Subscription Men’s Clothing Startup Bombfell Raises $730,000 Seed Round(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
Subscription Men’s Clothing Startup Bombfell Raises $730,000 Seed Round
http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/13/bombfell-730/
66 comments
I'm who this service is made for. Typically when I find a place, i'll stay loyal to them for a while. The right place has to have these 3 qualities. First, the price has to be a good value. I don't want to pay a lot for something that will last a short time. I wear cloths until i can't. Second, there has to be at least one employee there that is willing to help me find something. I can't pick cloths out, I need a guy/girl willing to say "this is not a good shirt for you". and the 3rd is the universal, the cloths need to be close to my style, which I would describe as business casual. I'm probably going to start with the essential, but i might sample the "luxury" level first. If it proves fruitful, perhaps i'll stay with it.
"I'm who this service is made for."
Same here - pretty much all my clothes are either things I bought (starkly functional - mostly cross-use for outdoors activities) or purchased under the influence of my long-suffering spouse, who does have excellent taste - even I admit that the Armani leather jacket she (I) bought years ago is fantastic.
Same here - pretty much all my clothes are either things I bought (starkly functional - mostly cross-use for outdoors activities) or purchased under the influence of my long-suffering spouse, who does have excellent taste - even I admit that the Armani leather jacket she (I) bought years ago is fantastic.
@arethuza We've found the significant other's approval is a critical factor in keeping it :)
Hey I'm one of the founders. I don't think that trusting brands is mutually exclusive with customers who aren't extremely knowledgeable - if anything, that's the reason brands exist: as a signal for customers who don't have much of their own "information" to rely on.
Many of our customers actually really enjoy discovering new brands that they wouldn't have found on their own, vs. sticking to the tried and true.
And for guys who already know and value specific name-brand clothes, there's actually another benefit which a lot of guys probably identify with: the ability to get more clothes from that brand's most recent collection without having to go get it yourself.
Many of our customers actually really enjoy discovering new brands that they wouldn't have found on their own, vs. sticking to the tried and true.
And for guys who already know and value specific name-brand clothes, there's actually another benefit which a lot of guys probably identify with: the ability to get more clothes from that brand's most recent collection without having to go get it yourself.
There's a third category: guys who like mid-level clothing but don't have time to test the fit of different brands. I gave Bombfell my measurements (not bizarre but outside of what you find at Macy's) and they've sent two shirts and two pairs of pants. The first pair of pants didn't fit, but they took my feedback and sent a much better-fitting pair for no extra cost. I could "defect" and buy the same brands elsewhere, but it would cost more than $69.
Given the choice to sell brand name goods at brand name prices, vs selling off brand goods at off brand prices, there's a lot more profit in premium brand products.
Of course it would be even more profitable if you could sell off brand goods at premium brand prices - but would such an offering attract enough customers to make much money?
Of course it would be even more profitable if you could sell off brand goods at premium brand prices - but would such an offering attract enough customers to make much money?
I'll go ahead and definitively say "no it wouldn't make money" selling off brand goods at premium brand prices :)
> On the one hand, you're targeting guys who feel like they don't know enough about fashion to be able to make good clothing choices themselves -- so they trust an unknown stylist with unknown credentials to make the choice for them.
> On the other hand, you're targeting guys who value premium, name-brand clothes.
I fit both of those categories, and I don't think that I am particularly unusual in that regard. That said, I share similar reservations about a subscription model for clothing as others have voiced here, but I might give it a go.
> On the other hand, you're targeting guys who value premium, name-brand clothes.
I fit both of those categories, and I don't think that I am particularly unusual in that regard. That said, I share similar reservations about a subscription model for clothing as others have voiced here, but I might give it a go.
Just commented elsewhere in this thread about this, we intentionally made the service super flexible so it's not a "cram things down your throat" model. You can rush or delay your next shipment, cancel a pick if you don't like how it looks, set frequency to every 2 or every 3 months or put your membership on pause indefinitely. Because we pay for shipping both ways, we only make money if we're sending you stuff you actually want.
