Worn Again Store

By Cyndi Rhoades on August 24, 2009

With just a week away from launching our Bon Voyage collection of outerwear, bags and accessories made from decommissioned Eurostar uniforms and Virgin hot air balloons, we’re very excited. It has been a long road building a supply chain based entirely in the UK, for a next to non-existent industry (upcycling). And, during a recession.

One of our key challenges has been around pricing our products. There is a common misconception that products made from recycled materials should somehow be cheaper. This is not the reality.

For the past few years, Worn Again products have been available at a number of retailers, including Terra Plana, John Lewis and various independent shops around the world – in Japan, Scandinavia, the US and Europe.

We have sold our products using a conventional wholesale model where the retailer buys stock from us at a price that includes cost of goods and a margin for Worn Again. The retailer then adds their margin of between 2-2.6 times the price they buy it from us for before selling on to the consumer.

The process of upcycling, primarily the prepping of the materials required before manufacturing, is labour intensive (we will be posting a link to a photo story of the process soon – please check back) and, quite frankly, fiddly. Combine this with the higher labour costs we encounter by manufacturing in the UK and the conventional retail pricing model becomes unfeasible.

Using the standard pricing model would make our products disproportionately high compared to similar products which have been produced in the Far East for much cheaper, and ultimately, much more than most folks are willing to pay.

To address this, we have decided to make Worn Again available exclusively online. This way we can ensure affordable prices while not compromising on style or standards. For instance, a bag that we are now able to price online at £69 would otherwise have cost £92 based on the conventional retail model. While we regret not having a presence in some of our long time retailers, we’re pleased to be able reduce the price barrier. Our products will be harder to come by but softer on your wallet.

We’ve found a solution to the normally high retail prices associated with products made with improved social and environmental standards – now we’d like to sell some of them.

Be sure to spread the word!

Cyndi
Worn Again
‘Chief Upcycler’