Subscribe
Sign in
Italic
p/italicLuxury without labels.
Start new thread
Chris Messina

Italic - Membership to shop 1000+ quality goods, at cost

by
•

Meet Italic — a revolutionary new membership model fulfilling the original vision of direct-to-consumer retail.
⠀
Members access 1000+ products from the same manufacturers as top brands at prices where we don't profit whatsoever. It's quality, at cost.

Add a comment

Replies

Best
Chris Messina
Hunter
Pretty interesting e-commerce membership model. Product prices are pretty good, but you have to pony up for an $8.33/month subscription, billed annually. I didn't see that many products that I'd buy that often to justify a subscription, in contrast to, say, a Thrive Market, where you're buying consumables far more often. Then again, this the DTC revolution — and all relationships that can be monetized will be monetized!
Jeremy Cai
Maker
Thanks for hunting us @chrismessina!! Italic is a revolutionary new membership model fulfilling the original promise of direct-to-consumer retail. Our members access 1000+ products from the same manufacturers as top brands at prices where we don't profit whatsoever. We spent the past 3 years traveling the world and painstakingly developing our product line from scratch. Spanning your kitchen, wardrobe, bedroom, and beyond, these products are designed with the same materials and exacting craftsmanship as top luxury brands. Unlike every brand or retailer that came before us, however, we aren't marking up our products whatsoever. We aren't pretending to "cut out the middleman," we *literally* do not have any. No brands, no retailers — what we pay is what our members pay. Memberships are $100 / year. 93% of our members will break even on their first order and, from the looks of it, most will save hundreds per year. We have a long waitlist right now but if you sign up, share the link, and DM me, we'll help you skip the wait! Thanks and I'll be around to answer any questions!!
Sean Ross
@jjeremycai Sent the DM on IG, would love to try out the product. Beautifully executed - congrats to you and the team.
Jeremy Cai
Maker
@sean_ross1 amazing!! Looking now, thanks Sean!
Alex Bouaziz
I love Italic - it's one of my favorite brand
Paul Woodthorpe
I am confused by the whole thing. From what I am seeing the business model is basically this? (examples are just made up): - Take a branded product that is made in a warehouse under a fashionable name, like PEPSI (RRP: $100). - Get the manufacturer to rebrand it under a new name as a white label product, like COLA FIZZ and you sell it at $60. - Charge $100/year subscription to be able to buy the COLA FIZZ for $60. - Hope the customer doesn't realise that COLA FIZZ is being sold elsewhere as SODA SPARKLE and it only costs $30, without a subscription fee. That is basically what I found when I checked out two of the kitchen/bathroom items on sale.
Daniel Horn
@exopaul what do you see as „soda sparkle“ products when it comes to italics portfolio? As far as I understand they don’t really „whitelabel“ or rebrand the products, it’s just a non-branded product out of the same production facility (therefore apparently on-par with the branded product in terms of quality), but they save on the retail-costs and by not having a big name on it. I guess the design won’t be 100% the same, but that doesn’t seem to be the point.
Paul Woodthorpe
@leinadhorn I only checked a couple of examples, but it seems to me from what I researched, the products are the same exact products that the major brand sells (exact same design, specs, etc), but come unbranded to Italic (and other businesses) to brand and sell under their own unique branding. If that is the case as I suspect, then the wholesale unbranded price is fairly low, and the major brand is selling it at a high premium based upon the brand name rather than manufacture cost. Italic are selling it at a big discount because their selling point is basically 'exact same product as the major brand, but much cheaper'. But there are other retailers, also selling the exact same product using their own branding, for an even lower selling price point.
Daniel Horn
@exopaul guess your right about the design, as long as the logo isn’t part of the design though. Regarding the product being available cheaper at other retailers, it would be interesting if it’s just labeled the same, or if you’ll get shipped the exact same product. I’ve seen a similar company to italic a while ago, although the portfolio was much smaller. Even if the products are 100% the same, it could be italics benefit to have the best / biggest portfolio. I’d rather buy 5 products for a slightly larger price at one company where I know what I’m getting, that having to register and believe in 5 different retailers, just to save a small amount on top what I’m already saving. That being said, nobody can know if those other retailers will be able to keep their prices or even the platform like that, if they don’t have a subscription price. Maybe they’re backed right now or working on a loss to gain a customer base, but it’s hard so say where this may go.
Ace Bhattacharjya
I’m a huge fan of Italic and quickly became a member. The community they’re building on FB alongside the membership speaks volumes. Feedback is answered and listened to...can’t wait to see what Jeremey Cai and team add to the mix
Jan
I like the idea, but please, work on your mobile website. It's awfully slow (with great internet speed & device) and half my clicks don't do anything.
Evan Besser
Has anyone bought from a fair amount of items Italic before? Looks cool, but I don't like how I can't buy a single item without paying the fee. Thanks!
Daniel Horn
@evan_besser you could do that a while ago, but with a much smaller portfolio of products compared to now. There are a couple of similar companies, but it seams it’s the membership approach is necessary to offer a great variety of products for a competitive price. Even though I haven’t bought anything from them so far, the quality should be somewhat on par with the branded products. I guess the differences are in smaller design details, customer service and the amount of new products each season.
Armand
Become a member when you first transitioned to the model and it's such a great deal on super high quality products 🙌
Scott Sonneborn
I’ve constantly been impressed by the quality of the products. Especially loving my sweatpants and sweater. Already saved a few hundred.
Adi Goldstein
Is there any product behind all their spammy emails??? I've joined the waiting list 4 days ago and since then getting tons of email spams every day...what is the point? what a bummer service...
Edison Espinosa
I want to love this, but let me just buy the product first and then i'll make a decision on the 100 fee