I only learned about them yesterday from my dad. We live right next to the town their in. This is exciting to know. Thank you for sharing information so I learn more about them.
I just found this. What a great video. I got a bad box from them a while ago and have really hesitated ordering again, but after watching this I'm really committed to source from them. It was great to see the inside of the warehouse. Wish I lived closer to Eatontown NJ, it's about an hour and a half from me. I'd love to work for them ;-)
Also if they are able to catch and KNOW they are adding a flaw item to the box......with ALL of that inventory why not just create seamstress flaw boxes and go back to our 2% flaw rate Jomar offered (kosei too) you see the flaw adding it to a box lowers our overall profit by making 15% of the items unsellable. When we cannot sell them that makes the cost of goods actually higher on the 85% non flawed which makes us have to mark up the item more OR take less profit for more work
Agreed! Especially if their end goal is truly to reduce textile waste. A lot of resellers, myself included, don’t have or don’t want to take the time to fix flawed items, especially if they’re lower ASP. These items are likely not being repaired and are either being redonated or thrown away. It’s just passing the buck and telling themselves it’s being upcycled or fixed when it’s very likely not. I have to weigh my time with everything, especially with running a business and having 2 toddlers. It isn’t worth it to fix tears and stains on items that aren’t going to turn a high profit. There are lots of people who will buy lightly flawed boxes though, thredUP and BBTB sell out of theirs all the time. Obviously pallets are a different story, but if they’re touching the item and noting a flaw it seems wasteful to include it in a curated box.
I agree. I understand things get missed, but if your purposely putting it in there then separate the flawed items and sell them that way! I have 4 kids, I do not spend time fixing things. I may treat a stain and throw it in the wash with other things, but that’s a far as it does. The rest gets donated or thrown away if it’s something bad enough. I’m not wasting my little bits of time to mend it, and certainly not listing it for low profits. I think they would be better off changing that, especially now I know it’s on purpose!
Oh my gosh did it ever! Lol part of the reason it took me so long to post it. But it was a really fun challenge and hopefully I can do more like this eventually!
Hi Rachel. I’m a new subscriber. I used your oh yeah code and bought the Lululemon small size boxes. And they were amazing. So many new styles. This video was a great insight into their business. I will definitely be ordering from Helpsy again. Have a wonderful New Year
Hi Dawn and happy new year! So glad you found my channel, and thanks for using my code! I am so glad you loved the boxes you got. I ordered several of those premium athleisure bundles and they are doing well for me too. Best of luck with your sales!
Thanks for taking the time to get all this back story and information out to us. It was very interesting and helpful. I have had better luck with their NWT items and am hoping to see some new brands soon.
It’s fun to see a BTS video. Thank you Rachel, it must have been a monster to edit. I am very conflicted on how I feel about helpsy. They brought me a lot of profit earlier in this year with boxes and boxes of great stuff (second hand and NWT); however, prices has gone 20-40% increase at least. As a company that advertise as being reseller friendly, they had really made it hard for smaller resellers, like me, to source from them
Haha yes this video was a beast to edit but definitely worth it! I know some of their boxes went up in price. It makes sense I guess, when they sell out immediately after being listed then it’s a good indicator the price was too low. Especially everlane, this was happening a lot. So they raised prices… I would be willing to bet that kind of evens out as people won’t pay their new prices. Or they will continue running sales, etc.
Great video! Very informative and I like Helpsy even more now given everything you discussed. How did your speech there go? Just wondering if you could ask them why do the boxes have to be 40 pcs for example, why not do 20 pcs and sell twice as many? Thanks Rachel, see you in your next video!
That's a great question! I know there are a couple 20 piece boxes available but the majority have to be purchased in sets of 40. I will see what I can find out!
I do not believe they are affiliated. I think many of the Jomar wholesale staff left all at once and went to work for Kosei threads. Shortly after, Jomar wholesale ceased operations. I am not sure if that is related to the staffing change but it was around the same time. Jomar itself still operates as a brick and mortar thrift store. Then Kosei was purchased by Helpsy Source and is the mystery box operation it is today.
Sooooooo, those bins are just being sold to helpsy for profit for them when its supposed to be donated responsibly? I am still confused. Doesn't seem like its being donated to where its supposed to. Doesn't sound "non profit" to me. Also every box I ordered from Helpsy was HEAVILY stained and outdated. Not my favorite place to source from at all.
Helpsy is a for profit company. They don't claim to donate the items that go in the bins, or the money that they make from the sale of those items (although they do donate hundreds of winter coats back to the community each year). Their bins give the public an alternative to throwing their used textiles out of landfills. They pay the organization that allows the bin to sit on their property, and then sell what is dropped in the bins. If people wanted their textiles to go to a non profit as a donation, they still have the option to take those to a thrift store, homeless shelter, etc, which operates under a different model. Helpsy sorts clothing based on brand and condition only (as opposed to style or age of the item) and adds up to 15% of flawed items to boxes, knowing that some items with flaws may be repaired or repurposed. If you ever receive a box from them that has flaws on more than 15% of the items, definitely reach out to customer support. They are very good about handling these types of situations.
