international streetwear pricing - how does this work? (example inside)

[antoine]

For example, the same tee:
http://www.drooghi.com/store/products/mighty_healthy/t_shirts/mighty_healthy_real_eyes_tshirt/images/product_140.jpg

$31.00 USD in the US
http://mightyhealthynyc.com/shop.html

£30.00 GBP (approx. $60.00) in the UK
http://www.drooghi.com/store/products/mighty_healthy/t_shirts/

how does this work? who gets the pricing benefit? the brand, the retailer, both?

[Witts]

import taxes. vat. greed.

[buddahfingaz]

rip-off britain

[steppingrazor]

the companies sometimes charge a little more to overseas accounts, then you have the import taxes and customs charges. so the retailer has to up the prices to recoup costs.

[µ]

rip-off britain

you beat me to it

[antoine]

you beat me to it

its not really ripping off britain though. in the context of the economy where its being sold its approx. the same price/value. if they charged only $30 (£15) then it undervalues the product...

i was just wondering where the markup is made. on the wholesale price, the retail price, or both.

...this applies to everything not only streetwear; an ipod is more in britain than it is in the US.

[µ]

that's stupid though

why should we pay double just so it matches the same face value?

for example the PS3 is £425, in USD that's $820, why on earth should we pay that much?

and it is rip-off britain, it's a phase in use here

[antoine]

that's stupid though

why should we pay double just so it matches the same face value?

for example the PS3 is £425, in USD that's $820, why on earth should we pay that much?

and it is rip-off britain, it's a phase in use here

i understand your point from a consumers perspective, but its a bit different from the sellers perspective (and the larger perspective)

take air jordans for example; if you just convert the US price to pounds and sell at that price, it makes the product really inexpensive in the UK economy. everybody and their cousin would have access to jordans, making them more or less AF1s instead of the holy grail of footwear

[µ]

they are, aj are like £60, dunks and af1s are £55-60 rrp

so why do streetwear companies do this?

[OutofStep]

There are a number of things that contribute to the extra price. Most streetwear companies make their tees in the US, that means a 13% duty is added when it comes into the UK. The air freight isn't cheap, the sales tax is included (17.5%) in the price, not added at the till like in Cali. A distributor often takes a cut (that's me!) and as a result of it being more expensive to rent/run a store here the shops do use a slightly higher mark-up ratio than in the US.

No-one in the chain is making a lot, but it does add up. Truth is the biggest part of the extra price goes to the government in tax and freight companies.

[OutofStep]

they are, aj are like £60, dunks and af1s are £55-60 rrp

so why do streetwear companies do this?


A global company like Nike can plan it's international pricing before the stuff is scheduled into production at the Chinese factory and make a global strategy, they've got ecomies of scale and huge market info. Most streetwear companies will get it made (home or abroad), taken to their HQ and send it out from there. It's not as efficient and adds a lot to the process. But that's small business vs giant corps.

[buddahfingaz]

yea i understand that taxes etc will add onto the price

but things in britain are just more expensive anyway. Take the example of Nike shoes - they might cost $80 in the US, but will still cost £50-60 ($100-120) here, for no reason other than consumers in the UK are used to more expensive prices.

Streetwear costs more in the UK because so few places sell it and they effectively have monopolies over selling the brands in the UK.