(eli5) How are fat peoples’ clothing the same price as a normal persons, with it having more material?
In: 0
There are two major concepts to understand here.
First, material is a vanishingly small proportion of the cost to get clothing to consumers in modern, western countries. Cloth can be woven by machines and there are just as many seams to be stitched in a larger piece of clothing. Instead the big costs are labor, transportation, marketing, and just the space it takes up in stores waiting to be bought. These things don’t really change with the sizing of the clothing so the overall cost to produce remains fairly constant.
Second, the underlying idea that the cost to produce the good determines the price it is sold at is incorrect. Obviously a company wouldn’t sell an item it cost more to produce than it could sell for, but beyond that barrier a company isn’t basing the price on production costs. Instead they are trying to balance the volume sold with the price to maximize the overall profit. Even if something is cheap to produce if they can sell it for a large amount they will. In modern western countries clothing is generally sold based on style and fashion rather than competing for the absolute lowest price possible.
Latest Answers