The Rise and Fall of Farfetch

[@wallstreetmillennial]

Receive 10% off anything on bellroy.com: bit.ly/3H7U9Ut

[@beenhog6922]

Youre selling out your reputation for money instead of just getting a patreon. I would 100% give you money on patreon if you didnt flhave ads on every single literally 10min video. 1/10 of most of your videos are an ad.

[@notrixamoris3318]

Sir you are becoming a cynic??? I apologize for asking but you videos are mostly about greedy cynical people...how is your mental health is everttuing okay.

[@bc-guy852]

I don't think I've ever enjoyed a 'sponsor spot' as much as I enjoyed this one! Looks like nice gear and the video (you shot or they provided) is ideal. I always enjoy your videos and I know that sponsor-revenue is part of a successful KZbin channel; a classy ad is just sauce for the goose. Continued success!

[@wallstreetmillennial]

Thank you! I shot the video myself and I really enjoy the gear Bellroy sent me

[@thepro08]

2billion dropshiping..... what a record loool

[@MemoirsofaBasketcase]

I guess you could say all their claims and their valuation were…farfetched.

[@jsimsgt96]

You win

[@Randarrradara]

How could anyone think „farfetch” was a good name 😭

[@thenamelesschannel1463]

*drumbeat plays*

[@buenosdias1287]

Badum tsssss

[@davidallen8611]

You’re hired

[@westwest7349]

You missed a major point. Most of Farfecht clients were located in Russia and significant number were in also in China. Both disappeared in a flash that exasperated all weaknesses you pointed out.

[@Ray-ku9ds]

Nope, most are in the US. Russia represented their 3rd largest customer base & China 2nd but yes, those 2 markets hit them really bad as a result of the sanctions & economic downturn respectively

[@Tie509]

"Barriers to entry". LMAO. They were just middlemen. No intellectual property or exclusive contractual relationships.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

With minimal inventory too.

[@Teolulz]

the only barrier to entry is the business model is so bad nobody else wants to do it

[@Paolo040]

I think this point by WSM is actually bad - aggregations and platforms have network effects which can act like barriers to entry. Think of opening another social network next to Instagram- nearly impossible But here the problem is they had no steady customer base and a too concentrated supplier base (in terms of brands)

[@tenglim4406]

And minimal logistic infrastructures, and softwares too!? Personally, the Company looks like they're merely operating the website, with the rest being delegated, and/or sourced from to 3rd parties itself.

[@ewauksonian]

@@samsonsoturian6013 "It's a strength!" Oh wait...

[@Popsiclestick27]

Everything that peaked in 2021 is like destined to fail.

[@davidpachecogarcia]

Companies don’t understand that during those times people were stuck at home so they were spending less in other areas and now had both time and extra money to spend. That def not the case anymore. If companies haven’t updated to account for that then they can’t be surprised that they’re failing.

[@jonscott2827]

"fall" but yeah i get your meaning

[@TQFMTradingStrategies]

@@davidpachecogarciawas more than that, there was an entire thing there when Tbills got pushed below expected inflation by the feds so banks and large connected investing firms would launch stupid companies to borrow tons of federally backed money, pay the executives and owners tons of money, then fold the far fetched company pocketing a small fortune off losses that end up getting put to additional inflation. It’s like a reverse leveraged buyout only the company doesn’t do anything and the buyer is the US taxpayer in a round about way. That’s why you don’t drop your rates too low, you get mal-investment.

[@michaelcallas9463]

So true. I think d2c is over, period.

[@nunyabizznizz7326]

so they were just middlemen with a website.......

[@KomeFits]

Essentially just a marketing company.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

An Amazon substitute when Amazon exists@@KomeFits

[@blu12gaming44]

And wanted a 30% cut for merely posting on their site.

[@jonathanj8303]

And they completely failed to understand that a large part of the "luxury experience" is the experience. Going and buying the stuff, and for really luxury, commissioning what you want. Plus their offerings consisted entirely pf the stuff people had rejected in person?

[@eminkirac4712]

@@jonathanj8303in my experience a lot of fashion mfs really loved farfetch. Fristet it was on sale often, it has a lot of Variation and many diferente productos, which may be harder to find on other websites, or spread out on many other sites, The argument of it being online is, that yes the experience in the store is nicer but for example most hot spots for luxury goods and stores in Germany are like in 4 cities. So people don’t need to literallly travel or drive an hour or two just to buy product x in city a and product y in city b

[@flux928]

Competition did them in. I found things at good prices when they started. Once they tried to please investors, the prices were higher than Yoox, Cettire, Ssense, Matches, etc. etc.

