Sancho’s is the home of sustainable fashion and ethical lifestyle products. Our Black woman owned business is based in Exeter, UK where we believe in doing better, providing sustainable and affordable clothing options. Through activism and spreading awareness, we are working towards a kinder world. Shop our Transparent Pricing collection here, our Organic Cotton Bestsellers here and read more About Us here.
Is putting items on sale ethical?
Fast fashion high street brands are known for over pricing and over producing their cheaply made items, just so that they still make a profit once they are discounted in their ongoing sales. They do this by having much larger profit margins, by ordering items in the millions to lower the cost per item. This system can have many devastating effects, including mass dumping and incineration of unsold items, over production can force factories to over work their workers or otherwise risk losing a contract, and over time this mass discounting has led the general public of the western world to believe that clothing has a very low value.
“This only cost me…..”
I have definitely been a person who raved about how little a clothing item cost me that I had bought new and on sale from a fast fashion company in the past. It seems to be a badge of honour when you find something in the sale for a super low price. Even though I had been sewing since I was 10 and understood the years of training I had undergone just to make the simplest of items, I still loved a bargain. Little did I understand the true cost of that item and what it meant to support a harmful industry supported by this statement and how the competitive fast fashion industry will fight to have the cheapest items, even if it means that people and the planet are abused.
When we put items into the sale
Here at Sancho’s, the cost of an item is fixed, to make sure ethical manufacturing and sustainable materials have been used in the manufacturing process. You will know that we price transparently, and what an item costs is a reflection of what it actually costs to make this ethical item plus enough to keep Sancho’s operating. When we decide to put items on final sale we do so with great hesitation and only when necessary, at least 6 months after introducing the item to our store. When we discount items in store, we are often not making any profit on them, and we do this only to move older stock to make way for the new season’s pieces. We always learn from our stock levels what our customers love and what they haven’t been loving as much. We order items in small quantities, to avoid over stocking and to not put undue pressure on all the incredible makers and brands we work with.
Sale items are a more affordable option for many
We know that putting items on sale means that they are more affordable for more people. This means that more people are able to invest in sustainable pieces than they would normally be able to. We love being able to do this for our customers, but we encourage you to still only buy pieces that you love, that you will wear at least 30 times!
What the sale enables us to do
Putting items on sale enables us, as a small company to make more space in our (small) storeroom for the upcoming seasons collections that we know you are going to love! It also enables us to gain enough capital to invest into new brands. We know that we have a responsibility to stock black owned and inclusively sized brands as well as brands that are pioneering sustainability, and this enables us to be able to do that. You can shop our collection of black owned brands now here.
Why we are having this sale
Our current sale is one of the biggest sales we have had in a long time! This is because of many factors including the changing trends due to the pandemic, having to change around our shop premises to accommodate our changing working routines, as well as entering a new season. Having to have the shop closed for the majority of the last year has meant that many items which would normally have found loving homes have not. We hope this sale will help us make some space and prepare better for the coming year.
We understand that as our customers your needs have changed, and we hope to always work with you to give you the best of sustainable and ethical clothing, do take a look and shop the spring sale and always look out for new arrivals on Thursdays.
Written by Olivia Riley, Communications Manager here at Sancho’s.
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