It’s quite ironic how we, as consumers, find ways to justify the amount of money we spend on ridiculously over-priced goods from brand name stores. We often rationalize such purchases by associating specific goods with “better quality.” However, why does “better quality” always carry such a heavy price tag? What do most shoppers perceive “better quality” to be? Does this perception include the quality of workers and their working conditions? And why do consumers often misinterpret sweatshop produced goods to be more affordable as well as more fashionable?

When we contemplate a potential purchase, we often overlook the effort and amount of work used to make a specific garment or assemble a piece of jewelry. Stigmas attached to the word sweatshop never seem to bother most of us despite the harsh reality of sweatshop workers. Along with our indifference towards such products, we assume that non-sweatshop produced goods will cost us a large sum of money. However, several products made by fair trade companies cost much less than the sweatshop produced purchase we made last week at the mall and ironically there is little difference in detail between the products.

The photograph to the left features a bracelet from Nordstrom.com. This particular bracelet can be found for about $138.00 while the Hybridity bracelet (not pictured) can be purchased at about one hundred dollars less for $33.00. Some shoppers may initially be hesitant by assuming the quality of the Hybridity bracelet must be lacking in some way. However, the bracelet from Hybridity is produced by a fair trade company which employs workers who work under appropriate working conditions while the more expensive bracelet was produced by a non-fair traded company.

Clothing is no different from the jewelry above. The price difference may even be larger as we see the use of popular brand names advertised for sweaters and tops. The next set of photographs present a set of two knit sweaters. The one to the right can be purchased from SaksFifthAvenue.com for about $253.00 while the sweater to the left costs about three times cheaper at $76.00.

Lastly, these two long-sleeve henleys reflect the same difference as the two previous examples. The first henley by Juicy Couture from SaksFifthAvenue.com is priced more expensively at $98.00 while the second one looks quite similar and can be purchased cheaper for $69.00.

-Kat

Photo Courtesy of Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Indigenous Designs