Seller Blog
Advice, help and support for ASOS Marketplace sellers.
Menswear on Marketplace
The ASOS Marketplace is buzzing with breakout indie
labels and small menswear brands, as well as some savvy Sirs making a tidy
profit selling on old wardrobe favourites and vintage finds. We collared 4 of
our best menswear sellers to share a little more about the way they make bank
on Marketplace.
"After 10 years of managing design and production for some
larger labels, I quit my job in 2009 and went on a year of exploring. My travels
took me through Thailand and Indonesia and finally to China, where I now call
home, running the label from Hong Kong and working with fantastic suppliers out
here to produce top notch product.
We launched Volklore on Marketplace in March 2011, selling
to an international market and learning a lot about customer care, online
presentation and the value in figuring out how to get your pieces to visually
stand out from other brands online.
Though we continue to run our Marketplace boutique, being on
the site led to the ASOS.com menswear team approaching us, and we’re now going
into our third season as a brand on ASOS.com".
“I
started trading on Marketplace right from the off in December 2010, and now
most of my monthly sales come from the site. The brand was pretty new when it
launched on Marketplace, and my exposure was limited to my Facebook friends and
a small handful of twitter followers, but through the site I’ve managed to massively
up my game, increasing my online sales as well as getting stocked in a few
places in the UK as well as some further afield, like Ibiza and the Ukraine.
My brand definitely has a strong
personality, being heavily influenced by the Mods & Rockers era, and this
has definitely defined a certain ‘look’ for all my mines. Staying true to this
look has helped my designs become recognisable, and my stuff is called in by stylists
for shoots all the time”.
"Having worked for brands like Allsaints and Jack Wills, I wanted to get cracking on my own brand, and after a few years planning I launched And Now Wee in November 2010.
I worked under the principle of maximising exposure by selling across online sites as well as small stockists and various markets around London, but always acting and behaving like an established brand. I read an excellent quote from Michael Gerber in the early days of set-up which simply said 'you must behave like the best brand in the world before ever becoming one' which has really stuck with me.
The brands now at the stage where we are starting to talk to large retailers, but our Marketplace store remains a steady monthly money maker and has allowed us to build up our brand properly".
Shop And Now Wee on ASOS Marketplace >
"Juggling college and selling clothing online has been a
challenge but it’s ok, you just have to be organised. I finish college at 4pm everyday and have to
be speedy with packing all my orders as the post office closes at 5pm! After
getting all my orders sent out I reply to customer emails and check my twitter
page – I’ve learnt that customer service is key in developing a business. I am
doing Business, Economics and Finance at college and the skills I have learnt
with selling and dealing with customers has helped me with my studies.
Next year at college there is an
optional extended project which would have me writing an essay about Modern Fairytale Club and presenting a t-shirt design. By completing this project I
will gain extra UCAS points and this in turn will help me with my University
application, so I think that Marketplace has definitely helped me figure out my
strengths, whilst letting me earn a better wage than a regular Saturday job".
