Sliding Scale

One of the most difficult aspects of my job has been pricing my offerings.  Much to my disappointment, I’ve discovered over the years that to offer the quality of product and customer service I want to offer, and to make this business financially sustainable means pricing my products at a price point that makes them inaccessible to a lot of people.

I’d like to live in a world where everyone has access to high quality, intentionally made goods.  And while I do think many of us need to adjust our expectations of what clothing should cost and how much of it we should own, this is only one piece of the puzzle as long as we live in a world with high levels of economic inequality.

As an example, I’m currently able to pay myself about $28/hr. This means that someone making $150K/year will work about 20 minutes for an hour of my time, while someone making minimum wage will have to work nearly 4 hours to earn an hour of my time. In short, while I choose to pay myself what I consider a living wage, I realize that supporting my living wage is a difficult ask for someone who is themselves not making a living wage.  

Running sales is a tried and true way that businesses make their offerings available to more people and increase their sales numbers.  This is exactly how I hope sliding scale offerings will work, but with a self-assessed usage that promotes access rather than excess.

I’ve currently budgeted my time to offer $300 in discounts per month. The discounts below will work until I’ve hit that number, then they’ll be deactivated until the next month.  Here are my thoughts for how I hope these are used:

  • Because I think it's both impossible and insulting for me to attempt to assess your financial situation, access to this offer is open to anyone and is self-assessed.  I recognize that economic access in our world is affected by factors like race, ability, ethnicity, immigration status, class, size, gender, and a host of other factors both individual and systemic, and trust you to make this call yourself.
  • Discounts are available at 10-40% off, so you can choose which tier works for you. 
  • I hope to serve 2-5 additional customers each month with these offers. 
  • So that these discounts are available to as many people as possible, please wait until the end of the month if you have already used a discount in the past 6 months.
    Sliding Scale Discount Codes:
    SLIDINGSCALE10 (10% off your order)
    SLIDINGSCALE20 (20% off your order)
    SLIDINGSCALE30 (30% off your order)
    SLIDINGSCALE40 (40% off your order)
      
    As you're shopping, if you'd like help with fit, sizing, style selection, or customization options please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or to request a consultation.
    If you receive a message that says your discount code "isn’t valid for the items in your cart" it means that the available discounts have been used for this month.  Check back on the 1st for refreshed offers.
    If you'd like to support sliding scale pricing you can do so by telling your friends about VAVA, by supporting my work at regular price, or by contributing here.
    Thank you!