I haven't posted in a while, I know, I know. Mostly because I ran out of things to post about and every topic I wanted to cover has already been expertly documented by a makeup blogger with 48329 more followers than I have. But, my dear readers, all ten of you (on a good day), I have come out of hiding (read: laziness) with a new post (read: rant).
Last week marked the initial launch of the widely anticipated Mac Osbournes collection. This collection was a dual launch with mother and daughter duo Kelly and Sharon Osbourne. Kelly is known for her lavender hair and fair skin, while Sharon is known for her smokey eye and red hair. Myself, and many others, have been stalking every blog and article that made mention of this collection from the day it was announced. In fact, it would suffice to say that this has been one of the most anticipated Mac lines in quite a while. I personally had my eye on three of Kelly's four lipsticks. There is Dodgy Girl, a beautiful pale lavender. Riot House, a creamsicle orange. And Kelly Yum Yum, a fresh take on the ever-popular Candy Yum Yum, in an even more vibrant bright pink. Other popular items included blushes and eye shadow quads from each line. These lines were going to be epic.
Anyway, last Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning marked the initial launch of the lines in a series of releases. Note: popular makeup brands often hold several releases for new lines and products. The first is usually on the primary website, which in this case was Mac Cosmetics. The second launch is usually a few days to a week later, and comes out on the websites that also carry the cosmetics in question (think Bloomingdales and Nordstrom). Finally, the products launch along a similar timeline in stores. In theory, each fanatic has three or so opportunities to get in on the product. In theory…
I stayed up until 4 a.m. on Monday waiting for the products to go live on the Mac website. I was constantly refreshing the page and my Twitter feed to see if anyone was privy to any news about the launch. Eventually, I gave in to sleep. The lines launched around 7 a.m., failing to send email and text alerts to those who had signed up, until about two hours later….when everything was already sold out.
I wasn't necessarily surprised at the sell out. I mean, I had opted to go to sleep and try my luck in the morning. I was surprised to log on to Amazon and eBay to find people selling the Mac products from the collections for a minimum of twice the price, with at least a dozen of everything on hand. In other words, The Sleepless bought out the website upon its launch in order to turn a profit of their own. Irritating, but my chance would come next week when the online department stores launched their product.
So fast forward to Sunday evening. I have downloaded the mobile app for every department store that was going to carry the product. I had a tab open on my computer with the beauty sections being refreshed regularly for each of these websites. I had already set up my account payment and shipping information so I wouldn't lose something during checkout. I had season two of Orange is the New Black playing to keep me occupied until the gates opened. The launches were scheduled for 2 a.m. CST…by 4 a.m. CST, there was nothing. Luckily, a Twitter user let me in on some sneaky insider information to access to products early. With her help, I was able to acquire the three lipsticks I wanted. Everything was paid for and confirmed by 4:15 a.m., before the launch had even gone live. I went to sleep that evening with a smile on my face. By 10 a.m. that morning, the websites were sold out, yet again.
And now we arrive to today. I wake up to find an email in my inbox that I never wanted to see: part of my Nordstrom Mac makeup order had been cancelled. One of my lipsticks was being removed from my purchase because of improper supply and demand anticipation. I was pissed, to say the least. My first two chances at getting the product I had so desperately been stalking were at least (partially) unsuccessful. My next chance would be the following morning when everything went live in store. I live about 35 minutes away from a Mac counter in a Macy's, and was now going to have to be one of "those people" who stands outside a store 30 minutes before they open, just so I can get my hands on a tube of lipstick. I swallowed my pride and went on eBay to check out the product's availability (Dodgy Girl, for those keeping tabs). The cheapest I could find was $32 with all shipping fees included. This is about twice as much as what the product retails for. I was angry, irritated, and impressionable, and because of one-click shopping, I bought it. That said, I have still resolved to pick up one of the other lipstick in store that hasn't yet shipped from Nordstrom because clearly, they can't be trusted.
So, what does all of this amount to? Unfortunately, I am not some isolated case of a makeup addict not getting what she wanted and throwing a dramatic fit over it. Because of Mac's inability to project product needs for supply and demand, and jerks who buy up everything to turn their own profit, a lot of tried and true fans are without they few things they may have wanted. This isn't exactly the Cuban missile crisis, but then again, this is a makeup and style blog, so exactly what did you expect?
Now, I was a philosophy major in college, so I learned that complaining without supplying solutions is amateur. So, Mac, Nordstrom, Macy's, Dillards, and Bloomingdale's, listen up. Make better projections. You have highly qualified buyers for your brands, so put them to work properly or fire them. Five minutes on Twitter, even a month before the first launch, would have clearly indicated that this was about to be big. Meet your consumers halfway. We are clearly more than willing to throw our money at you, so at least give us what we are asking for.
Second, cap the amount of products people can purchase during the launches. No one needs more than two of anything in any cosmetic line (a lot of people like to have back-ups due to cool, limited edition packaging). There shouldn't even be an option for "30" in the order quantity drop down. Track users who seem to be abusing the spirit of the sale. You'll have a lot more positive feedback on social media this way.
Third, what's wrong with a preorder? Personally, I would be willing to pay a markup a month in advance just to secure the products I want, and so would many others. I would rather pay the initial retailer a markup, rather than some eBay seller across the country an exorbitant amount for the same thing.
Finally, be prepared. Launch your websites when you say you are. Find the bugs and loopholes before it goes live. Have an accurate count of what you have on hand and how much product you actually have to sell. Process orders in the order they come in so users who were in on the action at 4 a.m. aren't suddenly without anything and those who rolled in at 8 a.m. have everything their heart's desired.
So in summation, stop being shady. We want to give you our money.