People who hate on resellers just don’t like us making money on brand name items cause they know there are tons of clothes left in all the thrift stores after resellers go through the store!
Thank you for the video. Unfortunately helpsy source is greedy a.f. and doubled and tripled the cost that was JOmar / Kosei THreads. Horribly expensive markup - people talk about goodwill. I would rather know that donated goods to goodwill they charge 7.99 a pair of jeans, pay for overhead AND the employment, christmas and domestic shelters not just lining the pockets of people at Helpsy. I loved buying pallets from Jomar and Kosei .....I bought them monthly now that helpsy has taken over its just not great and VERY overpriced for nothing. They are selling things at SLIGHTLY under comps barely a profit
I am sorry to hear you have had a less than positive experience with Helpsy. Do keep in mind that they are purchasing the clothing they put in mystery boxes rather than having it donated to them, and they also have a staff to pay to drive the trucks, sort the clothing, fulfill the orders, etc. And all of the boxes ship for free. The mystery boxes really are luck of the draw, I have had some great ones and some not so great ones as well. If your orders exceed the 15% flaw rate you can contact them and they will do their best to work with you on a solution.
Awesome Rachel! Thanks for the support and we're so excited to have met you in person and look forward to having you again!
Thanks Lisa for all your help putting this video together - looking forward to the next visit!
I only learned about them yesterday from my dad. We live right next to the town their in. This is exciting to know. Thank you for sharing information so I learn more about them.
Oh man we just had an in person event yesterday! I am sure they will do more - next time if you can, come join us!
Hi Rachel, Very interesting video! I’m glad you made a Short on this video, otherwise, I would have missed it. Thank you 😊
Oh wow good to know you saw the Short! I always wondered who would actually see those. Thanks for watching!
I just found this. What a great video. I got a bad box from them a while ago and have really hesitated ordering again, but after watching this I'm really committed to source from them. It was great to see the inside of the warehouse. Wish I lived closer to Eatontown NJ, it's about an hour and a half from me. I'd love to work for them ;-)
I’m so glad you found this! I think it’s so helpful to see the “why” behind their operations and the good that they are doing!
It was so awesome meeting you !! And the Helpsy conference was so informative and such fun !!
I’m so glad we had the chance to meet! It really was such a great event too!
Also if they are able to catch and KNOW they are adding a flaw item to the box......with ALL of that inventory why not just create seamstress flaw boxes and go back to our 2% flaw rate Jomar offered (kosei too) you see the flaw adding it to a box lowers our overall profit by making 15% of the items unsellable. When we cannot sell them that makes the cost of goods actually higher on the 85% non flawed which makes us have to mark up the item more OR take less profit for more work
Agreed! Especially if their end goal is truly to reduce textile waste. A lot of resellers, myself included, don’t have or don’t want to take the time to fix flawed items, especially if they’re lower ASP. These items are likely not being repaired and are either being redonated or thrown away. It’s just passing the buck and telling themselves it’s being upcycled or fixed when it’s very likely not.
I have to weigh my time with everything, especially with running a business and having 2 toddlers. It isn’t worth it to fix tears and stains on items that aren’t going to turn a high profit. There are lots of people who will buy lightly flawed boxes though, thredUP and BBTB sell out of theirs all the time.
Obviously pallets are a different story, but if they’re touching the item and noting a flaw it seems wasteful to include it in a curated box.
I agree. I understand things get missed, but if your purposely putting it in there then separate the flawed items and sell them that way!
I have 4 kids, I do not spend time fixing things. I may treat a stain and throw it in the wash with other things, but that’s a far as it does. The rest gets donated or thrown away if it’s something bad enough. I’m not wasting my little bits of time to mend it, and certainly not listing it for low profits. I think they would be better off changing that, especially now I know it’s on purpose!
Fun sneak peek! I bet this really stretched you from an editing perspective. We appreciate you taking us along
Oh my gosh did it ever! Lol part of the reason it took me so long to post it. But it was a really fun challenge and hopefully I can do more like this eventually!
I couldn’t wait for this video!!! The suspense!!
Haha sorry it took me longer than I wanted to get it ready but I’m glad it’s out there now!
Hi Rachel. I’m a new subscriber. I used your oh yeah code and bought the Lululemon small size boxes. And they were amazing. So many new styles. This video was a great insight into their business. I will definitely be ordering from Helpsy again. Have a wonderful New Year
Hi Dawn and happy new year! So glad you found my channel, and thanks for using my code! I am so glad you loved the boxes you got. I ordered several of those premium athleisure bundles and they are doing well for me too. Best of luck with your sales!
