The Ethics of Reselling: In Light of the Sandy Liang x Baggu Fiasco👛
🚨The Susty Agenda🚨 04.
We saw it with the Eras Tour, and we saw it make its way through the Beyhive, but did we ever think that we would see the same sneakerhead-like resale madness infect the sustainable fashion world? Not on our anti-consumerism, anti-fast fashion lives. Well, it did, and it happened to Baggu in their recent collaboration with Sandy Liang.
You might be thinking, “What are you talking about, Sustainable Baddie voice from the ether?” To which we will respond, “HELLO. Have you been living under a rock???” (Honestly, more power to you; stay under that rock. It’s giving girl moss behavior.) But we’ll break it down. Baggu and Sandy Liang designed an absolutely adorable collaborative collection, much like their Laura Ashley and Jessica Williams collabs of the past, but this Sandy Liang one was especially desirable. Sandy Liang is a independent high fashion designer who makes pieces priced for the luxury market. Many of us drool and swoon over her whimsical and flirtatious designs and dream up ways to DIY our own versions. So when Baggu (a much-loved affordable susty bag brand) announced a collaboration, the girls were on high alert.
For more context, you can check out this New York Times Article, but let’s break down some of the highlights:
Baggu announces the *limited-stock* (susty slay!) cool girl collab of our dreams!!
On Tuesday, August 8, the bags were set to release at 1:30 pm Eastern
At noon, the early pre-sale link was sent via text and Instagram notifications.
Within minutes, the entire collab was sold out
The girls, the gays, and the theys were upset, to say the least, and many felt it was a personal attack, but who’s really to blame? We don’t think it’s Baggu and Sandy who could simply not predict the future and were unaware that the folks were feigning out there (however, maybe next time, look alive a little?). From an economic perspective, it was in the two brands' best interest to sell out because it creates a sense of immediacy for consumers that encourages more of the brand's audience to purchase products from the same line or different ones in the future (facts derived from the depths of our AP econ notes). But the actors who are getting the brunt of our side-eye are the Depop, Poshmark, and eBay girlies who hopped on that ish, not because they love a bag with bows, but because they love to profit off delusion and desperation. Groan.