Oh, I'm spilling the tea today. In this bonus episode of Big.
Business, we are going to be chatting about my experience with the Iconic.
Now I did we mention the Yeah, we were talking about the.
Iconic in like one of last week's episode about the free shipping and everything. Anyway, someone posted in our Fate Society Facebook group something really funny. They had shopped with us and shopped with the Iconic, and then they had reused their Iconic bag to send their return back to Fate.
And she'd put a line through the Iconic with like a because you know how they've got like their big logo on their shipping bag, and then she'd put a big permanent marker line through it, and then underneath she'd like carefully drawn out the Fate logo to make it look like a Fate bag. And we just thought that was the funniest thing ever. Which, by the way, people
send rittens in other brands' bags. Like, let's say you've shopped on the Iconic and Fate and then you want to send back your Fate return, but you've ripped the Fate bag apart. It's okay to put your return in another brand's bag.
And send it back to us. I think a lot of people get scared.
And go oh, I don't want to send it back in a show po bag because like, no one's going to care if you do that. You can return your return in any business's bag and it doesn't matter. So anyway, I posted it in our Fate Society Facebook group and I said, whoever did this, like this made us crack up this morning because she'd like carefully written our logos so nicely to try and make it look like a
Fate bag. And then I don't know what someone commented, but something about The Iconic, and then I replied saying, oh, like, I have spoken with the Iconic twice over the years about Fate being like stopped on the Iconic.
And I have a little bit of tea when it comes to it.
And someone reply and said, ooh, you should make a big business episode about this.
So that's exactly what I'm doing today.
I'm going to spill the tea on the two times that I've interacted with people that work at the Iconic and we were in talks about Fate being on the Iconic and then why we didn't end up going on it. Now I want to start this out by saying, I am a massive customer on the Iconic, like that is my number one store that I shop at, obviously outside of Fate. If I ever need something, I'll always get it on the Iconic. If I need an outfit, and like we don't have something that I'm looking for with Fate,
I'll jump on the Iconic and buy something. I get a lot of my beauty products on the Iconic, all my shoes, Like I'm a massive fan of the Iconic.
I want to start out by saying that.
But I've had two interactions with people from the Iconic over the years, and I've gone into my emails to actually find some of these emails because obviously, the way the Iconic works is it's a marketplace, right, Like the Iconic have their own brands that they manufacture themselves, and like one of the women's fashion brands that they have on there is called Daisy. But it's a marketplace, like you can shop all the brands that you kind of know on the Iconic. It's just a marketplace where other
brands can be for sale on there. And that's how they're so huge, because they just have hundreds, if not thousands, of other brands on their app.
Do they just do their basic range or do they have like a larger range like you would have fade.
Like, I'm not one hundred percent sure of what brands are the Iconics actual brands. I know, like on the women's side, the Daisy one is one of their brands, but I'm not one hundred percent sure, like how many other brands they actually have that are their own. Yeah.
Also, if it's the first time you tune into an episode, I am producer X, so I'm not a random.
Man on the random men.
I forget to introduce myself and people like, who the hell is this man?
So that's the way the Iconic works, Like when everyone knows that you can go on there, you can shop Tony Bianco Berllini, like they've got all brands on their platform, right, and as a business, you can sign.
Up and be on their marketplace.
So the first time that I ever spoke with anyone from the Iconic was in May of twenty twenty two, so almost three years ago now. And the Iconic have buyers, right, so the buyers reach out to the brand saying, hey, this is us. I'm the buyer for women's wear like they go out and find women's war brands. So they reached out to us in two thousand and twenty two,
actually April twenty twenty two. I'm reaching out to you about the potential of working with the iconic Australia's number one fashion online retailer with twenty million visits per month and organic social.
Following and blah blah blah blah blah.
