Why I Raised the Price Every Time I Sold One

When Dange Denim first launched, it adopted a pricing model in which the price increased by 100 yen for every item sold.

Trucker jackets were initially sold for 10,000 yen, and the price increased by 100 yen with each sale. Coats, pants, and other items were also gradually increased in price in the same way.

There were several reasons for this approach.

First, when the brand was founded, it had almost no recognition.

We believed that even if we immediately sold the trucker jackets at our target price of 26,000 yen, they would not be chosen very often.

On the other hand, as we sold more items and gained experience in production, we could improve our sewing techniques and manufacturing processes. We could also replace the components we used with better ones.

Therefore, we felt that gradually increasing prices in line with the brand's growth was a natural approach.

Another reason was how we thought about the customers who made their first purchases.

Today, high-quality clothing for the price is easily available, primarily through fast fashion.

In such an environment, we believe it takes a certain amount of courage to purchase products from a brand with little track record at a price that is by no means cheap.

For this reason, we wanted to reward those who purchased early by keeping the price as low as possible for them.

And simply put, another reason was that we thought the idea of the price increasing by 100 yen for every item sold was interesting in itself.

This way of thinking was also influenced by a question that had occurred to me during my student days.

At the time, when a popular game console was released, the price was highest right at launch, but problems such as initial defects would sometimes occur.

Afterward, as production stabilized and quality improved, the price would gradually decrease.

"The product becomes more refined, yet the price goes down."

I found that system a little strange.

At Dange Denim, we decided to try the opposite approach.

Improve techniques and quality through repeated production, and gradually increase the price as those improvements accumulate.

The "100-yen price increase for every item sold" policy we started with at the brand's founding was born from this way of thinking.