2021 Price Rises
-
We have put off doing this for as long as we can, but cost pressures in many areas and a general strengthening on the Yen has made this necessary.
Sometime between now and 1st March (this depends on when we can write the code for the update), our prices will be going up an average of 5%. We have used this opportunity to rationalize some pricing, so some prices have not moved at all, others have gone up more than 5%.
Over the last few years we have reduced prices when we can, in fact, XHS jeans were USD450 when we released them 10 years ago, they are currently USD400 and will rise to USD420.
Sorry folks…..
-
And the quality is still worth every yen!
-
It is what it is. Lord knows international trade has been a strange one in recent years. As said, the gear is worth every penny regardless.
-
Gotta make a profit! Just glad that IH continues to exist. Been a favorite since I discovered y'all. Here's to many more years making the best denim/gear around.
-
Hey Giles, I for one am extremely grateful for the joy your company creates in my life. Like I said I'd gladly pay double if I had to… you're kind enough to offer free shipping and a lot of companies don't do this. So a price hike isn't as huge of a deal to me as you might think. FWIW
-
Completely understandable and not a big deal. As others have already said, the quality, style, and customer service far outweigh the necessary increases.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
I’m never happy to hear about price increases, but it’s a fact of life, and Giles and the rest of the IH crew are always transparent and honest about pricing. And as Giles said, prices have been decreased when circumstances allow, and who else does that? And who else gives advance notice when the prices are going up? As everyone else has said, the outstanding service of the IH crew and quality of the IH product are worth the price.
-
“The quality remains when the price is forgotten”
-
Seems very reasonable G, thanks for the heads up!!
-
Most companies wouldn't explain the price increase, so thank you for being so transparent. I always appreciate it when companies break the reason for the cost down.
-
I'm getting some shit on FB and to our CS email addy atm, so here is a response I am giving….
The decision was not taken lightly.
Most companies would change prices without warning, but we feel strongly about keeping our customers informed and are happy to explain when we make this type of business decision. And in all honesty, 5% is such a small increase, we could probably have done it without announcing it, and most people would not have noticed. We pride ourselves on our transparency, that is why we pre-announced.
In this case, costs have been increasing in Japan over the past few years and that, coupled with a strengthening Japanese Yen, has lifted our cost base substantially. In the past, when circumstances have allowed, we have decreased prices. Twice in the last 10 years, we have actually reduced prices. Even with this current price increase, our XHS jeans are USD30 less than when we launched them in 2011.
Both we, and our retailers around the world, need to make a reasonable profit margin on the goods we sell. These are premium products, made from quality materials by skilled workers who have good working conditions and are fairly paid. By the time they are shipped to us, the cost is already high and we aim to keep our end-user pricing at a level that allows us and our retailers to make a reasonable, but not excessive, profit.
We would dearly love not to have had to increase prices, but had we not done so our business would become unviable. We have employees whose livelihoods depend upon us and we have factories in Japan that rely on our business to survive. We are simply trying to run a successful and sustainable business, with everyone in the Iron Heart ecosystem able to prosper, and - as far as anyone can these days - look forward to a secure future.
-
Sorry to hear that ppl are giving you some guff, @Giles. Again, thank you for what you do and being so out and about with the increases. Stoked to keep buying from you.
-
I don’t think the folks giving you shit have watched a lot of news in the last, oh, 5 years or so…
-
FWIW, prices are so much lower now than when I got into the brand in 2009, it's almost uncanny.. I remember the 8301 were like 475 when originally released