The team and I love your product and brand story and feel there is an alignment with our customers. I've attached to deck that goes into more detail about our business and the marketplace model, and I was so excited, like you could me in twenty twenty two, like this is three years ago. Fate is super small back then compared to what we are now. At that point, I think we went to a size twenty two or twenty four, which was huge back then because like, not many people
were doing that. And I was just so excited when I got this email, like I was jumping up and down. I knew nothing about how it all worked, but I was so excited. So I went back to them and said, of course, like I'm I'm so interested. I would love to know more, like I was just ecstatic. And then they came back, which was the weirdest thing ever. And she said, well, I think I emailed and then I didn't hear back, and then I emailed again to like, hey like following up. So then that was April and
now this is May. And then she said, sorry for the late response. Our mainstream team has reviewed and decided that Fate styles are quite similar to the assortment we currently already have online, so we might revisit in a year or two time instead, if that's okay.
And I was.
Sorry, yeah, that is the most bizarre I know ever they.
Reached out to us. Yeah, And so I was like, of course.
What do you mean you've reviewed? You would have had to.
Review in the viewers first place find you. This is in twenty twenty two.
I don't think they had any brands on there at that point that even went to a size twenty And so I got super upset.
Right Lisa, and I said, hi, person's name.
Ah, that's such a shame. I think a huge I think the huge point of difference for us is our size range. We currently go to a size twenty two or twenty four in all of our styles, So I feel like we could have been a great addition to your customer base with how hard it is for anyone above a size fourteen to shop.
Pretty much anywhere.
If you do ever change your mind, let me know, have a great week and hopefully speak soon.
And did you hear back?
No, never got a what I never heard back from that, which was fine, like no, that is I defended that. They reached out and said we love your brand and your story and everything, and then I said, oh, I'd love to chat and she's like, actually no.
Upon reflection, we actually don't want to work with him. Don't send the email on the first place, do you due diligence?
Yes, it was bloody weird, but again this was three years ago, so I kind of let it slide and whatever, you know, and fate was a baby back then, like we might have had two stores, then we might.
Have just had the one.
I don't remember, okay, So then I let that die, like that idea die.
I didn't find out any of the pricing or anything like. We didn't get to that point.
It was just like the intro email and then them saying actually no, we changed our minds. Sorry, And I was like, no worries and Then in October twenty twenty three, so not too long ago. What's that a year and a half ago, we had another buyer reach out who I'd actually connected with on TikTok, and she again said she's been a massive fan of the brand for a while and I would love to see if you guys wanted to have a chat about the opportunity to have fate on the Iconic.
And I was like, okay, here we go again.
And so I actually then got on a call with this girl and this is no shame to this girl at all.
What I'm about to tell.
All of you, like this is quite literally just business, and here on big business, I just say how it is and I share my real experiences. So I got excited again. I was like, cool, like round two a couple of years later, let's have a look into this. And I scheduled in a call with this person as well as one of her colleagues.
So it was me and then two of them, and we had.
Like a discovery call thing, just an initial meeting where you kind of talk through what it's like to be on the Iconic. And what I learned is there's a lot of different ways that you can be on the Iconic because it's such a massive marketplace. They've got lots of different options and you can, for example, you can be on the Iconic but ship from your warehouse, right, so like orders come through the Iconic, but then you ship them, or they can like warehouse your stock and
they can ship it. And there's just all different kinds of partnerships that you can do with them. So I did this call with them, and I was like, cool, send me over the pricing deck, like I need to know how much this costs, because that's one thing I've always been super curious about, is like, if you're on the Iconic, how much money are they actually taking? Like surely it can't be cheap. And so I I've still got it here. I'm not going to tell you how
much it is exactly. But I had the call. It all went great, they were really lovely, and then I had them send through like the pricing guide and deck, and straight away I was.
In my mind.
My mind went to how on earth am I supposed to even make any money by being on the Iconic Because the cost to be on there and how much they take of every sale, it was just astronomical and don't quote me on this, but I believe like they can put your stuff on.
Sale as well.
Like I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I just remember looking at all these numbers and saying, oh my god, like, I don't even know how we're supposed to make money if that's how much they're taking. And from what I could gather based on the conversations that I've had and my research is I think for brands to go on the Iconic and be on their marketplace, you're going on there for the exposure you're going on there to be
exposed to. They would have millions of customers. Like that's I think the number one reason why you'd want to go on there. And if I was to put on there, it wouldn't be to make money because by the time they take all of their percentages and everything and the shipping, like, you're not really making any money. It's more so just from an exposure standpoint.
