When the months of January and July arrive, at the time of the sales , we are always annoyed. Offering you a handsome 50% off might be the easy way out . Both for you, because our products are not the cheapest on the market and you benefit from a nice reduction, but also for us because if you buy, we sell, so it's positive (so far nothing very complicated ).
At the office, we have all already fallen for a nice pair of shoes that are not necessarily eco-friendly, a small meal that is not necessarily the most committed, or a trip alone in your car (yes, that happens to us too).
What bothers us is to receive a good lesson in morality, during these moments that we do not put on our linkedin as " beautiful action of the day ". It is unproductive and can only blur the initial message.
At NOSC , we have chosen to inspire, explain and transmit rather than pointing fingers, incriminating and denouncing. This is our position on the subjects that are important to us.
Regarding the sales, therefore, our position has always been clear. There is no question of selling off our products under the pretext of commercial pressure , the need for results or other dark reasons of fast fashion such as overstock or obsolescence of models. We are not against sales, but against what they imply in relation to brands, in overproduction , "overprices" and what ensues from it.
So, why no sales at NOSC?
SUMMARY :
- A question of fair and reasonable prices all year round.
- A commitment to quality rather than quality.
- Timeless and durable collections and colors.
- Trust with our resellers.
1/ Fair and reasoned prices, all year round
First of all, what is a fair price? At NOSC, we have set a definition that is unique to us and that we believe corresponds to the values that we defend through our clothes. A fair price at NOSC is a price that allows us to develop the brand, our products, our teams and our partners. This therefore includes a margin allowing us to pay our fixed costs (rent, accounting, salaries of the team including 2 founders and 2 work-study employees, lawyer, etc.), and our variable costs (raw materials, transport, cost of production, design of the product, model making etc.).
When we talk about developing our partners, it is mainly about our partner factories, our stylist-modelist Floriane or Mathieu and Marie who support us in the development of future products. Our choice to manufacture locally therefore has a strong impact on the final price of the product because it clearly remunerates each actor in the NOSC value chain, at European or even French costs and not Asian costs (for example). All of this means coming up with a consistent end price for everyone.
A small example: The AFTER TEE NOSC, sale price €45 including tax.
-VAT: €7.5
-Cost of the material made in France by Laurent: €7.76 excluding VAT for the off-white color on 112m of roll
-Cost of making - Lyon by Karine: 9€ HT
- Branding costs - Annecy by Alexandra (3 prints): €4.25 excl. tax
-Transport for 100 t-shirts: 92€ HT with insurance
-Overall manufacturing cost excluding NOSC costs: €21.01 excl.
With this small example, you can see that this product costs us quite a lot for what it brings in, that it cannot therefore be sold for €25 , for example, and that it is still necessary to be able to assume the other expenses with the margin. of €16.5 released . This will be qualified by the small quantities produced in this range and by the few economies of scale achieved!
Thus, we have already had customer feedback on the prices of our products saying that these funds were too expensive. Yes, we are aware that many people cannot afford to buy eco-responsible sportswear.
Our products are indeed more expensive than clothes from fast fashion but these prices are justified .
In short, we are therefore not against sales , but against overproducing and selling at very low prices afterwards. We are for reasonable sales and fair prices all year round .
2/ Quality over quantity
Due to the size of the company, our stocks are limited . We produce only according to demand, often in pre-order to be as accurate as possible, and we also like to co-create our products with our customers via questionnaires (the last one was carried out for the co-creation of the men's wild pant ). This allows us to really understand the needs of those who will wear our clothes and to be able to meet them: quality before quantity. Our operation with our store resellers is identical : they commit to quantities and products on average 6 months in advance and then are delivered on date. An XL version pre-order! We therefore avoid huge stocks, and the need to destock at a reduced rate.
In addition, our clothes are eco-responsible because they are created from recycled materials but also because they allow customers to buy less and better. In a dynamic of slow fashion , our products are designed to correspond to several sports and at different times of the year. From now on, when you go for your run during the week and you go for a hike at the weekend, a single t-shirt will suffice. No need to have a closet full of clothes!
It also works with our other products like leggings , jackets etc. Our new collections tend more and more towards this dynamic. This is also what makes the identity of our brand .
Obviously if there is a production error or too much stock because we are unable to sell our products for such and such a reason, we occasionally make reductions . This has already happened for chokers because we had badly managed stocks. However, this remains very rare and we are always trying to find alternatives to compensate for this eventuality.
Indeed, sales are used to sell off stock due to overproduction of products, and this is what we at NOSC do not endorse, mass production and the exorbitant sales that result from it.
3/ Timeless and durable collections.
When we think of the products, their shape, their design and their color, we work with insistence on sobriety , aesthetics but also on the potential of the latter. Their durability (eco-responsible but also solidity here), must be maximum to last over time . The best product is the one that you keep the longest, and that you put on as often as possible. At NOSC , it is one of our leitmotivs and it is also so as not to degrade this work which is so difficult and time-consuming that our products do not experience the delirious reductions of certain well-known textile "comrades".
4/ Trust with our resellers.
Here, you are directly with us, but many NOSC customers have discovered the brand through physical retailers. Out of respect for their trust in the brand, and their bet (a bit crazy 😉 ) to resell us, sales are prohibited from our vocabulary so as not to fail the stores of the NOSC network .
In short...
We hope that you will have understood our choices on this delicate subject . Not everyone can afford beautiful pieces, but by explaining, by transmitting the message, we can promote awareness . Of course, it is not impossible to see a reduction on a NOSC product, periodically, and for a specific, explained, developed and concrete reason.
For example, we are completely wrong in production with our factory, and all the XS sizes of a t-shirt are actually 12 years old, and it becomes unsaleable at the classic price (#truestory of the 1st production 😇).
However, you will never find a message like this on our site "70% off sitewide and a free outfit with the code FASTFASHION only for 24 hours"
As we like to say, everything is often a question of finding the balance, which is good because you are a sports lover, you know that it is the sportsmen who find the balance the easiest!
