IDB

Man, I wouldn't like to work at IRL right now. They new VAT laws are very annoying if you sell to a lot of countries (I heard our CFO swearing over international VAT just yesterday). They've also basically confirmed what I suspected, that their fulfillment center stopped delivering to certain countries and IRL can't do much about it. Changing fulfillment center is very expensive and time consuming, and it's always a money question. If it costs £100k to move and they won't make that back from those countries in the foreseeable future, it's just not worth it. It truly sucks.

kavat wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 6:25 pm Man, I wouldn't like to work at IRL right now. They new VAT laws are very annoying if you sell to a lot of countries (I heard our CFO swearing over international VAT just yesterday). They've also basically confirmed what I suspected, that their fulfillment center stopped delivering to certain countries and IRL can't do much about it. Changing fulfillment center is very expensive and time consuming, and it's always a money question. If it costs £100k to move and they won't make that back from those countries in the foreseeable future, it's just not worth it. It truly sucks.

I can definitely see how that's definitely putting them in a difficult position, but man - putting stuff essentially at clearance prices THEN announcing the shipping limitations? Way to throw a bunch of salt in that wound for anyone not in the US or Uk.

alittledizzy wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 6:28 pm

kavat wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 6:25 pm Man, I wouldn't like to work at IRL right now. They new VAT laws are very annoying if you sell to a lot of countries (I heard our CFO swearing over international VAT just yesterday). They've also basically confirmed what I suspected, that their fulfillment center stopped delivering to certain countries and IRL can't do much about it. Changing fulfillment center is very expensive and time consuming, and it's always a money question. If it costs £100k to move and they won't make that back from those countries in the foreseeable future, it's just not worth it. It truly sucks.

I can definitely see how that's definitely putting them in a difficult position, but man - putting stuff essentially at clearance prices THEN announcing the shipping limitations? Way to throw a bunch of salt in that wound for anyone not in the US or Uk.

It feels to me that they're getting rid of as much stock as possible - potentially so they can move their hq? We have a similar.issue at work and are now shipping things into and out of an EU country instead of UK for some products

rizzo wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 6:07 pm Another day.... another IRL merch disappointment.

They're doing a sale for Phil's shop:

But of course:

That's now on top of not shipping to Brazil, Russia, Mexico (without informing anyone apparently) and I'm sure more places that haven't been called out.

Why even bother doing a sale if the countries are SO limited? Feels gross.

The way that IRL is run is a complete joke at this point, it's not like there hasn't been literally years to prepare for Brexit, if you're fulfilment and courier partners can't deliver to so many different places surely it's time to change to one that will, it's not like no other companies in the UK are shipping to these countries. I don't want to sound harsh on Martyn but maybe they need somebody managing the business who has a history of running a similar company rather than being in the position because of nepotism. I honesty don't understand how anyone other than Dan and Phil are still with them.

I do find it strange that Dan’s shop doesn’t show the shipping restrictions and that he just had a sale discounting 10%. Do they use different warehouses or is something else going on because Phil’s sale is basically a close-out sale

Amiaw wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 7:59 pm I do find it strange that Dan’s shop doesn’t show the shipping restrictions and that he just had a sale discounting 10%. Do they use different warehouses or is something else going on because Phil’s sale is basically a close-out sale

I wonder if there are restrictions that just started on the first?

He said in the comments of his post that he's waiting until the Brexit issues clear up before releasing new merch (rip June candle) so that's good at least but... yeah it is all a bit confusion.

Not me being an IRL Merch apologist lol.

Yeah they've been a mess for a minute and half now and they really could do with some more expertise on board, but I really don't love the 'how are they surprised at this they knew this was coming other companies are doing it why can't they' attitude. Plenty of small business who were well prepared haven't survived Brexit + COVID at all and just shuttered. Shit is hard. It's no excuse for all the poor communication and I get that people in affected countries are upset about not being able to buy in this sale, but this sale does kinda confirm that something is up beyond 'haha irl merch bad' so some of the reactions I've been seeing (mainly on Twitter) did make me raise an eyebrow.

alittledizzy wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 8:18 pm

Someone replied with "Matt Hancock" and he responded and i think i'm missing a joke here..

alittledizzy wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 8:18 pm

I always find it extremely hilarious how dan has been making horny/thirsty jokes for YEARS, doubling it down when he came out, yet still finds ways to call us horny...

sir... you little hypocrite


last time i checked most of this phandom has this "ew, put your clothes on, you're literally my dad" vibe. has that changed?


