After Pay, Zip Pay and the other new payment options.

We have been looking at the new payment options that are available now as a couple of our customers have asked us if we are going to use these systems.

These new delayed payment systems are very popular at the moment and we have noticed that many online stores now offer this service. They make their money by charging the retail stores or online stores a higher percentage than regular credit card facilities. For example AfterPay charge around 6% instead of the 2% we pay currently.

As you probably know we donate 5% of our online store sales, not a percentage of profit which is always less, but an upfront percentage of the online store sales. We do monthly donations and then at the end of the financial year we top up to make the 5% of sales. At the moment our donations go to Rainforest Rescue, Australian Marine Conservation Society, Bangarra Dance Theatre and Wildlife Queensland.

Donating this percentage is an important part of our ethos and we believe that giving back to support important causes is crucial. We would rather donate this money to these very worthy causes than to a Financial Institution. I hope you understand this decision was not easy as these new options are appealing to try and increase sales, however we don't inflate our prices to cover extra charges and also pay Australian wages in all parts of our production. The donation percentage was worked out as the most we could give when starting Sustainable Fashion, and offering these payment options would detract from our ability to maintain our current level of donations.

I have found it very interesting debating the 'for and against' when we looked at this, but it comes back to what we feel is best to do rather than what may be the best thing to increase sales. We thought we should share this dilemma with you as these are the types of things we have to work out when running an ethical and sustainable business.

We are always open to customers contacting us direct if you would like to order additional pieces and pay them off over time, just go to our contact form and email or phone us during business hours.

Cheers,

Sarah