1 Everlane Wool Trench | $110, $132 or $225
2 Ponte full length dress | $51, $61, $99
3 Everlane artist smock | $69, $83, $117
4 Everlane Cashmere scarf | $86, $103, $184
5 Everlane cotton/wool sweater | $32, $39, or $68
It’s the last day of Everlane’s “Pay what you Want” sale. I’m not ordering anything, but in Everlane tradition, I think this sale is a game-changer. Essentially, you decide what you want to pay based on how much you want to “contribute” to Everlane’s bottom line: you can pay their cost, and nothing goes to Everlane, or you pay slightly more, which helps them cover production, overhead and salaries, or even more, which contributes more.
I would like to say that I’d pay more and continue to support the company, but in my frugal-ness, I’d probably choose the middle level; I’d feel guilty paying the lowest amount. I certainly don’t any other time, but when they put it that way…
What would you pay? I’m curious how it will all turn out, and they probably won’t share that information, but it’s a very interesting experiment in transparency: telling your customer exactly where the “extra” money over and above production and shipping goes, and asking them to choose what they’re willing to pay keeping that in mind.
Are you ordering anything during this sale? What do you think about it?
*update via Racked,
Everlane tested the sale last week and found that roughly 10% of people chose to pay more than the lowest listed price. Why would someone not go for the best value? “It’s the affinity,” Preysman explains. “If you’re honest and transparent with people, then they’ll sort of treat you with decency in return.”
I bought three items. I paid the lowest price on two and the middle price on the more expensive item to rid myself of some guilt!
haha! what did you buy?
Bought cashmere v-neck sweater in black. Didn’t feel bad about picking the lowest price, just can’t bring myself to feel guilty about a corporate entity losing some profit 🙂 I like everlane, but felt that their being transparent in this instance was somewhat manipulative. There are many sales now, prices are amazing and Everlane should be happy that people help to clear out their old inventory and items that didn’t sell very well.
I bought the sleeveless poplin shirt in white and the sleeveless dress in light denim (guess I’m ready for summer already!). I ended up buying everything at the lowest price because I was resenting Everlane a bit for making me feel guilty (lol). Also thanks for the post on the All Saint’s sale. I ended up buying that reversible top that you featured!
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Just place my first Everlane order: that dress and that sweater 🙂
Me too, Zanna! An Everlane virgin no more! 😉
I bought the ponte full length dress and they had it in XL. I’m holding my breath that it will work for me! Paid the lowest amount. I’d be willing to pay more if this works for me, but I’m seeing it not only as Everlane’s “social experiment” but my own quality and fit experiment!
I’m so glad I saw this post! I had no idea about this sale…. I bought three things – black cashmere scarf, black poplin long sleeve & black drop shoulder tee. Yay!!! 🙂
yay!! hope you love them 🙂
so excited val! i hope you are happy with the dress. i have no experience with their ponte stuff at all, but i think jen bought that? or the skirt? it looks like a great piece…
let us know how you like them!!
haha. i didn’t end up getting that sweater – perhaps i’ll regret it later, but i decided i didn’t need it. i love it though, and i hope you do too! let me know what you think when you get it 🙂
of course it was manipulative, but i love that they did it anyway 😉
what i hope this does is help them narrow down what actually WORKS for them and stick to producing those things, and not too many “extras” like it seems they’ve been doing. it’s a little overwhelming the amount of new product they released this year…
You like they had a sale (oops, not a sale, better than a sale:)) or do you like how they went about doing it?
I like how they did it. It was obviously manipulative and in their self-interest to do it the way they did. (And it is consistent with their transparency message) but in that way it was also authentic, and that’s what I appreciate. I’m not sure how I feel about them having a sale specifically though. It doesn’t cheapen the brand necessarily, but it does make clear that they’re over-producing and not the right things.
That has been disappointing to me
here’s an interesting article about these types of sales…
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/12/pay-what-you-want-pricing-often-backfires.html
I’m a little torn over my feelings about this sale – one of the things I like most about Everlane is their everyday “transparency” but then they go and do things like this… On the regular site for these items (where the price is set), they give a breakdown of their labor/supplies/transportation/etc costs. This section was conveniently excluded from the create your own price webpage. I did some snooping and ALL the “true costs” were lower than even the lowest price they’ve made available. I’d love to see them address this, at least, so that I don’t feel like they’ve been “caught” pretending not to make a profit from their items (this ties in to the guilt other commenters have experienced). But as of now I am led to believe they’re being sneaky and that’s so disappointing.
