Independent retailers are losing trust in online marketplace Trouva, after it “paused” trading on 31 January.
Speaking to Drapers, creative director of lifestyle store Sunshine and Snow, India Snow, said although she was “forever grateful” for Trouva, “particularly during lockdowns and other unforeseen events,” it had “started to become more of a money making operation, with hidden fees and charges at any opportunity”.
In July, Trouva “stopped paying for a number of months” when her company was owed nearly £10,000 by the marketplace.
During the last few months, Snow placed the money she would have spent on Trouva’s commission into advertising for her website, with additional sales surpassing how much she previously earned via the marketplace.
Owner of boutique Stocks, Lise Harrow, said she had been unable to contact Trouva over the past week and that payments from all of its January orders were still outstanding.
“We do a fraction of the trade we did with Trouva in the past, during lockdown. We are down to a couple of orders a day and payments are made fortnightly, so it is not too bad,” she said. Harrow said she now planned to sell from Stocks’ own website.
“Hopefully our Trouva customers will understand that it is nothing to do with Trouva’s partners if there are problems with orders,” she said.
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An unnamed menswear company also added: “We managed to get paid by Trouva last time around, we learnt our lesson and decided to stay far away from the platform – we simply had zero confidence in the future of the company.
“So thankfully this time around we have no interest in them.”
Following payment troubles at Trouva in 2024 and the collapse of online fashion rival Atterley in 2022, the menswear retailer said it had shifted away from using third-party platforms.
“They [Trouva] are too risky, they are very expensive at between 16%-20% commission, high postage fees, out of stock fees, high returns and having to wait on average 40-50 days for payment per sale,” it said.
“Many brands are also tightening up on retailers using such platforms which subtracts from the advantage of using them. We will be focusing on our own website from now on.”
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