Online Personal shopping Service

[Rawfull]

I really don't like to be the kind of person to pile on... but really man?

It's weird that LBD is being singled out here. His feedback is simply a more detailed explanation of what we were all saying. Also, when the hell did anyone insult the entire "specialized service" industry? Pretty sure a case was made explicitly detailing how, and for who, similar services actually did work and made sense. The fact of the matter is that we gave honest opinions and you did not appreciate such honesty after explicitly asking for it. Starting out on a new venture/idea can be really challenging and I do wish you the best of luck. I just don't think this idea will be "the one" that takes off.

[armedferret]

You know Lessor Black Dog. I'm not sure if anyone has ever said this to you before but "YOU'RE A COLOSSAL DICK!" I came to this site for a little advice and some constructive criticism. If you didn't like the idea or wasn't a fan of it you could've politely said so, but instead you insult it, myself, and everyone in the industry that does offers a "specialized service". Just because it's not for "YOU" doesn't make it bad idea nor does it make the people that run it "lazy" people looking for a quick cash grab which is what you are insinuating. You know it is people like you that give internet forums a bad name!

All I'm going to chime in with is that there's a difference between respectful, constructive criticism, and insults/being a dick.

That you aren't able to differentiate one from the other indicates that entrepreneurship may not be the best field for you.

Best of luck in whatever endeavors you undertake.

[ajs116]

David - I don't think this service (or some variation of it) is as bad of an idea as some others here do. Sure, nobody that is a frequent Dappered visitor would use it, but that wouldn't be the target market of course.

I do this for free for my friends all the time. They know me as the guy that's into "style" and they ask me for ideas for a specific thing they need to buy (e.g. swimsuit, shoes, suit, etc.). They don't have their finger on the men's style pulse like a lot of us here do. They're not familiar with popular brands or good sources. They don't have the knowledge or desire to sort through the unlimited number of options out there. It's can be overwhelming for sure.

I'm always happy to curate a half dozen or so options that I think suit their personal style well. Then, as a last step they use their own judgement to decide which of the half dozen options they like best. It allows them to exercise some semblance of personal style choice without the hassle of sorting through hundreds of options.

Are there blogs/websites that already curate selections like this? Yes, duh. To differentiate, the service would have to be personalized for each person in a way that a website that caters to a large audience cannot.

Ultimately, the market would dictate if this is a valuable service or not. Either people will pay for it or they will not.

[josiahv]

You know Lessor Black Dog. I'm not sure if anyone has ever said this to you before but "YOU'RE A COLOSSAL DICK!" I came to this site for a little advice and some constructive criticism. If you didn't like the idea or wasn't a fan of it you could've politely said so, but instead you insult it, myself, and everyone in the industry that does offers a "specialized service". Just because it's not for "YOU" doesn't make it bad idea nor does it make the people that run it "lazy" people looking for a quick cash grab which is what you are insinuating. You know it is people like you that give internet forums a bad name!

LBD is of the my favorite folks to read on this forum. He's opinionated and direct and has his own ideas. Perhaps that's feels harsh, but I come to these forums for direct opinions.

That said, Dappered is one of the friendliest forums I have encountered and it's why I frequent here more often than some of the other menswear sites. If your idea can't make it here...

I've definitely been there with an internally brilliant idea that withers under the full light of day. Recalibrate and try again.

[LesserBlackDog]

LBD is of the my favorite folks to read on this forum.

Aw shucks

[Geo]

Furthermore, most subscription services produce there own wares or offer some sort of retail environment to purchase the goods they're promoting. They make their revenue primarily through sales. How do you expect to generate revenue? Do you expect your customers to pay for you to tell them what to wear and then go the extra step and pay more to purchase the goods? Would you be able to offer any sort of discount at the retailers your directing your customers toward?

[burban]

It is a bad idea and he was kind enough to take the time to say so and explain why. Sometimes brutal honesty is the kindest thing one can do for another and it's the kind of thing you can only get from strangers sometimes. Calling someone a colossal dick for offering free advice as opposed to the kind you're selling is the pot calling the kettle a colossal dick.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

While I agree with the content of LBD's criticism and that David's reaction was over the top, the manner of delivery of the criticism seems unnecessarily sneering. The italics, scare quotes, and inferring the intent that David is trying to do as little work as possible and essentially get money for something LBD doesn't see value in all came across to me as bordering on a personal attack on David.