@yellowsubmarine he's a member of parliament i think... but yeah, no idea either.

yellowsubmarine wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 10:07 pm

alittledizzy wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 8:18 pm

Someone replied with "Matt Hancock" and he responded and i think i'm missing a joke here..

matt hancock is the (ex) health secretary who recently got caught having an affair with his assistant. he's since resigned.

I love Dan's barometer for horny jail. Publicly there's been maybe a couple 18 rated jokes, some questionable nudes in 2009 and 1 half clothed one in 2020. If we're using that as a barometer idk what kind of jail I need to go to maximum security hoe jail

I figured I'd paste what I said on twitter over my lunchbreak on here:

i knew as soon as i saw the sale prices that something was up like,, honey those are clearout prices
sometimes it’s better to be more straight up with your customers imho. just say ‚our warehouse hasn’t been able to ship a bunch of places recently and brexit is making it work so here’s a sale to get rid of our stock so we can sort out something better‘
if u know things are going to be an organizational nightmare say so and keep ppl’s expectations low so they aren’t disappointed and upset

Being a small uk business that does a lot of international shipping is surely an absolute shitshow of a time right now. The small company I work for is luckily US based and we have a Germany-based EU distributor that handles UK stuff for us but they have been going through it sorting stuff out with brexit. This is definitely a stressful and shitty situation for irl because with the amount of price drop they are definitely trying to get rid of all their stock and loosing money in the process. Also with their size if they use a large fulfillment center they may be fairly under their whim. I do feel for them.
The thing I don't get is why to not acknowledge that up front?? Like Phil's initial promo posts were all about pushing it as just a 'summer sale' which was a bit misleading. While people would still be sad if they had said 'hey we're having issues with not being able to ship lots of places so we're putting things on sale to clear out some stock as we work to put together a new and better solution!' I feel like they wouldn't be as upset. Just,, be straight up. It seems like such an obvious decision to me that I honestly continue to be confused with some of irl's communication choices. Like yeah, it sucks to let people down when other things are fucking things up, but you know what sucks more? Getting people's hopes up and then letting them down. There needs to be a point where you're like 'ok, we're hoping things can pull through here but realistically we really don't know so we should give a bit of a heads up (even if it's just like a banner on the website or something) so that people aren't caught off guard by it' especially when you have things like a fulfillment center and brexit to direct people's blame to so that less people are directly mad at you.

tldr: they are dealing with a shitty situation and irl's communication strategies are not good, as per usual

since I am luckily in the US right now but won't be in another month and a half, I grabbed a hat and tshirt. (for those interested, the doodle planner, corgi cap, bath dust, holographic tote, hydrated cactus shirt (M) and yellow try new things shirt (M,L) are the only things left in stock on the US store)

(p.s. fruitcriminals I'm fucking cackling maximum security hoe jail it is, personally, I think I would be on horny house arrest)

apparently there were new EU VAT rules effective July 1st so that’s probably why there are issues. I wouldn’t be able to explain them and I’m still confused as to why they’re selling out the shop but Im assuming whatever the change is, it’s a headache for businesses

inanerat wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:21 am
(p.s. fruitcriminals I'm fucking cackling maximum security hoe jail it is, personally, I think I would be on horny house arrest)

and now i'm cackling at horny house arrest

re the IRL merch stuff, I think their problem has been and will always be poor communication. For a social media merch company founded by two youtubers it does always strike me as a bit odd, but then DNP's personal social media strategy has seemed odd to me for years too.

In their defence Brexit and tax issues are huge at the moment for all companies operating in the UK, the government have been far too busy focussing on selling each other out, cheating on their partners, disbanding the LGBT advisory panel, and generally trying to scam taxpayers and violate as many of our human rights as possible to do anything useful for business (unless it's a business where they own shares or their own family work naturally).

I know Phil said he's delaying releasing more merch until they can come up with a plan to ship to EU again... but it makes me wonder if he did have a video up his sleeve that included new merch and that's on hold now? I just feel in my bones it's new Phil video time.

I feel like before Phil does anything else, he should fulfil the membership perk he set and film and upload the video for the cactus crew.

(and I say that as someone who is not a member)

I’ve been a member for over 2 years and I feel like I’m one of the only people that doesn’t care about the shoutouts. He should post them because he promised and I’m sure they’ll come but I feel like peoples expectations for a video where he reads peoples names is too high because it isn’t that exciting and I’d just prefer regular content.

