Hello !
I hope this September has started well for you, whether it's the start of the school year or the extended vacation. I am writing to you today, not to introduce new products, but to ask for your advice, I need your opinion. I warn you, this email is a bit long, but it is worth reading to the end if you want to see Zebra Vegan Shop evolve.
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It's not always easy to be a solo entrepreneur, and yes for those who don't know, Zebra doesn't hide a big team, just one person! |
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The founder of Zalando wouldn't write you an email like that! Right now, I'm in the middle of thinking about how to develop the eshop, and rather than making decisions alone, I thought it would be best to ask you to participate, since after all, you're the ones who are most concerned!
My questions concern the places of manufacture of the products that I reference.
As I explain in my article on brand selection criteria (what, you haven't read it yet?! It's not too late: right here ): until now, I have favored European manufacturing , simply so that workers' rights are respected as much as possible. Also, since environmental impact is an important criterion to take into account, local manufacturing partly avoids the pollution caused by the transport of goods.
But here it is, to grow the eshop and offer more choice , both in terms of style and price , I plan to offer you products made outside of Europe . I started to do this with the brand Ashoka Paris which produces part of its leather goods in Thailand. The founders of Ashoka, Frédérique and Gwenaëlle, explained to me that they chose this workshop for its know-how , they go there regularly and can see with their own eyes that the seamstresses work in excellent conditions , sometimes even better than in France where there are tiny basement workshops where employees work impossible hours...
I am always on the lookout for brands that offer beautiful vegan items , and there are some that I had forbidden myself from distributing on the pretext that they manufacture outside Europe. Today, I question this point: does it make sense to stay stuck on this? Isn't the most important thing that the products are made in good conditions regardless of the location? As long as the brand managers have real values regarding animal and human well-being , just like the founders of Ashoka Paris, and take care to choose a reliable workshop .
What do you think? Here's a short survey (one question only!) that will help me decide:
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I would be really grateful if you could answer it, it will only take 2 seconds and will save me from racking my brain for too long...
Also, do not hesitate to leave a comment or even reply to me by email if you wish to give me your detailed opinion, I would very much like to discuss the subject with you.
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Especially since the same question arises about the choice of a workshop for the manufacture of the vegan wallet under Zebra's own brand. I told you about it several months ago already...the project is moving forward, slowly but surely . I sent you a survey, which I also distributed more widely, and here are the results I obtained on the question of manufacturing, and the question of price:
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To be completely transparent with you: it is impossible to offer you a wallet that matches these answers. I have made quotes from French workshops and the production cost is between €50 and €80 per wallet! Not to mention the cost of raw materials, transport, etc.! So how can you stay within your budget? I am currently looking at Portugal and Italy, but although the costs are a little lower, the final sale price of the wallet would necessarily be around €100. I am perhaps considering a workshop in Tunisia...
You will have understood: getting started in ethical fashion is not easy , and I find that we lack information on the realities of the market, we have no idea of the costs until we put our noses in it.
So here it is, I thought it might be interesting to inform you about this and especially to have your feedback, your opinion.
Thank you for reading this long email, I hope I didn't lose you along the way.
I wish you a great weekend!
Cyrielle
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