Fashion & Beauty
They want blood and badly discounted designer no-good designers.
Sample sales have always been chaotic and competitive, but they've gotten downright ugly in recent months.
Increasingly, score resellers on reseller sites like TikTok, Whatnot, and Poshmark are taking a hard-hitting approach to boosting sales. They pay people to wait in line, hoard merchandise, livestream sales during events, and even engage in physical altercations.
Last month, police were forced to shut down a Versace sample sale in Chelsea after more than 1,000 shoppers rushed through the entrance and various fights broke out between fashionistas.
“That elbow-jumping attitude is everywhere,” Susan Davey, 32, who lives in the Upper West Sider and frequents sample sales, told the Post.
Last week, she tried to attend the DÔEN sample sale in SoHo, which was held by 260 companies hosting sales in partnership with popular designers such as Marc Jacobs and Frame.
Ms Davey waited in a queue that snaked down Broome Street for more than two hours to buy a summer maxi dress, which normally costs nearly $600, at 70 per cent off.
When she finally got to the front, she spent another hour weaving her way through a chaotic showroom full of resellers, live-streaming products and hoarding piles to make sure others didn't get anything. I was hovering.
Davie, an actress who moved to New York from Ireland a year ago and has frequently come to sell samples in New York City, was angry when she returned home empty-handed.
“They are [resellers] “I bought all my summer clothes and what was left was darker colors and heavier items,” she said. “There were entire items that no one could buy.”
She blames resellers for their dirty tactics.
“I saw someone show off what they had hoarded on a livestream. People got annoyed and asked staff about it, but nothing was done,” she said. Told. “People were paying to stand in line. Another reseller was handing out business cards, which I had never seen before.”
Long Islander Chastin Vosvik, 39, waited in line at 9 a.m. Wednesday for two hours, only to be disappointed, and returned for a second Doen Sale on Sunday.
“Everything had already been taken over by resellers and true fans of the brand were left with nothing. It was very frustrating,” she told the Post.
“When there is a line [that are] If you take two paths, you'll leave something behind for your true customers. ”
The 260 website says: “We strongly recommend against live streaming within the event. Live streaming on opening day is prohibited.”
A 260 spokesperson told the Post that the company limits the number of items each customer can purchase, imposes shopping time limits “to ensure traffic flow,” and has a “no-holds-barred” policy. He spoke via email.
“We do our best to curb resale activity and are always looking for ways to improve the in-store experience. Our goal is to provide a fair opportunity for everyone to get a sample sale bargain. and have the opportunity to do so,” the spokesperson said in an email.
But Davie and other shoppers say the rules are not effectively enforced.
Mr Davey derided the fact that brands were allowing free samples, saying: “They should be embarrassed.”
Alexandra Cossack, 34, who has been frequenting sample sales for years, raved on TikTok about how the shopping event has become a complete pandemonium.
“Resellers are ruining sample sales and no one is doing anything to stop it,” Cossack said in a video that has been viewed more than 460,000 times.
“They are [resellers] They buy up these piles, take pictures of everything, and chase away people who try to get near the shelves,” she continued.
The post infuriated other shoppers, with one commenter urging: Nothing is theirs until they pay for it. ”
Another suggested getting physical: “Push them out of the way and get what you want.”
Some resellers say it's gone too far.
Ruth Ramsay, 37, a former Neiman Marcus buyer, regularly flies from Dallas to New York to shop sample sales for brands like Moncler and Reformation.
The New York native resells most of the items she buys, but she quickly realized that she played by a lot more rules than other resellers.
She never buys more than 25 items or brick-and-mortar items for her customers. And she's horrified by some of the behavior she's seen lately.
“I have seen female students being kicked out for bringing things in. [shopping] cart. There were times when someone was waiting in line to get paid and then four girls showed up, and that's not fair. I leave with only what I can carry,” Ramsay said.
However, she doesn't mind using professional waiters.
Last year, she paid $16 an hour to someone who waited in line for nearly four hours outside of a Moncler sample sale.
“If I fly in late the night before and need some time in the morning to research or shop, I use a line sitter,” Ramsay said.
Meanwhile, Davey is taking a much-needed break from selling samples after his disappointing experience with DÔEN.
“New York is exhausting enough,” she helps. “I always get something out of sample sales, but I feel like it's about to end.”
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