The Street shoe was 98 dollars before this sale. They have adjusted the price a while back, even refunding people who had paid more when they were just released. Yet for this sale, they were priced at 140, so that the discount would appear bigger. All retailers play games with consumers and Everlane is no different.
I also noticed that they increased the price on the Street Shoe for the sale.
Very interesting strategy. I’ll admit that I did order (the cotton vneck sweater and the slim pants) at the lowest price. I don’t feel too badly, considering I’ve shopped with them at full price quite a bit. I’ve been wanting to try the pants for a while, so hopefully they’ll work out!
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I ordered the Ponte full length dress, sandals and long sleeved habotai silk at the lowest price. I don’t feel guilty about it because I have bought a lot of Everlane pieces at regular prices and any discount would be helpful.
We’ll compare notes! I’m picturing it a lot of different ways…longish plush cardI, tights and booties, oxfords, shrug, layered with a pullover… maybe even SLEEVELESS!!!
Well!
I went a little nuts with this sale I have to admit, and I purchased at the lowest price point because it’s so hit and miss lately that I’m not sure what will work out fit/size-wise and I’m assuming I may have to return some, but I snapped up:
The Wool Trench
Black Artist Smock
Slate Nubuck Street Shoe
Black Ponte Full Length Dress
Black Cashmere Scarf
I’m pretty excited actually. Will report back with fit/quality/etc.
I know! Weird right? A little sneaky on their part 🙂
All very interesting. Like the article author, I bought nothing. After wrestling with my conscience for a while I decided there was nothing among the sale items that I wanted enough for it to be worth the angst. If I didn’t already have the street shoe I might have gotten a pair of those, but I prefer the newer leather ones.
I wonder what they’ll do with any stuff that didn’t sell? It looked like there was still a lot available the last time I checked. It appears that Everlane’s pants experiment has been a bust – I’m guessing because they haven’t gotten the fits right. They touted those trousers to the hilt – with all the publicity over the 12,000-person wait list. I’d been curious about the slim trousers but lost interest quickly. I saw virtually no reviews or blog posts/photos beyond what everlane had up. And really the pants didn’t look very good on most of the people they chose.
I’m interested to see how they adapt in the coming year. I do think they should stick to the basics, but I’m still hoping for a nice Italian-made oxford. 🙂
An Oxford would be fantastic and I would love them to take a stab at a Minimal Riding Boot, but this time I may wait until they work out the kinks and not buy the first run. I learned my lesson with the Leather Street Shoe and Chelsea. 🙂
And what was wrong with their fit?
The fit was a bit of a headache to work out because they run narrow (and I have pretty narrow feet), but my issue was more with quality control. I received a few defective pairs, and the soles of one of my chelsea boots cracked after a couple weeks, but customer service was great about correcting all the issues.
I bought some items at their lowest price -. a sleeveless poplin, a silk pocket blouse, a habotai tank and a gray l/s sweater. I probably wouldn’t have paid full price for my items.
I hope others have better luck with the trousers than I did. I liked the slim on me but the fabric didn’t have much give which made it hard for me to bend my legs in a normal way.
When I bought the trousers before the sale they cost me $68.
bought 3 items at lowest price and am still awaiting them (and I live in Chicago very close to their new distribution hub!)
two pair of pants so I can decide on size and the ponte skirt. I do not feel bad as I have given them a lot of money and the pricing on some of the items I’ve bought has fluctuated wildly!
Just to circle back… LOVE both the sweater & the dress, though the dress pulls slightly at my hips which causes a tad of gap at the pocket. I decided to keep both and hope to buy more items in the future.
I checked in on Everyone a few times during the holiday sales but must have missed this – such an interesting concept/idea! Sadly, I didn’t purchase anything…though I do have my eyes on a few pieces. With the Canadian dollar be so very very weak whatever I buy from the US has to be really worth it (once I factor in shipping and duties) – for that reason, I’m being very intentional with my shopping and also discovering local Canadian brands to support.
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