[@Eva_noir.]

This! I used order from them but it became shit

[@user-yt198]

It is called *enshitification*

[@DevHazy]

Yep. Bestiary collective RealReal and 1stdibs

[@dibull_trades]

This was the biggest problem

[@Garcelle1987]

Just found out Matches are in a financial bind as well now

[@RM-wt6ku]

I am not a big online buyer (I live in a large city where I have access to everything in local shops), but I bought some great items from Farfetch (the local shop didn’t have my size anymore) and the experience was very good. Sad to see that their business model did not work eventually.

[@insertgoodchannelnamehere]

Wall Street seems to drastically overestimate the size of the luxury goods market. So many of these videos are about a company with expensive products not being able to get enough sales. Especially with the state the economy is in now, it just seems ignorant to think that people will keep buying.

[@Dan16673]

yup

[@jordancastillo9654]

Lvmh have record profits they own most of the major fashion houses there’s a reason why they are putting money in luxury market

[@DevHazy]

Even in New York I’m thinking 2008 in college the vintage stores were cheaper….. but you can only consign so much and have so many websites before the buying market is gone. Not enough people care about luxury brands that are small and unknown

[@petervillax9443]

It was zero sum game. Farfetch’s profits were the brands’ losses 11:52 . Zero sum game. Could not last.

[@MarketingMatematico]

Before London they had operations in Guimaraes, a small city in the countryside of Portugal. I was living in Porto at that time. Everybody was proud of Farfetch and I had a couple of friends working there. Actually I didn't expect them to fail so quickly

[@c_miraa]

Whenever the proposition is "It's going to be the ebay for xyz!", I am wondering "Why not just sell it on ebay then?!"

[@Teolulz]

30% is twice the commission on eBay. horrible idea.

[@ewauksonian]

Or buy directly from the supplier

[@Phlegethon]

Exactly

[@ShotsMerkzAll]

@@fabiangallien5269do you still work in fashion? it’s a shame that some people just cannot take criticism even though it’s beneficial towards them

[@Jen1112111]

I actually brought a skirt off a boutique in Italy from Far Fetch. It was a skirt not available on the luxury brand's website. There was much more variety on FarFetch.

[@Jbrooo850]

Agree

[@pedroteixeira3892]

As someone that's Portuguese, I'm glad this is happening. You have no idea how much portuguese management and marketing professors talk about farfetch. "farfetch did this, farfetch did that, farfetch are incredible, they are so successful" - hearing this constantly and seeing the hype associated with such overpriced and esthetically unpleasant clothes is insanely obnoxious.

[@brennickler]

Bro say whatever about Farfetch, but there is no doubt they have the best access to the greatest brands. Not just clothes. I get the hype can be annoying af, but they should never have went public to begin with. Their business model does not require any public capital, but again, they rode the hype.

[@tiararoxeanne1318]

04:52 Signs of a perfect venture investment: 1) A large and growing market 2) A highly differentiated model 3) Significant barriers to entry 4) A win-win proposition for both sides of the marketplace (customers and sellers) 5) An attractive financial model (strong unit economics, no inventory, working capital, etc.) 6) Essentially a remarkable leader with a strong team ~Frederic Court, Felix Capital

[@bc-guy852]

I don't think I've ever enjoyed a 'sponsor spot' as much as I enjoyed this one! Looks like nice gear and the video (you shot or they provided) is ideal. I always enjoy your videos and I know that sponsor-revenue is part of a successful KZbin channel; a classy ad is just sauce for the goose. Continued success!

[@dulio12385]

When the company is named after an obscure Pokemon, you know its not gonna end well.

[@duancoviero9759]

Obscure?!?!? Farfetch is #1

[@Jeez001]

Show some respect it is Sirfetch’d

[@smjaiteh]

So calling my startup fintech company "Natu" was a bad idea?

[@ashleyshim2078]

lmaoooo

[@bbd121]

You beat me to the comment. :(

[@ruinogueira7526]

many people point out that Farfetch didn't offer anything and was just the middle man. Based on what was explained in the video this was true, but there's one major area that the author missed which was the white label solutions. Basically Farfetch was working with the big fashion houses/groups, not to have their items on their website but to provide technology/access to their infrastructure for a fee. This was actually a promising area, since most old fashion brands lacked the expertise in ecommerce, and Farfetch already had a huge structure and know-how to share (they were the leading company in the market). This could had been an escape for the company but bad management, bad commercial decisions, bad negotiating skills and the huge ego of the CEO sank the ship. The author also leaves out the ludicrous investments made in building a Tech Campus, buying smaller companies that had never been profitable, and losing money in NFT projects (remember the crypto that Facebook wanted to create? Farfetch was in that too). So in my opinion there were other factors that lead to this ending

[@joshuapatrick682]

I think your take that the clothes are the assets of luxury brand is not completely accurate. The real "Asset" is the brand name itself and the concept of "luxury" it initiates in the minds of the uninitiated.

