fashion loves people

Earlier this month I came across a blog post from Wendy Brandes Jewelry that gives an informative glimpse into the costs of manufacturing, namely in the U.S. versus overseas. She describes the “classic small business conundrum,” as she calls it.

First, about the cost of U.S. labor (which she uses) and why she can’t offer inexpensive jewelry:

I would love to do inexpensive jewelry for the likes of H&M. But it costs money to manufacture inexpensive products because even if you use inexpensive materials, you still have to pay for labor. … U.S. labor is expensive. Labor, for me, includes the wax carvers, mold makers, metal casters, goldsmiths and stone setters whom I employ, all of whom expect to get paid. If I waste expensive labor on inexpensive material, I wind up with a customer who wrinkles her nose and bitches: “You’re charging THIS? For SILVER/PLATED BRASS/PLASTIC/RHINESTONES?!”

Then a nice straight-forward explanation of why U.S.-made goods cost more:

U.S. labor is expensive because the U.S. has a high standard of living. People in ANY job — including you, unless you’ve taken a vow of poverty — want wages that allow them to maintain that high standard of living. Luckily for you bargain hunters, other countries don’t have such a high standard of living. People will work for very little. To be blunt and use the bad word: Cheap goods are made by cheap non-U.S. labor.

E.g.:

Here’s a good example of the difference in labor costs. I designed and manufactured a silver ring in the U.S. for $40. The price of silver is the same everywhere. As I’m writing this post, it’s about $17 an ounce. I sampled that silver ring at a factory in Asia and it cost $4.

But she doesn’t have her jewelry made in Asia because:

Lower quality calls for higher quantity. A factory would go out of business fast if it let me order one or even 10 inexpensive rings for $4 each, so the minimum order is 100 of one style. If I want to do ten inexpensive ring styles, I’ve suddenly got 1,000 pieces in my inventory and I’ve spent $4,000. What am I going to do with all those rings? I need a big store to sell them. I can’t spend $4,000 on spec and hope for the best!

And that’s why she can’t sell more until she can charge less, but she can’t charge less until she sells more. Hence the conundrum.

For many eco designers, whether they opt for U.S. manufacturing or ethical overseas manufacturing, one reason their price points are sometimes higher than similar non-ethical items is that they and their customers are helping pay for someone else’s high standard of living, whether here or abroad. Which, compared to helping fund someone else’s low standard of living, is awesome.

“Little Woolf” necklaces above by Wendy Brandes. The silver one was made in quantity overseas and sells for $50, and the 18K gold one was U.S.-made and sells for $450.