Sales Samples

chasm

Hi,
I bought a jacket recently from an ebay shop and when it arrived i noticed the label stated "Sample- Not to be Sold". I queried this with the seller and their reply was :

"the jacket you have bought is a sales sample, which means it is a hand finished garment, made with the highest quality. This actual jacket didn't make it to production as Firetrap went bust about three months ago and this style was due to be released Autumn 2013. That means there are 33 of this particular jacket in the world, so it is infact a couture item. They are all brand new and packeted and tagged. The reason they state sales sample, not for resale is so that they don't have to pay vat on the item when they import them (a common scam in the fashion business)."

I'm afraid this reply hasn't convinced me at all, to me it looks like the seller is trying to "big up" what is actually a cheap sample product? From my very limited knowledge of sales samples i was always under the impression that they were items that were used to show the retailer etc the goods in an effort to get the company/retailer to place an order?

Firetrap did indeed go into administration in April last year and sportsdirect then acquired the wholesale division and this particular jacket is on their website,(albeit a different colour), so i cannot see how this seller can claim it did not go into production.
Any thoughts?

Miaireland

If the jacket wasn't marked sample would you have been happy with it?
Was it as described in the listing.

My only experience with something like this is lady I deal with in work. She has a sideline in making bags.

She regularly makes samples and brings them to shops (mainly craft shop style shops). I know she makes the samples top quality. She then is often asked by the shops to make a bag like the sample but with different cheaper handles/lining etc.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Sales samples are usually much better quality and finish. I'd be more than happy with it. Did you get what you wanted? Is the quality to your liking? Then what's the problem? If not, return the item.

wmpdd3

90% of my wardrobe are samples!

They are perfect, would a sample record be any less of a record?

athtrasna

wmpdd3 wrote: »

90% of my wardrobe are samples!

They are perfect, would a sample record be any less of a record?

Yes. A friend bought a trouser suit that turned out to be a sample. She only found out when she was walking down the street one day and the inner seams went on both legs.

A sample wouldn't necessarily be stitched as well as you wouldn't expect it to be worn much if at all, and certainly not cleaned regularly.

She took it back to the shop and they replaced it immediately.

wmpdd3

Most of my samples came from Irish designers, they would have the designers name attached so they wouldn't have been seconds as that would have damaged the companies reputation. They were mostly made in Europe even though the final item may have been made in Turkey etc.

Later when i worked for a British high st store, they held a sample sale before the launch of each season. These items were not branded and just had the supplier name or code attached. These could be hit or miss depending on weather they were current suppliers or new ones hoping for an order.

These items were usually supplied for free from the supplier to the brand and for half the end cost price to the retailer so I'd expect a sizeable discount on the current season's retail price.

sandin

You obviously got it cheap.

The seller also got it cheap.

The ONLY drawback is it states in tiny writing inside the jacket that it is a sales sample

And you have an issue with that????

Go pay full price in a retail store then.

chasm

The item was bought as a gift, and i got it no cheaper than it is available on other sites."Sample" is actually written in quite large writing on the inner tag, so lose the attitude thanks!
Samples come in various stages of quality and from doing my own research ive found that the company that i purchased from sells lots of showroom samples. I wont be returning it as i had to pay for postage once and dont want to be stung paying to send it back, as is the shops policy.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Such are the problems of buying from eBay. I much prefer to give my business to retail stores, where I can see the goods and support local business as best I can.

If the quality is OK then just keep it. If you're unhappy, then simply return it - well worth the postage if it rids you of an item you would not wish to gift to somebody.

wmpdd3

chasm wrote: »

The item was bought as a gift, and i got it no cheaper than it is available on other sites."Sample" is actually written in quite large writing on the inner tag, so lose the attitude thanks!
Samples come in various stages of quality and from doing my own research ive found that the company that i purchased from sells lots of showroom samples. I wont be returning it as i had to pay for postage once and dont want to be stung paying to send it back, as is the shops policy.

If it was a shop in Ebay and you paid by Paypal, you might be able to make a claim through Paypal as 'item not as described'.

The only thing is you may find that the description on the add maybe phrased to counter act this.

sandin

chasm wrote: »

The item was bought as a gift, and i got it no cheaper than it is available on other sites."Sample" is actually written in quite large writing on the inner tag, so lose the attitude thanks!
Samples come in various stages of quality and from doing my own research ive found that the company that i purchased from sells lots of showroom samples. I wont be returning it as i had to pay for postage once and dont want to be stung paying to send it back, as is the shops policy.

I don't usually wear my clothes inside out, so can't see how it can affect the wearability. Also, its very easy to remove the tag - have you thought of that?

irishgirl19

sandin wrote: »

I don't usually wear my clothes inside out, so can't see how it can affect the wearability. Also, its very easy to remove the tag - have you thought of that?

the op is giving it as a gift and has stated sample is on the tag.
I wouldn't be happy giving this as a gift to someone.

wmpdd3

chasm wrote: »

Hi,
I bought a jacket recently from an ebay shop and when it arrived i noticed the label stated "Sample- Not to be Sold". I queried this with the seller and their reply was :

"the jacket you have bought is a sales sample, which means it is a hand finished garment, made with the highest quality. This actual jacket didn't make it to production as Firetrap went bust about three months ago and this style was due to be released Autumn 2013. That means there are 33 of this particular jacket in the world, so it is infact a couture item. They are all brand new and packeted and tagged. The reason they state sales sample, not for resale is so that they don't have to pay vat on the item when they import them (a common scam in the fashion business)."

I'm afraid this reply hasn't convinced me at all, to me it looks like the seller is trying to "big up" what is actually a cheap sample product? From my very limited knowledge of sales samples i was always under the impression that they were items that were used to show the retailer etc the goods in an effort to get the company/retailer to place an order?

Firetrap did indeed go into administration in April last year and sportsdirect then acquired the wholesale division and this particular jacket is on their website,(albeit a different colour), so i cannot see how this seller can claim it did not go into production.
Any thoughts?

She is the buyer so she should raise a paypal query.

dudara

@chasm - was it clearly advertised as a sample when your purchased it? This is the main question.

chasm

Hi all, thanks for all the replies.
First off, No it wasn't described as a sample, the description stated it was New with tags.
When i contacted them and said i felt they should have at least have listed the product as a sample they replied:
"We declare that some of our products are samples when they are production samples as they are a completely different product."

I had pointed out that Firetrap had been acquired by SD in April 2012 and the jacket had gone into production to which they replied that SD had copied that style and put it into production.(?) They claimed SD have a 4 week turnaround from order to delivery on stock they manufacture and made a few comments about the quality of their clothing in comparison to the sellers, which i think might be better if i didnt repeat here.
They made some other claims too which i shall be contacting SD myself about, as i am sure they will be very interested in what this seller had to say. Might i add that this is not a small time outfit or a private individual this is a company who seem to sell a lot of whole sale stock.

They have said they will accept the return but as i said previously i'm not paying postage a second time. Ive decided to order another one, but from SD this time and keep this one myself.

wmpdd3

very interesting, glad you got an answer out of them.

daingeanrob

fair play to them for replying, alot of sellers on ebay can have poor communication, however it is a great resource. if i was buying a gift i'd always go with a retailer though just in case of something like this. as stated before if it was a jacket for yourself it wouldn't be a problem but a gift is indeed different.