Comments on: Fairtrade @ Topshop http://www.greengrechen.com/2008/09/09/news/fairtrade-topshop/ eco-friendly fashion shopping online Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:20:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: grechenscodes.com » Blog Archive » Topshop US: Free Shipping http://www.greengrechen.com/2008/09/09/news/fairtrade-topshop/comment-page-1/#comment-7 grechenscodes.com » Blog Archive » Topshop US: Free Shipping Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:39:24 +0000 http://www.greengrechen.com/?p=53#comment-7 [...] haven’t heard, Topshop opened their US-based e-commerce site this week. (I wrote a piece for greengrechen.com on their “fairtrade” initiative). Shipping is expensive though ($15), so they’re [...] [...] haven’t heard, Topshop opened their US-based e-commerce site this week. (I wrote a piece for greengrechen.com on their “fairtrade” initiative). Shipping is expensive though ($15), so they’re [...]

]]> By: joe http://www.greengrechen.com/2008/09/09/news/fairtrade-topshop/comment-page-1/#comment-4 joe Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:24:17 +0000 http://www.greengrechen.com/?p=53#comment-4 Hi - good stuff. I think it would be interesting to compare different brands and assess how much of the sale price goes to the different parts of the supply chain. I suspect we would find that there is little difference in the pay of factory workers, fairtrade or not. I don't know that there would be much of a differential even when comparing small independents and large brands - because the costs of running a small operation are proportionally higher than a large corporation. Also, it is worth pointing out that the British Fairtrade Mark (I'm not sure whether this is the same as in the USA) only refers to cotton producers in clothing - which is obviously a very small part of the whole supply chain and represents a very small cost of the final garment. The factory checks are less important and there is no guarantee of a better wage for the factory workers - the standards just state that the working conditions should be reasonable. In terms of Topshop, I suspect they are selling the products because they can be sold at a premium. The real question is whether the added value to the cotton farmer is worth the additional cost on the garment. Hi – good stuff. I think it would be interesting to compare different brands and assess how much of the sale price goes to the different parts of the supply chain. I suspect we would find that there is little difference in the pay of factory workers, fairtrade or not. I don’t know that there would be much of a differential even when comparing small independents and large brands – because the costs of running a small operation are proportionally higher than a large corporation.

Also, it is worth pointing out that the British Fairtrade Mark (I’m not sure whether this is the same as in the USA) only refers to cotton producers in clothing – which is obviously a very small part of the whole supply chain and represents a very small cost of the final garment. The factory checks are less important and there is no guarantee of a better wage for the factory workers – the standards just state that the working conditions should be reasonable.

In terms of Topshop, I suspect they are selling the products because they can be sold at a premium. The real question is whether the added value to the cotton farmer is worth the additional cost on the garment.

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