FriskyCanuck

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,066
Toronto, Canada
george-walmart-plus-size-charge-more.jpg


http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/walmart-plus-size-clothing-price-1.4796192
Walmart Canada is facing criticism for charging more for plus-size clothing, a policy some shoppers consider an unjust "fat tax."

"It's unacceptable," said Walmart shopper Shannon Mozak, of Edmonton, who sometimes buys plus sizes. "It's a form of shaming people."

Walmart and some other retailers mark up their plus-size clothing with the justification that bigger sizes cost more to produce.

They also charge a single lower price for a wide range of standard sizes — from extra small to extra large — leading many plus-size shoppers to question why only they must pay more.
"It's not right," said Michaela duChêne, who wasn't aware she was paying more for Walmart's plus sizes until an in-store sales sign revealed a price difference.

Posted this month at a Sydney, N.S., location where she shops, the sign advertised George brand women's T-shirts for $9.97, but stated 1X to 3X plus sizes cost $2 more — an increase of 20 per cent.

A check of Walmart Canada's website found that women's plus-size clothing items made by George — a brand exclusive to the chain — cost between 10 and 30 per cent more than the exact same items in regular sizes, which include extra-extra-large.

Walmart U.S. also charges more for George brand plus sizes.
But not all retailers follow that policy: Canadian clothing chains Joe Fresh and Reitmans charge the same price for both plus and regular sizes — a policy duChêne applauds.
joe-fresh-ad-plus-size.JPG

An ad for Joe Fresh clothing promoting the fact it charges the same price for regular and plus sizes.
CBC News asked the retailer why it charges the same price for a woman's item in an extra small and an extra-extra-large but raises the price for the 1X plus size — which has similar measurements compared to the regular-sized XXL version.

Walmart replied that it generally prices its clothing based on the average cost of a series of sizes, such as XS to XL.

"A size XS and XL may not have the same production costs but will have the same retail price," Walmart spokesperson Anika Malik said in an email.

The same rule applies to the retailer's 1X to 4X plus sizes, which are grouped separately, she said.

Walmart is now exploring ways to reduce the extra costs involved in making plus-size clothing to lower their retail price, Malik added.
Professor of fashion Ben Barry said when manufacturers produce clothing on a mass scale, the cost difference for larger items is negligible.

"It really doesn't have a significant impact on your bottom line," he said, "because you're ordering material in such large quantities."

He also warns that retailers charging more for plus sizes could wind up paying a high price — if customers take offence.

"You're sending such a negative message to plus-size women that you're going to lose that consumer base," said Barry who chairs Ryerson University's school of fashion in Toronto.
 
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Hollywood Duo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
42,592
I've always been confused how all sizes are the same price. It's literally more or less production materials.
 

Koo

Member
Dec 10, 2017
1,863
Have they been to a plus size clothing store before? Like $40 for a t-shirt. So...
 

TitanicFall

Member
Nov 12, 2017
8,349
Well if you aren't going to do it across the board then it looks bad. Think about shoe sizes. You aren't charged more for wearing a size 12 versus a size 9.
 

Mendrox

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
9,439
So do you get charged less for going with smaller size?

Yes you get charged less than XXL etc and pay the normal intended price for your size. I can see the point of it being more expensive and they also put them into two groups so it's not like every shirt has different prices.
 

RPGam3r

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,686
More material, so more cost. Don't like it? Do something about it, and here's a hint its not related to going on the internet and complaining about it.
 

borghe

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,112
I've always been confused how all sizes are the same price. It's literally more or less production materials.
because the BOM is pretty insignificant to the COGS. On top of that.. when it comes to clothing.. IF all sizes were priced differently, a lot (majority?) of people would by a size smaller.. not only for less money but to make themselves feel better... and ill fitting clothing parading around the streets is not what manufacturers are hoping for.
 

Sanjuro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,417
Massachusetts
This is usually the norm everywhere. I know a few people that print shirts. Once you hit the XL sizes it generally will cost another buck or so.
 

borghe

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,112
I highly doubt it's the amount of fabric. I'm guessing it's the economies of scale, far more people wear sizes S, M and L so it's cheaper to mass produce those. The XL sizes are almost special orders so they cost more.
in america... anything up to 2XL is most definitely not a special order. Nor are pants up to 44" waist.
 

Brandon

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
3,979
This is a common thing on small online stores. Not so much in actual retail stores though...
 

Duane

Unshakable Resolve
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,473
I work in the apparel industry, and guess what? SO much fabric comes from China, and thanks to President Tarriff the price is more unstable than I've ever seen it. It fluctuates daily now, and mostly goes upward.

