Now, for the long-awaited interview with your founders and admins, Melissa and Eric (aka SuperAdmin… or Cameron Diaz, right Missshop?)!
1. What made you two decide to start RedTagCrazy.com?
We took notice of the “One-Deal-At-a-Time” concept in April of 2008. As pioneered by other sites, we thought this was the coolest way to shop, ever. And then something caught our attention… where’s all the women’s fashion? Isn’t women’s apparel, like, the biggest online market in the world? Duh. We were shocked to find out that no one had done this for women yet. It was one of those “if you build it, they will come” moments. So, armed with a Starbucks Doubleshot and a few Diet Cokes, Eric built the first design concept overnight.
8 months later, we built it, and you came.
2. What has been the biggest challenge for you two to overcome during the past two and a half months?
Overcoming this economic collapse. Our company is completely self-funded, which means everything we sell was bought the hard way, with hard work, and loans with interest. What if we buy something that doesn’t sell? It’s our loss. Not the loss of a billionaire investor, but the loss of a family with 2 kids. There is no pot of gold here, but rather a small group of savvy young people taking a risk on an idea.
We’re glad we took that risk!
3. How are you actually making money by selling everything so cheap?
Oh crap. I knew we forgot about something.
The truth is, our margins are razor thin on most items, and barely covers the cost of operating redtagcrazy.com. As we grow, our buying power will allow us to command deeper discounts and we’ll be able to increase margins without raising prices. At least, that’s the plan.
4. What makes this whole company worthwhile for you?
Watching this turn from idea to company, and then to blossom like it has in such a short time, is extremely rewarding. We believe in what we’re doing, and just the fact that there are thousands of women here every day, confirms that we must be on the right track. Think about it, we get paid to build fun software (which we love), sell fantastic fashion (which we love more), and have a sense of humor all at the same time. There is nothing we’d rather be doing!
5. How did you make the jump from a wedding blog (TrulyWeddingBlog.com) to a ODAT sale site?
We started our wedding business, partly because we had a really fun wedding, and partly because we knew we could make it work. It wasn’t a big risk, or maybe it was and we just didn’t realize it. Either way, it was less than completely satisfying. You meet a customer once, and unless they have a string of unfortunate relationship disasters, you’ll never meet them again. We wanted a business in which we could get to know our customers well, and have a chance to earn their business through hard work and great service. Call it a leap of faith, but we felt we’d be better suited for the fashion world where such an opportunity existed. And here we are.
6. Melissa, how has being pregnant during the initial stages of RTC been great, and how has it been challenging?
Well, it’s been fun! I’ll start it off with that…LOL. It’s definitely been a challenge, but luckily I wasn’t pregnant until the site was built. Getting it up and running was the hard part, so that was a lot of long nights sitting down watching Eric program his little heart out! But as soon as it was up and we *thought* the hard part was somewhat over, was when we decided we wanted another little one running around, and to be honest, why wait?!?! But for being in the middle of a tremendously fast growing business while pregnant, has made the time FLY BY! I know that with just a couple more blinks of an eye, I will be holding our third child in my arms… I can’t wait!!!
7. What is each of your favorite products currently being sold on RTC?
Eric’s favorite is the LinQ Long Sleeve Polo in Red, because it looks amazing on Melissa. 
Melissa’s favorite product, would have to be almost everything! Except for a few *random* items that were a little unexpected and I didn’t personally pick out. I hand pick all the items on the site, and to see everyone love them as much as I do, makes it the most rewarding
(favorite item I’ve bought though, would have to be the LinQ long sleeve Polo in Red because Eric thinks it looks amazing
)…Oh..and it still fits over my prego belly!
8. Is there some little secret hint you can give us for what products or contests might be coming next?
It’s probably not much of a secret now, but we’re working on an ALL-DAY-DENIM event, date TBA.
Contests? We’re building our own contest *system* that will allow us to come up with all kinds of ideas for giving out redtagcash. Write a story about… Post a picture of… Post a video of… you get the idea! All contests will begin and end on a certain day of the week, and you will have the entire week to convince as many people as possible to vote for you. If you’re the only chick to enter, you win!
9. What is your favorite pair of high-end denim to wear? (Come on, guys… it’s me! What did you expect?!?)
This is going to sound pretty interesting, but to be completely honest; I’ve never owned a pair of high end denim (neither has Eric)! The first pair I’ve bought was from RTC, the Lucky Brand Jeans Marcie Sedona…LOVE THEM!! We are being introduced to the greatness of designer denim, right along with a lot of you ladies
Eric wants me to go buy a pair of maternity high end denim, but to be honest, I’m a penny pincher (kinda have to be with 2 business’ and 2 kids) so for something that I may wear like 15 times in 6 months and then to sit in my closet…NO THANKS! I am going to buy myself a pair of those ADORABLE Strawberry Ice R&S’s and use those as my goal jeans for after the baby is born
Thanks!
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