The Bandwagon: Missoni for Target

purple zigzag pouf - the one item i am seriously considering.

some of the other things i liked: this print is delicious. but i don't need any of this stuff and i'm able to leave it alone. thankfully.

 
It is hard to know who to blame for my disappointment with today's launch. Certainly, some of the onus is on me. Waking up fully rested at 6am and deciding to web browse was my choice. Forgetting that today was the day, also my fault. And to be honest, I didn't really want anything, delicious though I find the brand. 

So what was disappointing? The fact that once again Target waited until D-Day to premiere the collection online. Their other, non-stampede worthy, collections have been known to go up a few days in advance with "out of stock" under the items, to prevent ordering. Why can't we have that again? Their site probably would not have been down for hours if people had been able to browse in advance and add items to their Wish Lists. People could have logged in and clicked from their Wish Lists into their carts and checked out. 

Another disappointment, the fact that as usual the advance images did not include the in-store-only items like sleep masks, neck pillows and stationary goods. Sometimes THAT is the stuff that draws me. But I didn't know to look for it. 

And the biggest irk: ebay resellers. My opinion of this aspect of discount retailers' designer team-ups has finally, fully, crossed over to disgust. Looking over the last four or five years, I think I have missed out on a few of these collections (inc. Matthew Williamson for H&M, John Derian for Target) only to find the goods on ebay for an epic markup. Was it really so hard for people to NOT buy up every decent piece of MATTHEW WILLIAMSON? Are we that fucking selfish and greedy? Does no one think 'I don't need this one and someone else is really gonna love it?" Where is the spirit of camaraderie in the thrill that such a collection was even offered for working people? Why were people fighting over this today? Why were men taking items out of women's hands and wrestling them? Why the hell are rich people buying this? If you're a millionaire or making minimum $35K per episode on a tv show, how about you buy Missoni Collection and leave Target to the workaday people? As it was intended. It's no Hollywood Canteen, but it would be doing your small part for the recession.

I remember seeing the markup on the John Derian items on ebay: $45 for a melamine tray with a sparrow on it. Then, lo and behold, that same tray was back on Target.com and 75% clearance. I'd given up, and by happenstance scored it for a decent price. Not so on the MW. And the Calypso Home really burned. I didn't even want a silver pouf, but the stories of people who bought six at a time... And promptly listed them on ebay! All the pink elephant teapots for $50! The linen/gold scarf for $45, nearly three times the retail price! It's one thing to pull this crap when the economy is booming and people are bouncing from job to job to grow their salaries every year, but in this scourge of a recession? This level of greed is flat out mean-spirited and more than I can stomache. 

Here's my call to arms: Boycott all resales of Missoni for Target. You don't need it that bad. Target got paid. Missoni got paid. Don't encourage the people who interfered between you and the creators of this line. What is the point of paying near-Missoni prices for low-end Missoni? If they had left it on the shelves for everyone else, you would have paid a pretty enough penny. You can force them to drop their prices if you STOP BUYING/BIDDING. Boycotts work. We all know this. You have all the power over the sellers - the good old-fashioned Power of the Purse. Exercise it!


Not feeling it? Go look up 'missoni for target' on ebay, then see how you feel. Best case scenario, it forces the resellers to return items to the store in time for the timed discounting and people can still get it for a good price. But the Best Result would be to break this trend of legal bottom-feeding. 

If you could withhold your Senators'/Congressmen's pay until they started creating jobs, wouldn't you do it?