Doing business in Argentina - Our quest to manufacture leather bags here!

[Alex_H]

Hi all - My girlfriend (Clo) and I are big readers of this forum and thought I would share our story of the experience of starting up a business in Argentina and hopefully get some other expats to do the same!

Our business, ECEL started over a year ago - with the idea of designing and making unbranded luxury leather bags here in BA.

I will be the first to admit that we had no idea how ambitious we were being and that along the way we have discovered more than one good reason as to why we had never seen the Made in Argentina label while shopping at home.

We have had our fair share of nightmare moments - like coming to the realisation that there were no fittings nor vegetable leathers on the market that we wanted to use and we were going to have to make our own! However, anyone else who is thinking of setting something up here should take strength in knowing that with a little patience and pragmatism Industria Argentina is full of amazing artisans and possibilities!

The learning curve has been steep - but as many of the other threads will attest we really don't think there is a better way to get to know a country that doing business there - the friends we have ended up making and the elation felt from even the smallest steps forward has totally made the entire process worth it.

There are so many people on this forum that have gone above and beyond in helping us and we would definitely not be where we are today without the knowledge and support of BAExpat community! And would happily like to announce that as of this week we are making our own leathers and well on our way to producing season one!

If you're interested in seeing the range - we have made a promotional video (filmed at Coghlan Train Statio) to crowd fund our project here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ecel/ecels-quest-to-make-its-own-argentinean-leathers otherwise PM me about our Christmas party

It would also be great to get some feedback from BA expats as to which designs you like the best and what you think of our idea and also to hear other peoples experiences (hopefully positive) of getting something off the ground here.Doing business in Argentina - our quest to make leather bags

 

[va2ba]

Looks like a very interesting business. It is nice to see that some people have success with business down here.

The hats caught be a little off guard in the video? Are you making and selling those as well? I don't see them on your site, which is why I am asking.

Are you selling your products here, or overseas?

I do like the messenger bag, its very simple but very nice to the eye.

 

[bebero]

hi! i don't understand, do you use leather or leatherette?

 

[davonz]

I like the look of your products and you have done well to get this off the ground, and wish you every success.

However I would recommend that you do something about your website, the design is a let down... your menu bar with > instead of menu names, how does a visitor know the > / > / > means product type / material / colour ? Then if you select an item on the menu, eg CANVAS, you have to the click on the little red X to be able to select something else on the menu. It is confusing and time wasting.

There is also the mouse over to see different colours available for items/products, i would show the colour of the item, then with mouse over and click to select am item, then show as grey so the customer knows whats selected - this is more eye catching.. If you click on philosophy and scroll down so it fills the broswer - that catches the eye and looks good.

There is a travel purse and a travel wallet.. what is the difference between them apart from colour ?
What is the difference between the summer and winter weekender bags apart from colour ?

Promote that your products are made from natural products, and that you use vege based tanned leather (i am guessing this is what you do), and that they are eco friendly. And put it at the top where the kickstart stuff is to catch the eye straight away. I am guessing you are trying to differentiate your products as HAND MADE ITEMS, MADE FROM NATURAL MATERIALS THAT ARE ECO FRIENDLY - so why dont you promote that ?

A website is a shop window, a sales person, and a teller, you need to draw the customer in, and make it simple to navigate and find stuff, and then make it as simple as possible for the customer to buy, so you can get as much money off that customer as possible.

You have a great product, which in my opinion is let down by a not so great shop !!!

 

[jago25_98]

Can you share your experiences of getting the bags exported?

Whats the easiest way to go about it? Can it be done black market sending item by item direct to customers or are the postage rates too high?

What about shipping in bulk to a warehouse in the states for storage, does that simplify paperwork?

I´ve always wanted to do something like this but I´ve heard so many nightmare stories.

Is there a sweet price point, for example ´don´t bother if your items are less than us$15 each´.

Is it easier to import than export or vise-versa?

etc

 

[Alex_H]

hi guys thanks so much for the feedback...

in response to your questions....

1) The hats are part of the range - they are made with patagonian sheeps wool/leather so a bit different from the rest of our stuff. we have made a weekend bag, a messenger satchel, a backpack, passport wallets, bracelets, key rings and a camera strap. We are really focusing on the kickstarter project for the moment but then will need to spend some time overhauling the website - Davoz your 100% right - I think we went overboard with trying to make a minimalist (to reflect the product) and definitely will have to revisit it all (slow to load, confusing parts, promoting all the right parts:S)

2) I think at the price point our main market is overseas - so far we have had buyers in Canada, continental US and Australia.

3) berbero - it's leather not leatherette. The vegetable part just refers to how it was tanned.....most leathers here are done with chrome - which loses all the natural colours and textures and doesn't age as nicely....we've really tried to build the brand on natural materials only and as davoz said vegetable leathers are also more eco friendly.

4) Jago ~ I think i will be better to answer that question in the next month or two! If you can keep packages under 1kg correa argentina is pretty great. what are you thinking of sending?

Again thanks for the responses - it would be really great to hear if anyone else had thought about or has made anything here

 

[jago25_98]

4) Jago ~ I think i will be better to answer that question in the next month or two! If you can keep packages under 1kg correa argentina is pretty great. what are you thinking of sending?

Luxury underwear, probably less than 200g! Price point approx $20

 

[harrisonba]

Is the currency on your site AR Pesos, Australian dollars, or...?

 

[Alex_H]

haha yeah you would be fine with underwear! when we first got here we were really keen on doing that - there are so many cool designers around - we were thinking of stocking them all. The hardest thing I think is getting a consistent size happening.

the currency is in USD....we've struggled getting our margins right on such small productions runs but are selling on the kickstarter for below wholesale prices...

 

[steveinbsas]

the currency is in USD....we've struggled getting our margins right on such small productions runs but are selling on the kickstarter for below wholesale prices...

Is the retail price of the passport cover $75.00 US Dollars?

From your site: "The passport cover (RPR $75)"