"PM me for SA details and why"
- Thread starter gail13
- Start date
If you are a avid follower of the 'Help me Find' or 'Authentic Finds' thread, you may wonder why a poster will make the request to "pm me for SA details"....It is because Chanel threatens to fire any SA who advertises merchandise on TPF or any other public forum. Chanel prefers for the SA's to show each person privately any goods etc. And TPF requires that we provide a retail name on all finds that we post. The only way around it is to name the retail location and privately send you the SA name/location etc.
Like many of you, I have some great SA contacts. They allow us to get special merchandise, first looks etc. I'm a Chanel a holic and a personal shopper and those contacts mean alot to me. I am happy to help out TPF members by sharing finds and other intel when I can because there are many other Chanel a holics just like me out there. It is fun to share the info and be a bad influence on each other.
Tonight, one of my best SA's confided in me she had found a GST in the back. I posted it on the AF forum, along with the note to please msg me for SA contact info. Within 5 minutes of posting that, a call instead came into the store directly and a woman on the phone asked only for the blue GST. The call went to a SA who didn't even know there was a GST, and it was a big disappointment to my SA who had gone out of her way to share it with me. I'm guessing a TPFer maybe doesn't know sales decorum or there was some other reason, but it was not the way to go about this. Because my profile shows LA, it's not that hard to figure out which Nordstrom had the bag. I suppose it's possible it's a really rare coincidence that someone happened to call asking for a blue GST but......
I'm sharing this info so perhaps we can prevent it from happening again. Many of us have our favorite SA's and we'd all like to give them business. The SA's totally respect that too-and would not want to take business away from each other. They do make a nice commission but as of late those are getting harder and harder to make. My SA's are complaining about the numbers being raised, I heard Chanel corp lowered the commission at 40 brick and mortar stores.
When one of us shares a find, please respect us by using our SA if you can. There are at times extenuating circumstances of course, but it will help us to keep showing you the best merchandise.
I had a similar situation with a very expensive rare bag I posted. Someone called their SA found out the store and had it shipped to their store so the SA could get the commission. It was very disappointing and a big loss for my SA. I am be careful about what I post now because I do not want my SA to lose out on sales.
Here's some behind the scenes here. . .
SA's DO absolutely join here and advertise and we give them warnings and/or ban them when we find them. It's unethical IMO that they come here and pretend to be customers just to advertise and to promote themselves and BTW it's a lot of people's favorite SAs. Very annoying. Often they reregister time and time again.
IMO the Finds thread is a risk kind of like the AT thread. People have long been disappointed to find out the auction has sold after they post for authentication because of the exposure the item gets.
Obviously there's no true obligation to use a specific SA and I think the SA's benefit greatly in the big picture from tPF.
Hopefully people will continue to post about their good finds as an effort to help others
It's a bit different in the AT thread-at least the items are usually up for auction and it's still a fair playing field. We are also seeing more private sales. I agree it isn't right for any SA to use this forum to advertise; I haven't seen this.
Absolutely. There is still some misunderstanding on how the whole commission thing works. No sale =no $. I have heard of people trying to get their SA to transfer in an item found here as forgetmenot301 describes-the SA's I know don't like to operate like that. As much as someone may think they are helping their SA to get a sale, it's not very ethical and is likely causing an internal problem.
The AF is a nice benefit; I'm hoping that we can continue to offer nice finds in the spirit in which it is offered. Use it to your advantage to find another great SA-you can never have too many!
I agree. Perhaps not exactly honorable, but the auction is open to anyone. If one is very concerned about someone else taking the sale, he/she should use a paid authentication service. Free comes with a caveat...
Too bad some people do not seem to know the appropriate etiquette.
I couldn't agree with you more Roku and DrAtty!
PS Someone, please send me a link to the AF thread...if I dare...
Mostly, Gail13, thank you for so eloquently sharing a very important issue.
SAs - high quality, hard working, dedicated ones - are hard to come by and very undervalued. Taking advantage of the generosity of Gail13 and others in taking time out to point us fashion lovers in the direction of amazing deals comes with it the bare minimum decency of respecting their wishes to PM them for their SA first, mention their name during the purchase, whisper a code word (an exaggeration to make a point). They are doing us a huge favour and asking simple courtesy in return. Failure to do so can have significant ramifications.
Please, I know we all get excited when a dream item becomes available, but that doesn't mean we have to abandon basic ethics. This ensures the continued sharing of 'insider' information, the happiness of the posters and SAs, and keeps this community strong. That's a key strength of this forum that shouldn't be forgotten for a quick deal.
Thank you again Gail13 and all like-minded fashion lovers and shoppers out there!
I couldn't agree with you more Roku and DrAtty!