Amiaw wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:12 pm I’ve been a member for over 2 years and I feel like I’m one of the only people that doesn’t care about the shoutouts. He should post them because he promised and I’m sure they’ll come but I feel like peoples expectations for a video where he reads peoples names is too high because it isn’t that exciting and I’d just prefer regular content.

Hi! What have you been getting from being a member? Why you chose to do it/keep it, if I may ask?

Levitating wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:29 pm

Amiaw wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:12 pm I’ve been a member for over 2 years and I feel like I’m one of the only people that doesn’t care about the shoutouts. He should post them because he promised and I’m sure they’ll come but I feel like peoples expectations for a video where he reads peoples names is too high because it isn’t that exciting and I’d just prefer regular content.

Hi! What have you been getting from being a member? Why you chose to do it/keep it, if I may ask?

I keep it because I personally see it as similar to a twitch subscription or a patreon and I like his content. It’s not any different from kpop fans paying monthly fees to see one msg from their groups or people buying multiple copies of an album or book to support someone and hey if i get tired of it i can stop anytime.

Amiaw wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:55 pm

Levitating wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:29 pm

Amiaw wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:12 pm I’ve been a member for over 2 years and I feel like I’m one of the only people that doesn’t care about the shoutouts. He should post them because he promised and I’m sure they’ll come but I feel like peoples expectations for a video where he reads peoples names is too high because it isn’t that exciting and I’d just prefer regular content.

Hi! What have you been getting from being a member? Why you chose to do it/keep it, if I may ask?

I keep it because I personally see it as similar to a twitch subscription or a patreon and I like his content. It’s not any different from kpop fans paying monthly fees to see one msg from their groups or people buying multiple copies of an album or book to support someone and hey if i get tired of it i can stop anytime.

That's really noble on your part! I guess my approach is more selfish/self-centred I'd buy merch/album/book because (personally) I like the product in itself and I 'consume' it (as a football fan, I buy a t-shirt from my favourite team not because I like the design of the t-shirt particularly - all football shirts are similar -, but because it makes me happy to wear it/show it). But I think this comes from an old mentality and it often feels like now the mentality is more of "support".

Do we know if the numbers of cactus member has grown or descreased? Because perhaps most of them are okay with being supporters and do not expect much in return

Amiaw wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:55 pm

Levitating wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:29 pm

Amiaw wrote: Sun Jul 04, 2021 3:12 pm I’ve been a member for over 2 years and I feel like I’m one of the only people that doesn’t care about the shoutouts. He should post them because he promised and I’m sure they’ll come but I feel like peoples expectations for a video where he reads peoples names is too high because it isn’t that exciting and I’d just prefer regular content.

Hi! What have you been getting from being a member? Why you chose to do it/keep it, if I may ask?

I keep it because I personally see it as similar to a twitch subscription or a patreon and I like his content. It’s not any different from kpop fans paying monthly fees to see one msg from their groups or people buying multiple copies of an album or book to support someone and hey if i get tired of it i can stop anytime.

I definitely look at it that way, too. I don't watch ads on their videos and I don't have a lot of entertainment-related expenditures (I mean, compared to ten years ago when I had a cable bill? seriously not many) so I don't mind supporting creators that give me a lot of enjoyment in a small but direct way and god knows Dan and Phil give me the most entertainment. Sometimes when they aren't even trying to.

Any perks that come from it are just bonus, which leaves me not disappointed when there essentially aren't any.

can dnp breathe i'm bored

i have absolutely nothing to bring to the conversation other than this gem that I'm watching rn:



Because why work on the last report of this term that I should hand in tomorrow when I can be scared and not deal with it


Also, to add on the membership thing: it's actually cheaper than a medium size pack of Lay's here in my country and I love giving my money to dnp.

I've seen a few people say before that the subscription is very inexpensive for them and it has me wondering if there's a big difference in the cost depending on your country? It's $6 here in Australia which isn't going to break the bank coming out once a month but it's quite a bit more than a medium bag of chips. I'd be interested to know how YouTube converts the prices based on your currency because that doesn't sound right, unless chips are just very, very expensive elsewhere in the world!!

I've tried to think of it the twitch subscription way but I struggle with that a bit since the twitch streamers I watch are people who are active on the platform most days while Phil posts around once a month, twice if we're lucky and membership benefits is basically none. Community posts are infrequent and I don't think there's even been more than two merch discount codes in the last two years. Ultimately, it's not crazy expensive and the happiness his content gives me means that I keep it up but, as much as I adore Phil, I do think he could be doing a lot better by the people paying him for essentially nothing.