Thanks for the tour! Very informative and interesting video. I’m looking forward to seeing the January tour when you publish it. Thanks, Rachel!❤
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for taking the time to get all this back story and information out to us. It was very interesting and helpful. I have had better luck with their NWT items and am hoping to see some new brands soon.
Same! I am really curious to see which brands they work with next!
It’s fun to see a BTS video. Thank you Rachel, it must have been a monster to edit. I am very conflicted on how I feel about helpsy. They brought me a lot of profit earlier in this year with boxes and boxes of great stuff (second hand and NWT); however, prices has gone 20-40% increase at least. As a company that advertise as being reseller friendly, they had really made it hard for smaller resellers, like me, to source from them
Haha yes this video was a beast to edit but definitely worth it! I know some of their boxes went up in price. It makes sense I guess, when they sell out immediately after being listed then it’s a good indicator the price was too low. Especially everlane, this was happening a lot. So they raised prices… I would be willing to bet that kind of evens out as people won’t pay their new prices. Or they will continue running sales, etc.
Great info, all around😊🎉❤
Thank you!
Great video Rachel! Appreciate all the info. You did a wonderful job! Look forward to the one in January.
Thank you so much for watching!
Fantastic video Rachel!!! Thank you so so much
Thank you for watching!
Great video
Thank you!
Great video! Very informative and I like Helpsy even more now given everything you discussed. How did your speech there go? Just wondering if you could ask them why do the boxes have to be 40 pcs for example, why not do 20 pcs and sell twice as many? Thanks Rachel, see you in your next video!
That's a great question! I know there are a couple 20 piece boxes available but the majority have to be purchased in sets of 40. I will see what I can find out!
Thanks for the tour Rachel. Question, was HelpsySource ever affiliated with Jomar?
they own jomar now
I do not believe they are affiliated. I think many of the Jomar wholesale staff left all at once and went to work for Kosei threads. Shortly after, Jomar wholesale ceased operations. I am not sure if that is related to the staffing change but it was around the same time. Jomar itself still operates as a brick and mortar thrift store. Then Kosei was purchased by Helpsy Source and is the mystery box operation it is today.
@@Ohyeahrachie Thanks for putting the pieces of that together for me!
What state is helpsy warehouse in?
Eatontown, NJ
Sooooooo, those bins are just being sold to helpsy for profit for them when its supposed to be donated responsibly? I am still confused. Doesn't seem like its being donated to where its supposed to. Doesn't sound "non profit" to me. Also every box I ordered from Helpsy was HEAVILY stained and outdated. Not my favorite place to source from at all.
Helpsy is a for profit company. They don't claim to donate the items that go in the bins, or the money that they make from the sale of those items (although they do donate hundreds of winter coats back to the community each year). Their bins give the public an alternative to throwing their used textiles out of landfills. They pay the organization that allows the bin to sit on their property, and then sell what is dropped in the bins. If people wanted their textiles to go to a non profit as a donation, they still have the option to take those to a thrift store, homeless shelter, etc, which operates under a different model.
Helpsy sorts clothing based on brand and condition only (as opposed to style or age of the item) and adds up to 15% of flawed items to boxes, knowing that some items with flaws may be repaired or repurposed. If you ever receive a box from them that has flaws on more than 15% of the items, definitely reach out to customer support. They are very good about handling these types of situations.
People who hate on resellers just don’t like us making money on brand name items cause they know there are tons of clothes left in all the thrift stores after resellers go through the store!
Thank you for the video. Unfortunately helpsy source is greedy a.f. and doubled and tripled the cost that was JOmar / Kosei THreads. Horribly expensive markup - people talk about goodwill. I would rather know that donated goods to goodwill they charge 7.99 a pair of jeans, pay for overhead AND the employment, christmas and domestic shelters not just lining the pockets of people at Helpsy. I loved buying pallets from Jomar and Kosei .....I bought them monthly now that helpsy has taken over its just not great and VERY overpriced for nothing. They are selling things at SLIGHTLY under comps barely a profit
I am sorry to hear you have had a less than positive experience with Helpsy. Do keep in mind that they are purchasing the clothing they put in mystery boxes rather than having it donated to them, and they also have a staff to pay to drive the trucks, sort the clothing, fulfill the orders, etc. And all of the boxes ship for free. The mystery boxes really are luck of the draw, I have had some great ones and some not so great ones as well. If your orders exceed the 15% flaw rate you can contact them and they will do their best to work with you on a solution.
Some of them are extremely expensive with very little to not profit margin
Great video
Thank you for watching!