Telfar Introduces New Live Pricing Model

The New York-based brand, known for its popular shopping bag totes — nicknamed the “Bushwick Birkin” — is introducing a new pricing strategy for its latest collection drop on March 27.

Rather than set prices, Telfar will let consumer demand determine cost: after the collection drops, items’ prices will start rising from wholesale price up to retail price (the price the clothes would be sold at in a store). Once an item sells out, it will remain at the price it lands on for future collections. As part of the Telfar Live Price format, new items will drop weekly through April 24.

“Many brands use price as a barrier to entry. I never wanted that for my brand,” designer Telfar Clemens told Fast Company, which first reported the news.

It’s a move in line with Telfar’s pattern of shaking up fashion industry norms, especially surrounding pricing and dealing with demand. The brand has positioned itself as luxury without prohibitive prices.

Rather than raise prices as his shopping bags exploded in popularity, they’ve stayed under $300. After the bags began selling out in seconds, in 2020 the brand introduced its “bag security program,” a 24-hour sale where shoppers could pre-order bags to be made and shipped out months later, which it repeats periodically. In 2021, the brand introduced “Telfar TV,” a 24-hour television channel on the Telfar app for accessories drops designed to beat the bots that snag and then resell bags, making it harder for fans of the brand to get their hands on Telfar merchandise.

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