If you did decide to go on there, now, would you put only a limited kind of range on there to get that exposure and hopefully people will then kind of click through or search fate, yeah, as it comes to your store.
And I remember talking with them about that, and I think you can just pick and choose like your best sellers or whatever. But again, this was like a year and a half ago, so I don't exactly remember, but I kind of went back to them after a little bit and I said, I've got the email here. As excited as we are at the idea of being aligned with the Iconic, we aren't too sure how he would actually make money with the commission being and I gave.
Her the I can't wait for you to tell me that, and then I.
Said, I mean no offense by this whatsoever, as I completely understand just how big the Iconic is and that everything is priced the way it is for a reason. But I said, I am wondering how brands really make money being on your platform, question Mark, Like I was just genuinely like, I actually want to know unless you're a business that has like an extreme profit margin, which I wish we did, but the reality of it is like you don't.
But like Adadas and all those brands that are sold on their.
Their profit margin would be so much higher than us. So I went back and said, like, I'm wondering how brands make money being on your platform. My guess is having super low production costs and marking up the retail price high so there is a huge profit margin. Or would you say that the main benefit for brands being on the iconic is more for from the exposure and accessibility side of it. Again, I mean no harm by this,
and I totally respect the business model entirely. It may not just be financially the best choice for us at this stage.
I never heard back.
No email back.
I never heard back.
But again, like I was saying, and like, right now, this isn't the best fit for us, but I would have loved, like there's a few questions in there with question marks, I would have loved some clarity totally.
And that was that.
And so that was in October twenty twenty three, and then my reply I was in November. I never heard back, and again, like this question was probably out of this buyer's scope of.
Work kind of thing.
I find that so professional.
Though, even if it was just like a hey, yep, completely understand, you know, every business is different, blah blah blah.
But I just never heard back.
But depending on what answer she gave you, that could have it could have changed in mind, do you know what I mean?
Yeah, absolutely.
She could have pushed for it and like shown success of other businesses that have been on there, she could have spoken more about like the exposure and that we would be way more accessible to more people if we were on that.
I just saw a potential. Now that's no commission for me. I'm out, That's what I think.
So those are my two experiences with going on to the Iconic, And if I was to ever chat with them again now I wouldn't do it. The commission was far too much that we wouldn't make money, but I get that it would expose us to lots of potential new customers. But after like seeing all the pricing and how it works, I was like, this is just not
for me. I don't understand how we would make money, and we would still be doing a whole lot of work like that was with us still shipping all the orders and everything.
So that's my tea. No shame to the Iconic.
I would be scared to know how many orders I've placed on the Iconic, Like it's actually quite dangerous, don't.
I don't really shop there.
That's like my one place that I shop because they've got everything that they've got makeup skincare a.
The deal's good.
They do have a lot of.
Deals often and like I've got the app and you always get the notifications and whatever. They do lots of sales, but that's just like my go to place to shop. And again, like they're shipping is so fast, especially you here in Sydney.
You could order something and it could come to date.
Are they trade based yes, Oh, because I'm I mean not so much anymore. I was such an a sauce boy.
But it's but like even me and Newcastle, like most of the time I can get something within one or two days, which is really good. But in Sydney they do same day delivery and certain brands like they're really good.
And this is no shame to the Iconic.
I think they're an extremely aspirational business, you know, and they're fucking massive, Like let me look.
Up the Iconic revenue three hundred and six hundred and twenty five million, wow in twenty twenty four. Like they're extremely inspiring. But I've just had two weird encounters.
With them that's left kind of a bad taste in my mouth. And also like I just couldn't afford to go on there because like we just wouldn't make any money at the end of the day.
But I thought that's a story worth sharing with.
That some yummy tea if anyone has any because I know I have some follow up questions, but our bonus can't go on forever a bonus. But if you have any follow up questions, head onto the Big Business Podcast Instagram send them through.
Yeah, send us a DM. We would love to hear your stories.
But anyway, there's my tea when it comes to the Iconic and you're definitely not seeing fad on there anytime soon, but still love you Iconic.
I'm probably one of their number one bloody customers.