometimes even blacklist customers who would try cancelling their order or returning the bought goods altogether. Many Lolitas in the West became too afraid to place an order with Baby, the Stars Shine Bright as they were rather draconic when customers didn't fill in the online order form correctly. This is why Metamorphose and Angelic Pretty were considered to be more accessible brands. Regardless, the majority of Lolitas in the West still preferred shopping second-hand as it would cause them less stress from dealing with international shipping and communication lost in translation.

Lolita brands often sell directly to their customers, meaning they don't sell their collections in department stores (the one negative being that customers don't easily stumbling into your pieces). There are plenty of benefits to not continue doing this: by selling to your customers directly you are more in touch with what your customers want and how they feel about a new release. Also, when a Lolita brand opens the pre-orders for a new jumper skirt the new product will be near the end of the production cycle and depending on customer interest the brand will request more units than the amount (usually about 300 units) they had originally requested. This means that if a new release flops and only half of the pre-orders are sold they will have to consider turning it into a lucky pack or sell it with a discount. Thanks to social media most Lolita brands nowadays have a bit more information on what their customer base likes and dislikes: whenever a brand posts their fashion shows online, Lolitas will often express their enthusiasm and anticipation for a certain piece. For me, this was a potential re-release of the Robe à la Française set by Baby, the Stars Shine Bright which is currently part of a lottery event in the Laforet Grand Bazaar (I'm not crying, you're crying). Another plus is that Lolita brands usually don't have to deal with retailers meaning they can offer their customers a much better price for the product. From my experience in retail, I can tell you that companies markup a garment's production cost by 2.3 to ensure they profit from it even if it were to flop. If a brand were to outsource its sales through a general retailer the price of the pieces would be marked up by 2.3 yet again. A jumper skirt that was made for 200 dollars would be sold for 460 dollars by the brand itself, but if this jumper skirt would be sold by a general retailer its price would be around 1058 dollars. This is why Chinese Lolita brand HoshibakoWorks (星箱Works) opened their own store in Tokyo.

I hope all of this information helps people realize that even the biggest Lolita brands (with the exception of Angelic Pretty) are not making big money. Catering to a niche is not that lucrative unless you're a Swiss luxury watch brand. Apparently some brand designers even work excruciatingly long hours but only get compensated for the hours agreed upon in their contract. They have to work so many unpaid hours that their salaries end up being near minimum wage if you actually do the math. I understand that Lolitas in the West prefer buying second-hand for many a reason, be it financial, aesthetical or ethical. It cannot be denied that brands do rely quite heavily upon our support as their target audience. This doesn't mean it is expected that you buy every single item when a new release drops, but maybe once a year you should try to support your favorite brands directly if you can. I certainly do because I want them to keep growing and I also love their designs (I'm not going to buy something I don't like). 

Thank you, and take care.