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I can only speak for myself, but I just signed up, so I guess I'm part of their market.
I consider myself (or at least, aspire to be) decently fashionable, but I have a lot of anxiety about actually clothes purchasing. The whole subscription + curation model means a) clothes appear without me having to actually make the (for me, very fraught) decision and b) when I think that an item of clothing looks good, I have some corroboration on that from someone who does this for a living.
I consider myself (or at least, aspire to be) decently fashionable, but I have a lot of anxiety about actually clothes purchasing. The whole subscription + curation model means a) clothes appear without me having to actually make the (for me, very fraught) decision and b) when I think that an item of clothing looks good, I have some corroboration on that from someone who does this for a living.
That in a nutshell is what we want to fix. Clothing retail online and offline isn't built with the majority of guys in mind. I think there's a large, silent majority of guys who would buy clothes more often with better guidance and curation.
I really don't care about 'name brands' but they seem to have higher quality clothing. I assume it's classic price discrimination and floor space issues, but I don't see why you can't have a high quality online only brands that don't charge 90$ for a decent pair of pants.
I think the issue is cost-driven. Particularly if you're going to offer free shipping both ways, you're going to have to charge a certain floor to make a profit after the manufacturing cost of the clothes. If you ship a 2 pound package (pretty reasonable estimate for pants) across the US, you're potentially looking at $20 hit if you pay for shipping there and they choose to return it.
Just like most of these services, they claim big and tall sizing and then utterly fail at it.
Biggest size? 2x. I haven't been able to comfortably fit into a 2x shirt since my freshman year of high school. My shoulders prohibit that, and even if they didn't, a non-tall shirt is not going to be of use to anyone over 6'3".
Biggest size? 2x. I haven't been able to comfortably fit into a 2x shirt since my freshman year of high school. My shoulders prohibit that, and even if they didn't, a non-tall shirt is not going to be of use to anyone over 6'3".
Hey I'm a founder. We actually just started picking up real Big & Tall sizing within past 2 months. Still gathering data on how B&T fits guys' bodies, but learning a lot.
And don't forget that the larger sizes from vendors vary widely. A Ralph Lauren (black/purple) xl, xlb, xlt, 2xlt and 2xlb fit very different torso shapes and that's just one manufacturer.
Also, monthly auto-clothing deliveries implies a level of replacability for the profitable clothes that would lead me to think they'd look good for a limited amount of time and that quality fabrics and tailoring would be limited. Which then makes me think they're not targeting people with standards and taste so much as people who do not want to think about clothes and that wouldn't be something I'd want to use.
Also, monthly auto-clothing deliveries implies a level of replacability for the profitable clothes that would lead me to think they'd look good for a limited amount of time and that quality fabrics and tailoring would be limited. Which then makes me think they're not targeting people with standards and taste so much as people who do not want to think about clothes and that wouldn't be something I'd want to use.
Respectfully disagree, our goal is to establish a lifetime relationship with our customers, not churn-and-burn them out within first 3 months. If we sent clothes that fell apart people would stop using us.
We want users to come back to us for their wardrobe needs whenever they find they need them. That's why we built the product to be flexible, so you can schedule your next shipment when you want, or even pause indefinitely.
We want users to come back to us for their wardrobe needs whenever they find they need them. That's why we built the product to be flexible, so you can schedule your next shipment when you want, or even pause indefinitely.
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How many people really need new clothing every month? It seems like subscribers would eventually have all the clothing they need (or more), and then they would no longer need the service. Is there a way to suspend the service, or slow the rate of deliveries? Maybe a way to do a one-time order instead of a subscription?
We've intentionally made it super flexible. You can rush or delay your next shipment, choose to skip a month, ask for another pick if you don't like it. Can change frequency to every 2 or 3 months if you'd like too. Can indefinitely put account on pause.
That's awesome. Congrats guys!
Been a happy bombfell customer for 7 months and absolutely LOVE it.