Blunt criticism is fine, but there are better ways to deliver the message than this.

[Bobbumman]

I agree for the most part, I think David got a pretty hostile reception. At the same time, given how often LBD or another mod has to chew out someone promoting a product or soliciting free info/leads, I don't completely blame them. Of course the easiest thing to do would probably have been to just move the thread over to this area anyway (be real, when was the last time you were here?) but I took a little pleasure in the snootiness.

[ajs116]

the manner of delivery of the criticism seems unnecessarily sneering.

I agree

[LesserBlackDog]

If someone rolls up to the forum looking to drum up interest for a business scheme that rides the coattails of popular subscription services, while requiring none of the actual business acumen/investment/infrastructure required to run one of those services - and apparently offering none of the actual benefit to the consumer of one of those services - then I'm not going to be shy saying it. There is a difference in the degree of bluntness I will use/number of shits I give about potentially hurting someone's feelings when they are pitching a business idea versus, say, asking for feedback on an outfit they wore. I might use the ol' compliment sandwich and positive feedback to encourage someone who's looking to improve their style and posting pictures of their outfits for feedback. I'm less likely to use them when someone brings a business idea to the table for comment and I legitimately see no useful value in the service he is proposing to sell to others.

If the dude genuinely thinks his business is legit, he should be able to succinctly and rationally defend the concept and explain the value of his service to consumers. If he can't explain the value of his services to us, who generally like clothes and shopping and aren't paying him a thing, how does he expect to convince anyone who doesn't like clothes or shopping to pay him for the supposed value of his services? ("You're not the target audience, you wouldn't get it" is not a valid defense or explanation of the value of his services.) If his response to questions being raised about the value or legitimacy of his service is to overreact and resort to childish personal attacks, then IMO that's a pretty good indication that not only has he not really thought his business concept through with any real seriousness or effort, but that he lacks the emotional resiliency/maturity required to succeed in providing online services to customers in the first place.

[hornsup84]

If someone rolls up to the forum looking to drum up interest for a business scheme that rides the coattails of popular subscription services, while requiring none of the actual business acumen/investment/infrastructure required to run one of those services - and apparently offering none of the actual benefit to the consumer of one of those services - then I'm not going to be shy saying it. There is a difference in the degree of bluntness I will use/number of shits I give about potentially hurting someone's feelings when they are pitching a business idea versus, say, asking for feedback on an outfit they wore. I might use the ol' compliment sandwich and positive feedback to encourage someone who's looking to improve their style and posting pictures of their outfits for feedback. I'm less likely to use them when someone brings a business idea to the table for comment and I legitimately see no useful value in the service he is proposing to sell to others.

If the dude genuinely thinks his business is legit, he should be able to succinctly and rationally defend the concept and explain the value of his service to consumers. If he can't explain the value of his services to us, who generally like clothes and shopping and aren't paying him a thing, how does he expect to convince anyone who doesn't like clothes or shopping to pay him for the supposed value of his services? ("You're not the target audience, you wouldn't get it" is not a valid defense or explanation of the value of his services.) If his response to questions being raised about the value or legitimacy of his service is to overreact and resort to childish personal attacks, then IMO that's a pretty good indication that not only has he not really thought his business concept through with any real seriousness or effort, but that he lacks the emotional resiliency/maturity required to succeed in providing online services to customers in the first place.

I generally agree with this. This isn't shitting down someone's neck for no reason... I think you have to take a more "Shark Tank" approach to these types of questions (or at least what I'd think they do... I've only watched once or twice on mute at the gym, and seen some funny clips online). If you don't, and just soften it and lead him to think it's a legit idea, are you really doing a guy any favors when he flounders along / wastes time on an idea that doesn't seem to have legs? He's essentially providing a thesis and asking for people to shoot holes in it... OP just didn't seem to appreciate when the holes seemed rather large, as opposed to (which I'm assuming he was wanting by posting) having us tell him how to tighten up the idea and make it a better business plan.

[Alex.C]

The idea did seem to be: Dappered.com, but you pay for it.