[@la6136]

But the physical asset are the clothes. That is what the IRS considers assets of the business not the brand name. If you have no product you make no money

[@tomsmith6882]

Given a lot of premier brands often actively burn last seasons clothes & clothes that fail QA, to prevent their brand being cheapened, setting up a posh clothes that don’t sell reseller seems unwise from the off

[@jonathanj8303]

9:07 If the numbers are right, *after their IT and marketting spend*, their G&A is over half a million per supplier, when it's the suppliers doing most of the work. And the average income from those accounts was two and bit million, say actual sales value including the supplier's cut of five million tops. In terms of the accounting, you can RENT software to do this, including divy up the loot between you and the suppliers, each with their own deal, it's an off the shelf product. There were either a lot of people milling about at corporate, or they were grossly overpaid for the work done. Or both. Not that the business was likely to survive in the long term anyway.

[@whymillie]

I am so happy someone said this. What were their employees doing? Clearly a lot of their cost were employee salaries. The business just needed to adapt their customer engagement market. Sounds like they were scared to change.

[@MatthewMizanin]

I have to disagree on the closing remarks that Farfetch died because they didn’t have the fashion brands such as LV or Hermes. I cannot put my finger on what made it fail but in fact they did have a lot of brands such as Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega, Prada - very contemporary relevant ones.

[@kendalson7100]

Luxury goods just don't sell well online. Part of how people justify the inflated price is the shopping "experience". The fancy store in the fancy hood and the one-on-one service. You order stuff like Temu online, not Dior.

[@stevengreidinger8295]

The G&A number was insane for the size of the business. That line item includes executive compensation. I bet a number of top officers of the company walked away with tens of millions of dollars, or more, as totally justifiable reimbursement for their admirable performance.

[@gneruinseruihnutshnu]

30% only incentivizes even the smallest supplier to try investing into their own eshop and logistics.

[@tribalypredisposed]

People keep "investing" in these companies that they just assume sales will equal profits for someday in the future, and it is not a safe assumption at all. Just because Amazon makes a lot of money doesn't mean other online sales companies can too. Just because Tesla makes a profit doesn't mean Lucid, Rivian, Fisker, Faraday Future, Byton, Workhorse, Nikola Motors, or any other EV startups ever will, and probably they won't.

[@ewauksonian]

It's like some people need refresher courses in variable expenses vs fixed expenses

[@mentalicus]

At some point, to do an IPO, it should be mandatory to have at least a few years of profitability, NOT strong unit economics. All these "tech" companies that have been going from hero to zero in no-time (for example WeWork, Peloton) have one thing in common: They were never able to generate profit consistently.

[@fungus_am0nguz644]

Exactly. You hit the nail on the head with this statement.

[@jsimsgt96]

Never heard of them.

[@SunAtlantic-pg9vn]

Never heard of them??? Dude, they were like the #1 Pokemon guy or whatever!

[@jsimsgt96]

@@SunAtlantic-pg9vn don’t know about Pokémon either

[@weird-guy]

Maybe you don’t watch KZbin style videos they sponsored everyone with a grwm video 😂

[@la6136]

Because you are not into fashion

[@ihavenoname5940]

Fashion ppl do tho

[@lizmorison5592]

Their Facebook ads took you to their app, not the product they were actually advertising. Then when you went to find said product on their website it was never there!

[@sutats]

The DTC business model became mainstream for big brands and that's what killed it. That's the progress of business technology.

[@raymondcaylor6292]

3:45 Finally ! Farmer's have access to Gucci & Armani overalls. It's hard to see how they failed. They probably cornered that market.

[@fuzzy3440]

Seems like their most profitable business was sucking cash out of VC's, the Adam Neumann business plan.

[@Teolulz]

another pump and dump scheme. any start up with an app is a "technology" company and revenue growth is the only metric.