Signup here: http://bombfell.com/?rc=3075PuHAG
Signup here: http://bombfell.com/?rc=3075PuHAG
I was part of the beta trial and I consider the Bombfell team my friends (even if we've never actually met). This service has changed the way I dress. To address what @jawns was saying, I was one of those who didn't care about brands and also made questionable fashion decisions. If you're willing to give Bombfell a try, they will change your mind about quality brands. They make you look good and will work with you till you're happy with your selection. These guys are awesome and I wish them 1000% success!
$69/month is about 10x my clothing budget! Should I be embarrassed? Ashamed? Is this a sign I'm not dressing well :-(
(I go out once every other year and spend 100-300 on new clothes)
(I go out once every other year and spend 100-300 on new clothes)
Where do you live? I can't imagine how you're buying enough clothes to get through the week. You're spending $50-$150 per year?
Prices at Target.com indicate that I'd have to spend $65 just to replace my socks ($14 for a pack of 10), underwear ($28 for 8 pair), and undershirts ($23 for a pack of 6). And realistically, I'd be looking at another $23 for more undershirts because 6 isn't enough to get through a week. So I'm more than halfway through your maximum yearly budget and don't have any pants or shirts that are actually supposed to be seen. Granted, these things might not be fully replaced every year, but these are also just basics.
Also, how are you affording shoes? Even just one pair per year would eat up half of your max budget. Cheaper shoes can be found, but I find them so non-durable that it more than offsets the savings.
I don't think you should be embarrassed. If you can buy all your clothes for that price and not look homeless, good for you. I just don't know how you could manage it.
Prices at Target.com indicate that I'd have to spend $65 just to replace my socks ($14 for a pack of 10), underwear ($28 for 8 pair), and undershirts ($23 for a pack of 6). And realistically, I'd be looking at another $23 for more undershirts because 6 isn't enough to get through a week. So I'm more than halfway through your maximum yearly budget and don't have any pants or shirts that are actually supposed to be seen. Granted, these things might not be fully replaced every year, but these are also just basics.
Also, how are you affording shoes? Even just one pair per year would eat up half of your max budget. Cheaper shoes can be found, but I find them so non-durable that it more than offsets the savings.
I don't think you should be embarrassed. If you can buy all your clothes for that price and not look homeless, good for you. I just don't know how you could manage it.
Don't need to be embarrassed or ashamed. I think you'll find there's a marked quality difference at 10x cheaper, just because the economics wouldn't work out if you used higher quality materials and design and sold for 10x cheaper.
You are probably not their target demographic then. :)
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I was way excited for this, but was a little disappointed as I went through the signup process.
I'm not terribly fashion-savvy, and I don't know how to pair things. If there were an 'outfit' option where you could receive a pair of pants / shorts and a fitting top for about $150 / month, I would sign up, and many of my friends would too.
I'm not terribly fashion-savvy, and I don't know how to pair things. If there were an 'outfit' option where you could receive a pair of pants / shorts and a fitting top for about $150 / month, I would sign up, and many of my friends would too.
We do send multiple items per month on user request. Just email us at bombsquad[at]bombfell[dot]com after you sign up.
Looks similar to TrunkClub ( http://www.trunkclub.com/ ), which I saw on HN a couple of months ago. But with cheaper prices. (And hopefully better service -- the TrunkClub advisor I talked to missed an appointment, was confrontational, and didn't seem to listen well).
Yea we definitely want to offer clothing at reasonable prices. We're bringing web technology to the traditionally offline/manual process of personal styling so that we don't have to charge exorbitantly high prices to turn a profit. More automated, less 1:1 back-and-forth, but still with fantastic customer service.
I really hate it when I see an awesome service that I would like to try and then realize that it only works in the US.
Sorry for the delay - international shipping is NOT pretty. Particularly when you want to enable cost-effective, painless returns.
I totally understand the difficulties involved, it would be impossible to start working worldwide from the very beginning. As with everything else I will have to wait for it to come to Europe. The problem is both the waiting time and the number of companies for which it isn't worth it to explore markets outside the US.
With e-comm, the issue with Europe (from the prelim investigations we've done) is the lack of centralized shipping service. Whereas in US you can use one system to cost-effectively reach any of 300 million people, for Europe you're dealing with lot of local fiefdoms, OR you're paying significantly higher rates for UPS/Fedex. Not to mention return logistics!
