This is not like Amazon, and that's on purpose.
While there's no purely ethical consumption under capitalism, there's better and worse ways to engage with it. We're committed to spending a little extra time and money to make better choices. More ethical, more ecological, more thoughtful. That often means we make less of a profit, but so be it.
This shop is owned by a disabled person. Rosalarian themself does most of the work, with a little help from their partners. They write and draw and design everything here. They do all the shipping, too. As an individual, they can't ship things as fast or cheap as Amazon. There's gonna be a little wait. Think of it as building antici........... pation. This isn't lifesaving insulin you're ordering. This is a happy little treat. Not to be an old person yelling at clouds, but when we were young, you could expect 4-6 weeks for delivery if you ordered something from a catalog. This is going to be more like that.
We often reuse packing materials. There's no reason for a cardboard box to be discarded after one use. Reusing things is always better than recycling them. Our packaging might not be sleek or fancy, but who cares! The world is on fire. We are gonna use wads of grocery bags to cushion your items instead of buying a bunch of packing peanuts for you to throw in the trash.
About the clothes
Fast fashion sucks, but clothing is a big part of identity for a lot of people, and a form of self expression, a functional art form. Rosalarian spent years researching manufacturers until they found a couple that fit their criteria: no sweatshops, no slavery, no prison labor, but also quality construction and materials that are made with as little waste as possible, and a wide range of sizes. We do our best to choose items that can be made domestically, which means less environmental impact from shipping. These manufacturers are a bit pricier than their fast fashion counterparts, but the quality is higher. These are clothes that you can wear for years. They won't fall apart after two washes. And they're going to ship to you straight from the factory, rather than Rosalarian's location. By making everything to order, it means Ro doesn't over-order anything that might not sell, which means less clothing waste. This is a purposeful method. It also keeps prices lower.
Some of the larger sizes cost more than the smaller sizes. We tried to avoid this, but the manufacturer charges more for larger sizes. If we priced the larger things the same as the smaller sizes, we would actually lose money on every item. As it stands, we make less of a profit on the larger sizes, even though they cost more. If we make $10 on a medium shirt, we make $5 on a 3XL shirt. We hate that this is how it is, but we couldn't find a way around this. As soon as we find a better solution, we'll go with it. Currently, we are way too small of a shop to eat the cost.
In order to keep your clothing in good condition and lasting longer (which means less textile waste in our garbage), wash your items in cold water and try not to use the dryer if you can avoid it. When you can't wear it anymore, try to find a good use for it as a washcloth or cushion stuffing. Remember, reduce, reuse, recycle!