[@whymillie]

louder

[@hollygrace6814]

thank god. I dont have to sit through anymore farfetch sponsorships on my luxury youtube channels

[@CheerupA1]

Fashion companies destroy unsold products they don't look for ways to sell them for cheap

[@soulsoulsoul634]

I don't think it was ever viable like you said anyone can replicate the model they used so the big luxury brands did just that sold direct to the consumer and cut out the middle man

[@alexrekzu4079]

ordered New Balances and 2 pairs showed up, each different days. I got 2 of the same shoe but shipped from different countries. (I'm in USA btw) So that was my first time lol. W for me cause I was never charged for the extra pair, Shoes were perfect. This was june 2024

[@raymondcaylor6292]

1:16 yeah, imagine how much time you'll save not having to zip a laptop sleeve. We'll soon probably enjoy two to three up loads per day. A game changer.

[@Teolulz]

it was a pump and dump. Farfetch has 0 moat and is a horrible idea. why pay them 30% commission when you can sell the merchandize yourself on eBay paying half of that commission?

[@rafaelramos3083]

I worked at Farfetch from a couple of years, and left a 4 months ago. There is something missing from the equation which I also think should be mentioned. For years Farfetch's engineering teams (I'm talking around 2000 engineers) worked on the release of beauty products, which turned out to be an absolute flop. I once how much this strategic decision impacted the final outcome.

[@InfiniteILMPS3]

Great video. Sounds like Farfetched needed to ensure that the most popular high end manufacturers were in agreement with their business. Without them, why would a person go to Farfetched at all.

[@mustangthings]

Another day, another WSM video about a company or scam that I have never heard of.

[@hoangle2483]

most of these scams are very industry specific. Us average investors mostly focus on tech, real estate since they have the most growth and news coverage.

[@docentofkathu]

They were basically operating as a quasi drop shipper.

[@swedesam]

I mean its name spoke for itself.

[@Strawgirl123]

Lydia Millen in a WSM video… the world is ending indeed 😂

[@AONTrappy]

The beginning of the end was when the insider trading scandal that happened which completely destroyed the stock, and once investors pulled out, it died completely.

[@torernning8652]

A new video warms a cold and tired vikings heart. Brann suger.

[@JB-yb4wn]

Just makes ya wanna go out and pillage something, doesn't it?

[@abrin5508]

It was fun trading it in the last couple of weeks before it went bankrupt. Luckily I stopped before I got too greedy or I would have lost the lot.

[@4olufade]

Valuations in the last 15 years have been a joke

[@upfulsoul826]

Farfetch created a great site and they have a lot of brands. But the clothes and accessories are very expensive.

[@bravosierra2447]

3:19 is that delivery guy receiving stock from a Star Wars stormtrooper?

[@User0000000000000004]

I saw the same thing!! The 501st has a delivery company now??

[@anzinn]

Except Coupang HQ is in NY.

[@ingusmant]

30% commission on retail? 😂 They thought this was viable?

[@mgatelabs]

Never heard of them

[@dunmatta2670]

30% commission? LOL totally unsustainable

[@DevHazy]

Very interesting because therealreal is my favorite. The prices are so cheap I can buy a ton for like $100

[@azizkash286]

It is mind boggling how a company like this was funded

[@mikegwillis]

Thought Portuguese pronounce their Js as a hard J sound, not the soft H like Spanish ... his name should be like Jo-say not Ho-say

[@brunomadureira9502]

You're right

[@RodneySanches]

So annoying!

[@abelardoruiz5544]

It seems that all this companies are made to do an IPO and then.....fuck the shit.

[@qwerty1994ize]

Yup. Cash out and run. That’s the business model

[@MySaluto]

What is g&a section in p&l detailed? Why they can’t fix it?

[@whymillie]

They didn't want to. They were happy to go into adminstration.

[@Spraycanter]

Why would they ever go to market, such a bad idea to begin with.

[@alexzorkin9470]

I've always loved farfetch. Now they don't even supply to my country.

[@ShotsMerkzAll]

Which country? Just curious

[@RatchetSly]

It turns out, a middleman reseller site with no assets and a high revenue cut in a time when most brands can easily set up a direct sale store section of their website isn't actually a terribly good concept.

[@whymillie]

I think it is a great concept if you have your hand on the pulse. 1. Your G&A has to be balanced. 500 million is unacceptable 2. Lack of fashion forefront. Customers are interested in emerging brands. In today's market, if a influencer is wearing a new brand it could be popular in 24hrs. 3. Ecommerce can win, but you have to be ready to adapt or change. You can't be stuck

[@Kevin_Street]

It seems like an idea that could have worked on a small scale, but it grew too big to succeed. Farfetch should probably never have become a publicly traded company.

[@raymondcaylor6292]

Never profitable when small. Why upscale a losing model?