What's the reasoning behind not offering other bits of clothing like socks and boxers?
Also, do you get huge shipments of the exact same garments, or do you try to keep the offerings unique so friends don't end up getting the same clothes each month?
Also, do you get huge shipments of the exact same garments, or do you try to keep the offerings unique so friends don't end up getting the same clothes each month?
That's on the roadmap. We didn't start out with that because you run into the Kozmo.com problem (lots of human-powered service for a few bucks). We still have to make enough margin to clothe and feed the stylists making your picks :)
No it's not one-size-fits-all, every pick is personalized literally to you. We also keep track of friends through the invite codes to prevent #twinning.
No it's not one-size-fits-all, every pick is personalized literally to you. We also keep track of friends through the invite codes to prevent #twinning.
I had that request to the team. I hear it's coming soon.
Everyone get's something different - it's highly personalized picks, and the stylists work with through. Last month I sent back 3 pairs of pants till I finally got the one pair I loved. Shameless Invite Link: http://bombfell.com/?rc=3075PuHAG
Everyone get's something different - it's highly personalized picks, and the stylists work with through. Last month I sent back 3 pairs of pants till I finally got the one pair I loved. Shameless Invite Link: http://bombfell.com/?rc=3075PuHAG
I've been using Bombfell since the summer and absolutely love it. If you have any questions on how it works, I'll try my best to answer them.
1. If there's three people in my office all with subscriptions, do we all show up in identical shirts on delivery day?
2. My online clothes purchases have sometimes had poor fit. How good have you found it?
3. How much input do you get into what you actually receive? Let's say I have enough jeans already - can I opt out of getting more jeans?
2. My online clothes purchases have sometimes had poor fit. How good have you found it?
3. How much input do you get into what you actually receive? Let's say I have enough jeans already - can I opt out of getting more jeans?
1. Four of my friends have subscriptions, the only items we have all received were a pair of dark jeans.
2. The fit has been excellent for me. I am a slim build between small and medium so I get shirts in both sizes. They know their brands and how they run.
3. They have a settings page with on/off switches that let you opt in or out of all clothing items. You can even send the stylists pictures of clothing you already have and ask them to find something that matches.
2. The fit has been excellent for me. I am a slim build between small and medium so I get shirts in both sizes. They know their brands and how they run.
3. They have a settings page with on/off switches that let you opt in or out of all clothing items. You can even send the stylists pictures of clothing you already have and ask them to find something that matches.
1. We keep track of friends via the personalized invite codes to prevent just that. Even if you don't use those codes, every item is picked for your body shape, skin tone etc. so odds of that happening are low.
2. Already answered :)
3. You can also set preferences in your dashboard to NEVER receive categories (eg you can turn "jeans" off).
2. Already answered :)
3. You can also set preferences in your dashboard to NEVER receive categories (eg you can turn "jeans" off).
2. Very good. They ask for a decent set of measurements, collect feedback on every item, and remember comments like "I have big calves from running".
3. Yes. You also get an email before each shipment and can cancel (like Amazon Subscribe & Save).
3. Yes. You also get an email before each shipment and can cancel (like Amazon Subscribe & Save).
Page keeps crashing in Chrome on OSX after clicking get started. I get through about 4 steps and the page crashes the Chrome window.
Are you using any extensions? I'm using Chrome on OSX and not able to replicate that.
All around pretty awesome service. Good for them.
When you folks hitting the UK? You guys rock!
Undetermined - int'l shipping logistics are a Gordian Knot!
On the one hand, you're targeting guys who feel like they don't know enough about fashion to be able to make good clothing choices themselves -- so they trust an unknown stylist with unknown credentials to make the choice for them.
On the other hand, you're targeting guys who value premium, name-brand clothes.
I would think that if you're in category one, you wouldn't know enough to have strong brand preferences, and if you're in category two, you know enough that putting everything in the hands of a stylist would be uncomfortable for you.