Vente-Privee.com

Vente-Privee.com

19 October, 2009
by: Tom Jeffreys

Apart from our meagre salaries, working at Spoonfed is pretty much a dream. The job is fun, the people are lovely, and we get invited to lots of cool stuff. Nothing, however, has yet come close to trumping the little jaunt I was invited on last week: to Paris, business class on Eurostar, to eat delicious food, quaff champagne, and sleep in sumptuous splendour. Aaah, truly life is good.

But what was all this decadence in aid of? Well, we – a group of UK press types – were invited to learn about the operations, ethos and modus operandi of Paris-based sales website Vente-Privee. The company works in a fascinating and – as far as I can tell – completely unique manner: it's only open to members, who have to be invited by existing members.


Vente-Privee warehouse

Once you've been invited, you're notified about forthcoming sales, each one of which lasts between 2 and 4 days. The site is primarily dedicated to fashion – selling top brands like Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney and Roberto Cavalli at between 50% and 70% off RRP – but all manner of weird and wonderful things have been sold by the enterprising people at Vente-Privee: pet accessories, cars, even houses.

It is the scale of the whole operation that is completely staggering and the speed at which things sell out. With nearly 8 million members across Europe, coveted items don't last long: Vente-Privee once sold 50,000 sex toys in 3 days and 25,000 watches in less than a minute. The revenue forecast for 2009 is nearly €600 million. It really is mind-boggling.


Vente-Privee HQ

We got a tour round the oldest and smallest Vente-Privee warehouse in Paris to see how the distribution system works. With all kinds of state-of-the-art machinery, this is a seriously slick operation, and with the scale of the sales, it has to be: Vente-Privee process, on average, 55,000 parcels per day. We're particularly impressed with a series of machines that make cardboard boxes, put lids on them and finally wrap them up ready for transport. It certainly beats the time I had to work in the ASOS warehouse when I was a kid. 

After lunch of foie gras followed by veal at L'Usine, we're shown round the Vente-Privee Paris HQ, and wow, it's amazing. Over 700 people work in the building (formerly the Le Monde printing factory): it's crammed to capacity with a young, cool, international workforce, models, music equipment, clothing samples and an impressive collection of contemporary art, featuring lots of brashly brilliant work by David Mach and David LaChapelle.


A Vente-Privee in-house photoshoot

What really sets Vente-Privee apart is the people who work there and the thoroughness of the work they do. For every sale-event they undertake – and there are now over 1800 per year – Vente-Privee produce everything in-house: adverts, a soundtrack, model and still shots of every product, and even 30-second movie trailers. It's quite something – the movie trailer guys have 4 days per film, the music team make a song a day (that's a day to write, play, and produce a piece of music that the brand is happy with). God knows how they manage it!

Dinner that evening gives a bit of a clue: passion and energy. Enjoying black cod and bottles of excellent Margaux at the Philippe Starck-designed restaurant BON, we chat with two of Vente-Privee's partners Xavier Court and Julien Sorbac. Their love of the company and their unrelenting enthusiasm is infectious. It must be a great organisation to be a part of. Although not as great as Spoonfed, naturally...


The Vente-Privee head honchos

Vente-Privee.com is a members' only website. If you would like Tom to invite you to be a member, please email exhibitions@spoonfed.co.uk with the title Vente-Privee membership.

Click here to see all London fashion exhibitions.
Click here for things to do in London.

Tom Jeffreys