This is such a common misconception, if companies never passed savings on to us, we’d be paying absolutely astronomical prices and you couldn’t afford to buy anything at all.
Shirts used to be hundreds/thousands of dollars or days/weeks of your own time, a lot of people had to weave their own fabric and make their own clothes because they never earned enough money to afford to buy one pre-made since all their work went into feeding themselves. Average people didn’t own more than a handful of sets of clothes up until the industrial revolution. Almost all of the benefits of automation in fabric production has all been passed down to you.
You can now pick up a t-shirt from Walmart for $5, or a dress shirt for $50 both of which are far higher quality than what used to exist.
Profit margins for most consumer goods industries are not that high usually around 50% from creation to consumer (split between the manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer) and some industries are much lower even than that.
Shirts used to last decades too. I have a shirt in my closet that is 33 years old that’s in better condition than shirts less than a year old. A $5 Walmart shirt lasts a few months. You’re not getting the same quality.
Edit: I just read the last paragraph of your comment and you’re very mistaken about a lot of goods. They get 100+% mark-up at every step of the supply chain. Clothes at a place like Nordstrom have thousands of percent mark-up.
Shirts were automated 33 years ago too. I was comparing them to pre industrial revolution clothing which was heavy and itchy.
As for Nordstrom, those are luxury goods not consumer goods. You’re paying for brand names or fancy fabrics, neither of which are necessary to your life.
This is such a common misconception, if companies never passed savings on to us, we’d be paying absolutely astronomical prices and you couldn’t afford to buy anything at all.
Shirts used to be hundreds/thousands of dollars or days/weeks of your own time, a lot of people had to weave their own fabric and make their own clothes because they never earned enough money to afford to buy one pre-made since all their work went into feeding themselves. Average people didn’t own more than a handful of sets of clothes up until the industrial revolution. Almost all of the benefits of automation in fabric production has all been passed down to you.
You can now pick up a t-shirt from Walmart for $5, or a dress shirt for $50 both of which are far higher quality than what used to exist.
Profit margins for most consumer goods industries are not that high usually around 50% from creation to consumer (split between the manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer) and some industries are much lower even than that.
Shirts used to last decades too. I have a shirt in my closet that is 33 years old that’s in better condition than shirts less than a year old. A $5 Walmart shirt lasts a few months. You’re not getting the same quality.
Edit: I just read the last paragraph of your comment and you’re very mistaken about a lot of goods. They get 100+% mark-up at every step of the supply chain. Clothes at a place like Nordstrom have thousands of percent mark-up.
Shirts were automated 33 years ago too. I was comparing them to pre industrial revolution clothing which was heavy and itchy.
As for Nordstrom, those are luxury goods not consumer goods. You’re paying for brand names or fancy fabrics, neither of which are necessary to your life.