28 Dec 2015

Everlane Lets Shoppers Choose Their Own Price

Before even moving to the Bay Area, Everlane was always a retailer that interested me. I have always kind of liked their pieces from afar, but never took the plunge into buying anything from them. Earlier this year, I even stopped by an event at their office which was more like a socializing happy hour with a DJ than an event to shop at which I originally thought was the purpose. I just found out today though that their post Christmas sale is one unlike any other that I’ve seen. For their select items, they are allowing customers to choose from three different price points – all below retail – when paying.

Each price is accompanied by an explanation for what that amount of money covers. So, if you pay $81 for the Nubuck Street Shoe, that’s only covering production; if you pay $97, you’re also covering overhead for Everlane’s team; and if you pay $126, you’re covering those things and also allowing for Everlane to invest in its growth.

Wowza, those are quite the differences aren’t they? On one hand, I do only want to pay $81, but then I feel a little bit uncomfortable knowing that I’m paying for the shoe to be just constructed, however, $126 is over $40+ from that lowest price point and that seems absurd! So where does that leave you as a customer? Do you pay the $97 for the shoes and the guilt that comes along with it?

Readers, what do you think customers will choose? How would you choose and what would be your rationale? I’ve never seen a retailer do this before, but I do remember writing an article in my high school’s newspaper about a local coffee shop that did the whole “pay what you want” type of thing and what happened was that the shop ended up shuttering in under a year. 🙁

[Source]

Posted on December 28, in Style