a couple of weeks ago, my youngest daughter came home with a new set of trousers
“great ! only 17,99€ dad !!”
not bad – but it felt a bit strange and i started calculating
please follow me in a reverse calculation of the cost of the trousers from a spanish brand and made in bangladesh
17,99€
minus 21% vat
= 14,86€ for :
- 500m2 of shop space in a Namur prime location
- advertising / photography / model / website / online shop
- at least 10 full or half time staff
- local taxes
- transport costs from central depot to shop
- treatment by staff
- transport costs from antwerp harbour to central depot
- designers
- administrative people
- the bosses and their large cars
- EU import taxes
- transport by ship from bangladesh
- transport to harbour
- packing
- factory workers and factory
- local taxes
- transport
- cloths (68% cotton, 28% polyester, 4% elastane)
- colouring of the cloths
- weavers
- transport
- the cotton workers
so i wonder what the cotton workers have received from the 14,86€ ?
knowing also that for the january online sales – ‘everything must go !’ – the same trousers were discounted to 7€ – vat included with free shipping to your home (!!!!????)
the same trousers made entirely in belgium would probably costs around 100€ or more
i know i know – globalisation is giving some bangladesh people a small income – but again at what price ?
shouldn t this big spanish company or any company using remote labour be asked – if not forced – to detail how they can price that sharply ?
thinking about this all – i feel really awkward…
i wouldn t mind spend a couple of euros more to the same trousers if i was sure the bangladesh workers would get a decent loan
but who can assure those extra € would not disappear in the pockets of the sub-contractors ?