SSENSE is a Canadian based retail dominant for fashion and related accessories. The company was founded during the Y2K boom in 2003 by a trio of brothers who immigrated to Montreal from Syria. SSENSE started as an endeavor out of personal interest for one of the founders, Rami. E-commerce was a new idea that had never been tested. The idea of purchasing clothing online was taboo considering everything leading up to then had been brick-and-mortar with a try-on experience. This was obviously a misjudgment. Today SSENSE is a leading retailer for high end apparel and related accessories. 

The approach is simple yet unique; purchase wholesale from a variety of fashion houses and sell those products at their suggested retail price. The uniqueness comes from their variety of labels that they carry. On SSENSE, you can find listings from Nike, Birkenstock, Balenciaga, Cartier, Diesel, the list goes on. Amongst these large brands, you can also find small designer labels like TOMBOGO, Praying, Engineered Garments, this list is also extensive. Their blend of fashion giants amongst small emerging designers is what stands them out from their competition.  

Thus far you're probably thinking, “Wow this seems great! Blending small designers with massive corporate fashion houses really must help with exposure and brand recognition.” And I would agree with you, but don't put down your pitch forks just yet.   

If you're not already familiar with SSENSE’S annual clearance sale, read my last article here. Basically, SSENSE holds an annual clearance sale to liquidate old styles and free up capital for the coming seasons. The sale starts small with minor deals, but over the weeks it increases dramatically to 70-80% off select items.   

As a consumer, this is great. Saving up your birthday money finally paid off because the Praying Rotisserie Chicken Hoodie is 70% off!  

On the other hand, as a small retailer that doesn't have that kind of margin, you're not making a sale until SSENSE sells out of their stock of Praying Rotisserie Chicken Hoodies.  

Imagine you're living in Manhattan trying to make a name for your creative vision, when an SSENSE diplomat reaches out to you offering to make a $50,000 buy for their platform. You probably aren't in a position to turn that type of money down, but by accepting the deal you’re sacrificing future sales on your own website, and screwing over the small retailers that you have sold your product to in a lesser quantity than SSENSE is willing to purchase.  

Here’s an analogy, using Praying again:   

Praying is selling these Praying Sunglasses in Silver for $125. SSENSE however, is selling them on sale for $79. Furthermore, when you google the product name, “Praying Sunglasses Silver,” SSENSE’s listing for the product appears higher in the search ranking than Praying’s site. So not only is SSENSE out competing Praying’s price on their own website, but their search ranking appears above theirs on search engines due to their website traffic and advertising.  

Is it a bad thing that SSENSE is doing? I mean they’re giving opportunity to small labels that rank them with the stars of the sector. The business that SSENSE gives these small labels certainly provides crucial funding for short-term business endeavors that wouldn’t be possible without that payout. They’re also making luxuries more affordable for the middle class. Meanwhile, screwing over smaller competing retailers and fashion labels.  

Personally, I’m 60/40 split. 60% being good, and the 40% being bad. At the end of the day, I’m a hobbyist first and reseller second. That’s why I write this blog. I’m FOR THE PEOPLE. 4 Hours of straight Pro Bono journalism for y’all.   

Now go buy something from the site.  

Black Bird Spy Plane also covered this topic in more depth than I have. If you haven’t, I highly suggest giving that a read through as well.