The factories, who sell to vendors, who sell to retailers... everyone up and down the line is feeling that burn. And now it's breaking through the final line: to the customer.
 
Oct 27, 2017
42,975
I've always been confused how all sizes are the same price. It's literally more or less production materials.

I wonder if it has to do with the fact that most people fall within the sizes of XS-XL, so they cost roughly the same amount to manufacture at scale, whereas sizes larger than that have smaller markets and thus don't reach the scale where they cost roughly the same

Basically an issue of economies of scale
 
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.exe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,365
I was in the US once and checked out a 3XL shirt out of curiosity (first time I'd ever seen one). I'm personally not surprised they charge extra... It's like 4 times as large as an M or S. Prices of fabric are of course still cheap, but then there's shipping/handling/packaging too. A shipment of similar quantities to a smaller size will take up more space. Maybe these things add up.
 

ghostemoji

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,833
I highly doubt it's the amount of fabric. I'm guessing it's the economies of scale, far more people wear sizes S, M and L so it's cheaper to mass produce those. The XL sizes are almost special orders so they cost more.

I think this is more likely. I know when my friends in bands and whatnot would order t-shirts, they tend to only offer limited designs in larger sizes because they know those will sit around for a very long time because they're much more likely to sit around for a long time.
 

lenovox1

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,995
Yeah, if I was a merchant at Walmart, everything would just be marked up to the Plus Size price. Appeases the complaints and it slightly improved the margin on the product. Win/win.

I highly doubt it's the amount of fabric. I'm guessing it's the economies of scale, far more people wear sizes S, M and L so it's cheaper to mass produce those. The XL sizes are almost special orders so they cost more.

Correct. That's what the spokesperson was trying to explain in the OP.
 

Mechanized

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,442
Some braindead replies here. Put more than a second of thought into your responses guys, holy shit. Easier to fat shame I guess.
 

Thurston Last

Banned
Jul 26, 2018
1,350
I don't know all of the costs involved with making shirts.

More fabric is just one part. Another factor could be production size, how many S,M,L shirts do they make vs XL and up? Larger quantities may be cheaper to produce and if 2XLs are created in small quantities they may have higher costs from the supplier.

Or who knows, maybe they use 2 sweatshop workers instead of 1 at a time on those shirts.

Or it could be that the industry just knows they can get away with it because the larger sizes used to be specialty items, and as more people are needing to wear these sizes they want to keep the same margins going and give BS excuses.
 

geomon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,007
Miami, FL
"It's unacceptable," said Walmart shopper Shannon Mozak, of Edmonton, who sometimes buys plus sizes. "It's a form of shaming people."

Oh fuck off. I'm sorry that you're personally inconvenienced sometimes but I've had to live as a big and tall man since I was 15 years old. This is the norm and I wish I could fucking shop at a Walmart but they don't carry 5X Tall so I have to shop at places like Destination XL and pay $30 or more for one fucking shirt in a tall size.

And don't fucking get me started on shoes and socks and underwear.
 

Deleted member 11626

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,199
I've been big, tall, and overweight for a while. I'm used to paying more for my clothes than other people and I wasn't even aware it was an issue. Going to specialty big and tall stores costs even more than a regular department store's big clothes so I'm not sure where the idea that every size should cost the same comes from. I'd imagine bigger sizes sell fewer pieces and use more material than say, the range from S to XL. But if the outrage leads to lower prices for me then I'll take it
 

DarkJ

Member
Nov 11, 2017
1,132
It's not like you bought a box of cereal or Microsoft office where it's the same across the board. How many smalls can fit into a 3xxl?

Edit: Wal-Mart's, Boscovs, Khols, etc in PA do this already.
 
Oct 27, 2017
730
Notdissushitagain this is capitalist pricing policy at it's finest. If there is no difference between s and xl there should be none for xl to XXL. Furthermore the price difference will never be more than microcents on the dollar because that is the actual price difference in terms of fabric and production costs. This is discriminatory and the only reason people go for it is because fat shaming is socially acceptable and they'll use platitudes like more fabric to justify it.
 

Lundren

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,745
Oh fuck off. I'm sorry that you're personally inconvenienced sometimes but I've had to live as a big and tall man since I was 15 years old. This is the norm and I wish I could fucking shop at a Walmart but they don't carry 5X Tall so I have to shop at places like Destination XL and pay $30 or more for one fucking shirt in a tall size.

And don't fucking get me started on shoes and socks and underwear.

"Fuck off I have it worse!"

Yeah, that makes sense to me.