In our role as a refill store, we occupy a very unique middle place in the market of home goods and personal care supplies. If you're a conscientious shopper you're probably already expecting to see some higher prices because you know that well-made, sustainable, and ethically-produced things just cost more.
If you identify with the above, you'll be happy to see that our prices are actually lower than many eco brands out there, often with better, fewer ingredients AND less plastic waste.
But if you're doing a price comparison between our products and super low-cost goods like Gain from Costco, there will be some sticker shock when filling those big old bottles.
That's because it's not a true apples-to-apples comparison. We hold our suppliers to higher standards.
Our refill products are sourced from small businesses in the U.S. and Canada, made small-batch with safe, clean ingredients, cruelty-free, and at fair wages/ labor standards. They're also more concentrated which often means you use less.
On the other hand, brands owned by the most powerful global conglomerates in the world (such as Unilever, SJ Johnson and Proctor & Gamble) promote unsustainable & cruel palm-oil production, 'recycling' greenwashing, excess oil & gas production through repeated plastic waste, horrible ocean pollution, and have been known for recalls of toxic ingredients.
And unlike them, our refill products are closed loop...
which means that our business and our suppliers share responsibility for returning & reusing the packaging in which the refills are shipped, so there is no unnecessary waste generated.
If products like Dawn, Tide, Method, or Seventh Generation met these standards and took true responsibility for the impact of their production, they would cost much more than they do now.
Another thing to consider is that when you grab a plastic bottle off the shelf at Target or the grocery store, you might not really notice the specific price per bottle when it's part of a larger $100 or $200 purchase of groceries and several other items. But when you shop here, even if the price is comparable, it may feel more noticeable if that's the only refill you're purchasing that day.
That being said, I'm very excited to share that as of this writing our prices are now the SAME or LESS per regular priced ounce (or per load for laundry) as Mrs. Myers, Grove Collaborative, Ecos, Molly's Suds, or Biokleen, common single-use plastic brands sold at Whole Foods and Target.
Over the last several months as grocery and living costs have remained high, I've been working hard to bring down prices without sacrificing quality or our community values. This means finding a greater variety in suppliers as well as working up to our first ever, super exciting very large freight orders!
And if you only refilled when we first opened four years ago, please know that we have evolved to find more effective grease-fighting & stain-removing refills than the early brand we started with.
Even if you've been in recently, you'll likely still find yourself happily surprised at checkout by our newest price drops (below), effective Jan. 10, 2025!