PS Someone, please send me a link to the AF thread...if I dare...
Mostly, Gail13, thank you for so eloquently sharing a very important issue.
SAs - high quality, hard working, dedicated ones - are hard to come by and very undervalued. Taking advantage of the generosity of Gail13 and others in taking time out to point us fashion lovers in the direction of amazing deals comes with it the bare minimum decency of respecting their wishes to PM them for their SA first, mention their name during the purchase, whisper a code word (an exaggeration to make a point). They are doing us a huge favour and asking simple courtesy in return. Failure to do so can have significant ramifications.
Please, I know we all get excited when a dream item becomes available, but that doesn't mean we have to abandon basic ethics. This ensures the continued sharing of 'insider' information, the happiness of the posters and SAs, and keeps this community strong. That's a key strength of this forum that shouldn't be forgotten for a quick deal.
Thank you again Gail13 and all like-minded fashion lovers and shoppers out there!
Here you go Dmand2, thanks for your support....
Wow, this thread is such an enlightenment!
Thanks Gail13 for bringing up this sensitive issue.
On that note, does anyone know how much %commission do SAs receive?
I once returned a bag that cost $1050, and my SA mentioned something that it was a $500 return on her part, but I'm not sure how much she would have gotten from the sale.
Thanks Gail13 for bringing up this sensitive issue.
On that note, does anyone know how much %commission do SAs receive?
I once returned a bag that cost $1050, and my SA mentioned something that it was a $500 return on her part, but I'm not sure how much she would have gotten from the sale.
thanks for the behind the scenes info Gail. I would never have guessed had you not educated us on how it partly works behind the scenes.
I don't really want to go there, but they do not make 50% commission and I hope that wasn't said to make you feel bad.
Thanks to everyone for reading this and/or commenting. I have heard from several SA's privately who have told me this is a big problem for them and they are very careful now to share special finds. All the more reason to try to develop a relationship with a good SA.
I think she said it out of frustration, but it's all good. That was the only time i returned anything to her. We have a good relationship so far.
I know it's not 50%, just curious how it works for them but you're right. It's not something to discuss publicly 👍🙂 Thanks, Gail.
I'm sorry but as a former department store SA myself (of about 10 years) An SA should never share information such as not making their numbers or having their commissions lowered. That is VERY unprofessional and should not be shared with anyone outside the company, especially customers. While I of course depended on my return customers to stay in business and make numbers, for these major fashion houses, especially Chanel, I would never want one of my clients to feel like they need to worry about my commission or salary for that matter when they were shopping with me. It is luxury shopping, it is about the experience. For your SA to share that she is "upset" because of the situation takes away from the experience. While I do not know what the situation is ... weather you are helping your SA by posting things on TPF or She is requesting that you post you are both in the wrong here. SAs are playing with fire by having their product on here, even if it does say "PM for SA info". By the time I left my former employer most SAs that I was working with would add "Do not share or forward this e-mail" When sending email blasts of new Chanel product. Of course it still happens but Chanel has strict social media rules for a reason and it looks like you both had found a way around it. This all being said I've found a few items because of the great resources on TPF, but I do still respect Chanel's need to preserve their brand identity by requesting they not have their product photographed and on sale on TPF.
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My SA's have never requested I post anything on here; any sharing on the Authentic Finds thread which has been around for quite some time, is supposed to be offered in a generous spirit. I am relaying my experience as it happened, which yes, will make some of us rethink how we post information. We are trying to help other TPF'ers while also trying to honor the SA who shares the find. There is nothing wrong with that.
Whether it's an email blast or pics posted here, it's all sharing of information. I am certainly not alone in sharing pics on the thread etc; I notice that you have also posted a few times on there too, along with a comment for 'serious buyers only, please do not waste my SA's time'. My understanding of Chanel not allowing pics, is Chanel's desire to stop reselling of their product and TPF doesn't allow that either.
I too have worked commission sales for nearly 20 years and part of why I posted this is many don't know how it works. It's also fair to say it's inevitable we form friendships with our SA's.
I don't think any of us are looking for 'a way around' anything. As you said yourself, you have found some great info here. That's all it is.
Whether it's an email blast or pics posted here, it's all sharing of information. I am certainly not alone in sharing pics on the thread etc; I notice that you have also posted a few times on there too, along with a comment for 'serious buyers only, please do not waste my SA's time'. My understanding of Chanel not allowing pics, is Chanel's desire to stop reselling of their product and TPF doesn't allow that either.
I too have worked commission sales for nearly 20 years and part of why I posted this is many don't know how it works. It's also fair to say it's inevitable we form friendships with our SA's.
I don't think any of us are looking for 'a way around' anything. As you said yourself, you have found some great info here. That's all it is.
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