What is ‘Everything Trendy 21’ anyway? I am still not quite sure. My friend saw them set up a booth at a Staff Welfare Appreciation event some time last year at an ATL branch and said, ‘Hey, they sell ladies clothing etc. so you can follow them on Instagram.’ Clothes? Of course I will! I also love to support and promote young entrepreneurship ventures in Jamaica, but worthy ones. To date, their items have been pretty average. Some cute things, but none of the pictures posted have urged me to call them. The few things that struck an interest seemed to be overpriced. On one occasion, this was the case with TOMS. I commented along the lines of, ‘What a mark up’ and got a sassy response that was easy to ignore and forget because I cannot even remember it now. I surely wish that was the case with last Wednesday night!
A picture was posted advertising a pair of Charlotte Russe ‘sandals’, available in 2 colours, size 8 only. I immediately recognized them because I had bought the same style sandal from Charlotte Russe in a different colour just Easter gone. I scrolled down the comments to see that it was priced at $2500JMD. What?! I got those sandals for $5USD though. Now I am quite a thrifty shopper. I window shop, browse a lot, certainly remember my purchases and of course, save my receipts. Who knows what other deal may be in fine print or if they need me to fill out a survey for a discount on my next purchase.
As seen above, the slippers, that’s right, SLIPPERS not sandals, were actually on sale from a mere $7.99USD. So when you work it out, Everything Trendy 21 has marked them up by almost 200%! It is likely they also caught the sale price of $5USD. Now clearly they have a following that will buy them with no hesitation for that price. Great. But what about those that may not be aware of the market because most things seem so expensive everywhere and they buy it because it seems like easy access and is marketed as a ‘special offer’? But then they buck up the same thing in a store for far less than half the price they bought it for and get extremely annoyed, spread the word or just never shop with them again. What happens then? How will that support or enhance the longevity of ‘Everything Trendy 21’?
So I decided to think some more. Their instagram name just has telephone numbers for contact information and no location stated, so they don’t seem to sell wholesale or even have a store opened. That could very well mean that they have no overheads and may not have to pay customs with their small volume of items. We are all thriving Jamaicans for a good living, so we know there are ways around this. These are light, small sandals that a friend could have even carried down for them from foreign in their handbag. Are they factoring in airfare? If so, perhaps they could allocate that large percentage profit to another item that is worthy of it. The hashtags that irritated me were, ‘#special offer’ and ‘#BrandName’. That clearly was not a special offer and when did Charlotte Russe become a ‘Brand Name’? Oh please. Hilarious. Do they see J-Lo on the red carpet or Kendall Jenner on the runway in Charlotte Russe or Ross?! Charlotte Russe is a chain store that always has bargains! It is like saying you are fine dining at Burger King. So, I really could not help myself from commenting that I got them for $5US and that Charlotte Russe is not considered a ‘Brand name’. I thought that was actually a nice way of expressing my thoughts. Everything Trendy 21 responded by saying, ‘don’t u have anything to do…?’ Cue the ‘real tears laughter’ emoticon please. Is the owner 21 years old? I don’t have anything to do? Pardon me while I put up my feet after 10 in the night to relax and look through my instagram feed since I have been working ON my feet from after 8 in the morning to 7:45pm. I think I deserved a little ‘R and R’ before hitting the sheets. Just saying. I calmly responded saying something to the effect of, ‘Wow, well I like to browse and felt that they are misleading people. Furthermore, they are slippers/flip flops, not sandals (stated on the receipt) and Charlotte Russe is not even ‘Brand Name’ though. However with that kind of reaction I am going to quickly #unfollow. Thanks for the ‘Customer Service’.’ Everything Trendy 21 instantly deleted my comment saying, ‘u always just lurk & talk crap’; ‘y my page tho’; ‘go to hell’ as seen below.
All of those comments were left for other customers to see. Real professional there. I may not be up to date with all apps but doesn’t instagram have Direct Messaging aka DM? Like if they really wanted stoop to that low level?
Crap though? More like Facts. The proof is there. Even local store, Collectibles is selling similar slippers for $1200JMD plus tax. I got a pair of COACH flip flops from an outlet store on sale for $20.67USD when the dollar was $1USD to $101.50JMD! So please, wheel and come again. If you cannot justify your price, block or delete the person depending on whatever medium you are using, but do not go on an immature rampage and give them a story to tell. Until then, stock up some Christian Louboutins and thanks for the likes! I know I keep it trendy but always get my value for money 🙂