1) Who is behind FashionWoo and how did you come up with the idea?
We are two childhood friends, Claudia and Ephigenie, who have always wanted to be entrepreneurs. We both earned our bachelor degree in business and worked a few years for a well-known enterprise.
We became moms and it was time for us to put our dream into execution and start our own business. We are determined to work as hard as we have to to succeed and provide for our families the best they deserve, including quality time!
Selling pre-owned high end accessories online is the result of endless conversations about us spoiling our kids and forgetting about ourselves, donating kids clothes online, different fashion topics, environmental issues and trading clothes and accessories between us.
And there, our idea of FashionWoo took form: selling accessories we no longer used to get a little extra cash, offer it to someone else for a fraction of the price (you know, amazing option for moms who spend most of their money on their kids), promoting reuse to help the environment and society and selling online will allow people from everywhere, even those living far from major cities, to have access to luxury items. All this, combine to our passion: fashion accessories.
2) What type of products and designers are available on FashionWoo?
We have 4 product categories: handbags (primary), wallets, watches and sunglasses.
We carry a wide selection of designers in consignment with a focus on products under 500$. You will find Michael Kors, Coach, Kate Spade, Marc Jacobs, and even some Prada and Chanel sunglasses as well as many other similar designers.
3) What’s the coolest product currently available on your website according to you?
Ephigenie: Humm… that’s a hard one! I will go for the Retro Coach Borough Bag for its bold and unique colors. Everything about it is stylish and well-designed (handles, colors, compartments, shape…) and it definitely makes the kind of statement you want for the summer. What makes it even cooler is its brand new condition and its 200$ off retail price
http://www.fashionwoo.ca/en/shop/handbags/coach-borough-2/
Claudia : I would say this Rebecca Minkoff bag for its neutral color that can easily match any outfit while still being chic and outstanding. I love the shape and the design. Its front with the latch can become its back and its back becomes its front, depending on what look you want to go for.
http://www.fashionwoo.ca/en/shop/handbags/rebecca-minkoff-bowery/
4) What about quality, trends and warranties? (what’s the return policy?)
Pretty much everything currently available on our online store is in excellent or brand new condition. When we first started building up our inventory, we weren’t sure what our clients would be looking for and we tried different approaches, from older models to less of a good condition, etc… We now focus on good condition and recent models to offer a selection of high quality accessories to our clients.
We also guarantee the authenticity of all our items. It is very important to us to ensure complete peace of mind about products authenticity to our customers when shopping with us.
We offer an easy return policy for refund within 7 days of delivery. We also make sure to photograph and mention any mark of wear an accessory may have, so that the client is fully aware of the item condition before its purchase.
5) What is the price range?
We are looking for items selling under the 500$ range. We do have a few over 500$ but our average selling price is 200$ as of right now (for an average Retail price of 400$ in store).
6) How can you offer such reasonable prices?
Our goal is to offer very competitive prices to our clients but also give a good compensation in return to consignors. We compare each product selling price with our competitors and make sure to be competitive. We give back to the consignor 65% of the sale price and that is one of the most generous consignment plans on the market. We want to be seen as an opportunity for both, sellers and buyers and we want to focus on volume! Volume, volume, volume is our vision! We launched our online store in December 2015 and we want to increase our inventory to offer a wide array of beautiful pre-owned designer accessories.
7) What differentiates FashionWoo from other luxury vintage sellers?
First, we are a Canadian based store and this is a great advantage for our customers. No custom fees, no exchange rate for Canadians, while USA customers get about 30% off as of right now with the strength of their dollar.
We also offer 4 categories of products, whereas other sellers mostly sell only handbags or only sunglasses for example.
And, as we previously said, our range of accessories are mainly focused on accessories under the 500$ range. Most online store selling pre-owned accessories go for very high end designers and don’t have much under 1000$. We can say we are very affordable and that was part of our vision and we created FashionWoo.
8) Will you add other products and designers in the future? What would be the timeline?
Since FashionWoo is still in its startup phase (we launched about 2 months ago), we want to work hard to increase our inventory and aim to have thousands of accessories to sell. That being said, we want to focus on our 4 main categories and have no plan to add other categories as of right now. Perhaps, once our inventory will have reached our desired size, we would love to add Canadian and local designers to promote them.
9) What other services do you offer? (gift certificates, etc.)
We are shortly going to launch a new section on our website promoting our other services. We will offer a “personal shopper” service, where you can ask us for a specific bag you are looking for or a particular style, and we will be in charge of finding the perfect bag for you.
We will also launch our “girlfriends party” services, where we will showcase a selection of bags during girls get together and will work in collaboration with a nail technician and makeup artist for a perfect glam night with friends!
We do also offer gift certificates.
10) How does it work when someone wants to sell with you or to you?
We accept accessories in consignment and make everything in our power to make it as simple as possible.
The person has to fill out the consignment form on our website and include pictures of the accessory. Within 2 business days, we get back to you with the price we could sell your item for and the consignment contract to be filled out online. We also include a prepaid shipping label to send us your items. So all you have to do really, is to pack it in a box and ship it out to us, for free!
If you expedite 3 or more accessories in one shipment, you will receive 25$ in store credit. Time to clean up your closet girls!
To find out more about consignment with us, please visit FashionWoo.
11) What’s next for FashionWoo?
We have BIG plans for this Fall. We can’t say much about it at this time, but all we can say is that it is going to be a first in Canada in the Fashion/handbag industry! We can’t wait to tell you more about it, and we will do so as soon as all the details are settled.
12) What’s the shipping delay?
Customer service is extremely important to us. That’s why we make sure that items are shipped within 1 business day of purchase. We know how excited we all get when we buy a fashion item, we just can’t wait to try it on and show it off!
13) Which fashion icon represents best FashionWoo?
We definitely have to say Lise Watier. She is such an inspiration to us. She proved that women entrepreneurs can succeed. Her word of wisdom is: “prove them wrong”, and we love it! We love everything about her story and how she started her empire from scratch. She is an icon in the cosmetic/fashion industry, but most of all, she is the perfect combination of business minded and moral values. She ran her business while raising her kids and being there for them, and that’s exactly what we want for our family. Just like her, we believe in our dream and we want to work for women, just like us.
14) What’s THE accessory everyone should own to rock their style?
We believe every woman should own a trendy pair of designer sunglasses. Not only does it add a touch of “celebrityness” to your look, but designer sunglasses also provide a better UV protection. You always look stylish when you wear a great pair of shades, even if you’re wearing a comfy pair of sweat pants!
15) Which local designers, in your opinion, could compare to couture designers and why?
We really like Eve Gravel. She offers high quality clothing and her collection is the reflect of her personality and is just one of a kind. Her designs are innovative and stand up to haute couture designers. We wish she would design handbags, that would be awesome.