Economics textbooks will tell you that one of the best products a retailer can have is an “inelastic” good or service. Meaning that there aren’t a lot of substitutes for the product and that customers are going to pay for it regardless of a price increase. UK retailer Marks & Spencer had such a product in its larger sized bras. So they increased the price, they added a £2 fee (about $3) to all bras sold with a cup size above DD.
Keep in mind the price increase was only for large bras, if you were a member of the itty bitty titty committee in good standing– no problem. If you were well endowed, M&S figured you were going to suck it up and pay the extra money. This in a county where, the average breast size is now somewhere between 36C and 34E, whereas ten years ago it was 34B.
How did M&S defend this practice of charging “gifted” ladies extra for their crucial support garments? Originally they went with the straightforward:
We design the collections to provide as much support and comfort as possible to the customer. This includes special design features such as wider straps, greater support in the cup and additional material around the back area to ensure the delicate breast tissue is properly supported and protected.
The collection has proved incredibly popular with the majority of our customers. They have told us they are happy to pay a small premium (between £1.50 and £2.00) for the specialist work to ensure suitable level of support, innovation and technology that goes into the bras. Our bras are much less expensive than many other specialist larger cup size lingerie retailers, where they could cost around £60 or more.”
So there, the “tit-tax” makes perfect sense. What are you going do? This kind of economic pressure on consumers might have gone unchallenged in the past, but now… you might be able to start a Facebook group and pressure the bastards into rolling the prices back to normal.
The Busts 4 Justice group was set up last summer on Facebook by Beckie Williams, a 26-year-old writer from Brighton who was fed up of paying extra for her 30G bras. This turned up quite a bit of pressure on Marks & Spencer. So again they tried to reason with angry customers taking a slightly defensive tact. A spokesman for M&S said:
“It is nonsense to say that there’s a surcharge of £2 on our DD plus ranges. Prices start at just £9.50, which is amazing value and one of the best on the high street and even our top price of just £25 is less than many retailers’ lowest price.”
“We’ve looked hard at making prices the same across the ranges and believe it is impossible for us to reduce price without cutting quality and we’ve always been clear that we won’t do this.”
By last week Busts 4 Justice had attracted over 14,000 members a lot of press coverage. M&S finally caved with a full page ad in British papers with a mea culpa.
Full page ad commands attention, what a clever way to sell newspapers
In a message on its homepage, a victorious Beckie Williams told her group: “We are really happy to say that, thanks to the members of Busts 4 Justice, M&S have decided to abolish the tit-tax, and from now on will be operating a one-price-fits-all policy across their ranges”
“…Busts 4 Justice remain committed to making things better for busty women on the high street, but for now we’re happy just to be able to encourage all ladies to reward themselves and their boobs with some properly fitted, fairly priced lingerie.”
Don’t you just love happy endings?
Follow Sarcastic Bite on Twitter 
Recent Comments