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Choosing Faire or Fashiongo?

If you're a new boutique you may have come across the two largest websites, Faire and Fashiongo, when searching for wholesale clothing and accessories. These two giants have cultivated the largest following of boutiques by creating two sites that carry virtually all American boutique brands.  Let's dissect each website and discuss the pros and cons.

Fashiongo

Fashiongo is the original online wholesale showroom and the longest standing. Sites like these cropped up during the web boom and it offered something unique that the boutique and small business world hadn't seen before, 24/7 purchasing.  Before sites like Fashiongo boutique owners purchased at shows that took place a couple times throughout the year.

Fashiongo is a wholesale showroom and it aims to provide the boutique owner with every American brand possible. So what are some pro's about Fashiongo?

PROS

  • Consolidated Shipping - One of the most expensive issues a boutique owner runs into is the cost of shipping. The only way to mitigate this is to combine multiple vendors into one shipment. The simple math is that you can save 4-5x by combining a half a dozen orders into one shipment.  Fashiongo is very unique in offering this benefit. The way it offers this by utilizing their LA central warehouse where designated vendors drop off packages. Fashiongo combines these dropped off orders for free! Currently Faire does not offer this.
  • Net Terms - Do you want to buy now and pay later and is this something you think would benefit your company? It can be super beneficial with the seasonality of the industry where sales happen in bursts and aren't all that consistent. If this is the case then you can apply for dynamic net terms and get up to 60 day net terms.  This benefit was initially only provided by Faire and Fashiongo only recently rolled this out.
  • Price - The price, for now, is probably one of the lowest compared to most sites. Sites like Fashiongo and Faire charge a commission a top of the vendors and when the vendors create a price that commission is baked into the price. 
  • High Fashion Brands - I don't know how many boutiques are interested in expensive high fashion brands but if they are then Fashiongo is one of the very few places they can go to shop for exclusive brands. With prices of $50+ per piece I would expect that only a few boutiques throughout the country are capable of offering these but if it's something you really need Fashiongo's got it!
  • Vendor User Interface - Sorry for the big words! But all this means is that its very easy to search for and access brands. If you have a particular brands in mind or you want to search for similar brands to the one you like there are several easy features on the site that make it easy to accomplish this. I particularly love the image finder on the search bar where you can simply drag an image of a clothing item you want to find and Fashiongo will present you with all the of items and vendors that have that item.
  • Exclusive Vendors - Fashiongo predates Faire but almost a decade and because of this fact they were able to lock in many of the top vendors to contracts that make them exclusive too Fashiongo.

CONS 

  • Price - Although this was highlighted as a pro I'm sad to report that the prices are currently rising compared to years past. From what I understand through sources is that the commission rate has increased considerably and the cost is being put on the clothing. With that said the prices are still more competitive than Faire.
  • Limited Accessories - Fashiongo has concentrated their showcase on clothing vendors and over the years Faire has become the go-to place for Etsy like unique accessories, leaving Fashiongo to handle much of the clothing. 

Faire

Faire is backed by silicon valley investors and hundreds of millions of dollars. This is a great thing for Boutique owners because at the end of the day competition is the best thing for the market and having the power of smart wiz kids helping you take on large brick and mortars can only be a plus. Let's take a look some of the pros and cons.

PROS

  • Etsy - I like to think of Faire as the Etsy of the wholesale market. Offering a massive range of gadgets, toys, accessories Faire has cornered the market with stay at home and small business women who create crafts that are ideal for boutiques to sell. Faire actually started out as an accessories wholesale market and it's only two years ago did they decide to provide wholesale clothing.  At that time they rolled out net 60 terms and the rest is history.
  • Dynamic Terms - Both Fashiongo and Faire offer dynamic terms but Faire's application process is a lot easier and more likely than not you can get up to 60 day net terms. 
  • Curated Search - Faire curates it's website specifically to the user. Using AI and algorithms it figures out the type of products you are looking for and presents those brands to you. Some boutique owners really hate this but I will say for new boutique owners this is a great benefit if your not aware of all of the brands that currently exist. With thousands of different vendors on the showroom having a curation will save you a lot of time.
  • Customer Service - Faire has unbelievable customer service. Faire does not do well on the phone but whenever I email them I get an immediate response and a very attentive rep that helps me until my problem is solved. 

CONS

  • Price - I'm told from sources that Faire charges 15% commission to its vendors. This is a lot compared to other showrooms in the past that charged 1-5%. I'm not sure why Faire thinks this is a good idea for the long term of the business but so far they are getting away with it and still growing.  I would prefer they lower their commission so prices can come down, because after its all said and done the most important aspect of purchasing clothing is getting low prices.
  • No Consolidated Shipping - In an economy cursed with high inflation and gas prices the cost of shipping has gone up a lot. A box consisting of five packs can cost around $30 to ship across the country.  Faire does not currently have a LA warehouse and is not capable of consolidating packages from multiple vendors at this time.

If you're a boutique looking to use Faire or Fashiongo the answer to that question might be both! Each company has unique features that the other doesn't and as a boutique owner you need every tool in your arsenal to be successful.