Where's Rkilt

[crash]

I see that Rkilts thread and advertisement link are gone. So what has happened to make one of our long time members leave us?

[RockyR]

I don't think he's left as a member, but as an advertiser, he pulled his spot. He posts under the name "Canuck". Best bet would be to email him to ask such questions.

[Pleater]

It is a bit delicate - a new advertiser has been accepted, and objected to.

Hopefully no harm will come of it and normality will be restored, but it might take some time for things to be resolved.

Just now, however, we are waiting, and watching.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Steve Ashton]

Robert is still here and perhaps he would like to post an answer for you.

I think hearing his reasons from him would be preferable to everyone guessing and jumping to conclusions.

[Canuck]

RKilts is still in business and I’m still a member here, I joined in January 2004.
There were a number of factors that led up to my decision to curtail my advertising on XMarks for the time being. Illustrating them, will illuminate the thought process.
1) I manufacturer custom made “utility style kilts made from hemp and leather as well as contemporary kilts made from tartan and tweed. I have been doing this since 2001 and officially went into business in 2003. I generally operate on my own, but have had a number of employees over the years. I have a considerable investment in machinery both in a stand alone shop as well as a portable shop that I have to take to the Highland games.
2) A majority of my work is bespoke, and the price of my goods reflect the time and the quality of the product. I use only top quality hemp cloth for my hemp kilts. I personally hand select all my leather hides at a leather distributor to ensure quality and consistency. My tweed and wool tartan cloth I source from the mills in the UK
There have been a number of threads on XMarks as well as on other forums with regard to companies in Pakistan and China manufacturing copies of utility kilts that resemble in part to ones that are made by artisans like myself.
In fact these companies approach us, (I get emails from them daily) wishing to manufacture, a product that we produce at a fraction of the price. My latest quote was $17 delivered to my door. Yes ,that’s an attractive price, My material cost alone is double or triple that on hemp (let ALONE leather or wool) and I haven’t made the product! Samples have been sent to me so that I am able to compare my goods to theirs, and frankly, they are still a long way off. I have also experienced the direct knock-off of my design and from a distance it looks identical.
I have seen a trend at Highland games here in Canada. There are fewer and fewer companies that sell authentic Celtic wares produced by artisans, instead there is an influx of the “knock-off” product coming from offshore. Yes it’s business. I understand that. What hurts me is spending time with a customer, explaining what to look for in a good quality garment, how to wear it, to look after it, to find them walking back into your stall a half hour later showing off the copy of your product and asking for approval. (which I’m suppose to smile and give?)
I have reviewed the games that I participate in, and have decided to not be a vendor at a games where a majority of the vendors are selling product from Pakistan, it is a market I can no longer compete. Recently, I find myself in a similar situation on XMarks where on the advertising Real Estate, there is a vendor who sells a product a fraction of the cost of mine. When I apply the same logic I do to the highland games circuit, I find myself curtailing my advertising, while wanting to remain an active member.
I have to evaluate the market that I have a share in and figure out what is the best path forward for RKilts as a company. I have a number of avenues that are available to me as an artisan who is happy to make quality products with his own hands.. I’m still in business, I’m still making product.
All cultures are entitled to make a living, so do companies in Pakistan. I may question their ethics, and business practices, but that is a personal thing.
XMarks is a great community. It is supportive to it’s advertisers and members. I’m very pleased to be a member here and look forward to many years of participation.

[Father Bill]

Thank you, Robert for a measured, thoughtful, articulate, and helpful response.

I'll be back in your shop some day soon, I'm sure!

Bill+

[planemaker]

Hi Robert,

I am glad that you are still in business. I am very happy with my Festival Kilt that I bought from you last year. After seeing the quality of the build, I am saving for one of your tartan kilts.

Silante

Paul

[knotty]

As an owner of one of Roberts tweed kilts & tweed sporran, Im sorry to see RKilts gone. I wear both often.
I had a feeling something would happen here.

[Grizzled Ian]

I too own one of Robert's kilts, in green hemp, and some readers may recall the pictures that Robert posted last summer of me helping him in the building of it. It is a superb garment, and I really enjoy wearing it, though I prefer lighter kilts for dancing in our hot and humid summer.

Any of Robert's products have my endorsement, and to expand my wardrobe from RKilts, I am quite prepared to exercise patience and thrift.

[bricelythgoe]

It is a bit delicate - a new advertiser has been accepted, and objected to.

Hopefully no harm will come of it and normality will be restored, but it might take some time for things to be resolved.

Just now, however, we are waiting, and watching.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

Did not realize I was such a bother.