[@stubb1qaz]

This is a natural business risk and failure. No fraud or fault. Sometimes bets don’t pay out.

[@user-ql5un6ng7x]

No one wants to pay commission let alone a hefty commission even if it is in their best interest that they do.

[@carriesthoma6311]

A shame to see but a similar pattern keeps repeating with high valued e-commerce scale-ups.

[@МихайлоСєльський]

They should just have taken higher commission to be profitable))

[@adalbertmack9529]

Pls make a follow-up when Neves ends up in jail.

[@lenaely6146]

Coupang's plan is what 😅

[@billpeiman8973]

And here I considered Temu to be high-end...

[@SiliconEngineer]

It was a Farfetched idea 💡

[@parthgarg4906]

I used to buy from them quite a lot. Sad to see it die

[@gregtomamichel973]

"while they were still losing money, they were growing rapidly". Wow, this sounds familiar. Personally, i like companies that make a profit. 😉

[@fungus_am0nguz644]

At one point FarFetch was valued at 24 billion? Wtf, at that point even the owners musta been "something is very wrong, theres no fkin way we are worth that much, no fkin way" ffs

[@rogerterry5013]

Fewer people, not LESS.

[@lulubumon]

People living in the villages don't need pricy fancy dresses and bags😂

[@holetarget4925]

buying a premium priced item online is a stupid idea. I would rather fly to the physical store and buy it than order it online.

[@WillieFungo]

I never even understood the point their business model. There was no value creation whatsoever.

[@uropy]

It’s still ok. Price wise not the best but not the worst.

[@mightT1]

this is the first time i have heard of farfetch... lol.

[@Dude-etiquette]

I have no doubt the CE is still wealthy , money dies just disappear

[@lilhaxxor]

It's written bellory not bellroy

[@bc-guy852]

??? Not according to the logo on their products. Did you watch the video?

[@RUHappyATM]

I think bellroy is overpriced. I remember looking at their wallet range a few years ago, but eventually went with an Italian shop on etsy,

[@sonyakinsey4376]

What do you have against zippers? Zippers take less than 5 second and mean the case is actually closed. Also, no, people in small towns don't buy luxury products like this. A. They don't buy luxury products that often. B. They show wealth in other ways, like a big truck or an expensive saddle. Luxury purchases like a pair of high heels are very rare. People in small towns make fun of someone for walking around with a 5000 dollar handbag. There is no, or a very miniscule mail order luxury market in small towns. What an entirely stupid company.

[@medes5597]

"like a truck or expensive saddle" Farfetch made a ton of money selling to very wealthy small towns in the UK, where no one has trucks and Farfetch also sold.... Expensive saddles. That idea definitely didn't translate to American small towns, but that isn't who they were referring to when they said that.

[@carloscondit5656]

Please do about 23andme

[@method341]

I see Bellroy ads EVERYWHERE. Is it even that good?

[@Chris-oz9qx]

Yeah, I have one of their wallets, they're quality.

[@computersales]

I could have told you that was a stupid idea from the get-go. As much as I hate eBay and Amazon you're not going to out compete them especially in some tiny niche market. On top of that as pointed out in the video fashion companies have no incentive to work with an organization like this when it means diluting their brand. I wish I could find stupid people to throw millions of dollars at me. There's probably some really dumb ideas like this in my head somewhere.

[@havencat9337]

Nvidia is next

[@EE-uj6tw]

Yeah I don’t think so. Nividia surpassed 2 trillion in market cap on Friday😂

[@godzillamothra5983]

it is farfetch indeed

[@MrMadvillan]

It’s basically consignment which is a poor business model to begin with.

[@mobiusinversion]

Serving the top .001% doesn’t scale

[@JaneC808]

Real real charge 40%

[@RichardKing-sx6xc]

*Farfetch* seems a little *Far Farfetched!!!*

[@VuTran-hr6gj]

I do not see Farfetch as innovation at all so this is bound to happen.

[@jadengrant]

This is a decent business, but it is not a damn billion-dollar idea, or Far Fetched should have built its own brand since it did develop a name. They blundered there.

[@TheGahta]

Hose just cant say neves 😅

[@spicemasterii6775]

The business plan was always farfetched

[@617au]

Their business model was... Farfetched

[@eXclusive1]

I am black british and was in the tech scene in London from 2012-2015, the amount of horse shovelling nonsense these VCs and founders like this guy made it unbearable. Ordinary brits do not get venture captial and it is always the same hot garbage selling founders that secure funding. Glad it failed because I remember the hype.