Lush - how do they get away with charging so much?

Their prices have gone up insanely the past 20 years. Used to be quite a big fan and found it an affordable, fun luxury during uni days. The price of a bubble bar or bath bomb has tripled since then, and it's definitely not purely due to inflation or shelf life. I think they just realised they have a unique brand experience and can charge the same prices as luxury companies. I'd say they're similar to Rituals or many of the brands in Sephora.

A big misconception with LUSH is that their products need to be cheap because they're bright, colourful and targeted at kids. In reality, they have a very solid fanbase of adults who have the money to spend on quirky, branded products. I'd also go as far to say that a significant proportion of their target market are neurodivergent adults who don't like the sterile marketing of typical high-end beauty brands. Parents are also more likely to buy for their kids since they like the brand themselves.

I also feel a lot of LUSH marketing is targeted at ND sensory needs. The smell of their stores is a love-hate thing, but lots of ND people and kids use specific smells as stims or to regulate themselves. There are definitely a few LUSH fragrances that are hugely popular as regulating scents (eg Snow Fairy or American Cream).

I can’t even walk past their shops without having an asthma attack. The fragrances are so strong.

Because people will pay it. Products are only worth what people are willing to pay. Lush products have such a foul pungent stench to me I cant stand them and I love perfume. Their vanilla scent for example smells really pungent like it was extracted from wiping a baboon's arm pit after a full day of exercise

I recently did an ingredients comparison on chatgpt (verified it in other ways too) and it found that a skin care product worth £24 had far better ingredients in it than a new product just out that costs £120. The two were the exact same type of product. Its all marketing hype and I wish people would pay more attention to ingredients

They must have some customers who are happy to pay. I never step foot in their shops due to their promotion of breast binders for confused girls and their political stance against Israel.

I use to be a lush obsessive about 20 years and use to use them almost exclusively as a skint student.

I went in a few years ago to look at gift sets for a friend and couldn't believe the prices of things. I know obviously things have been increased in price in 20 years but I genuinely don't remember their products ever being as ridiculously overpriced as they are now.

The massage bars are nice, rest of it is stinky gives my mum a migraine the smell in there, it’s sickly sweet. I’ve not been in for ages - the bars last for a long time. You also get hounded by staff showing you tonnes of stuff. I avoid it but people mist buy stuff as it seems to always be busy

How does any brand succeed when overcharging for its products?

There are entire university courses on Marketing, I expect they cover this aspect.

Any time I go in they are always very busy. Lots of people buy their products.

Probably because they are boycotted by many so have to make up the shortfall somehow.

I don't know, the products reek and the company's branding and marketing are obnoxious. Perhaps they fill the tween/teen market that The Body Shop no longer meets and rely on pester power for parents to pay the stupid prices.

I agree! I live in the back of beyond so was excited to go in the one at Paddington station. I couldn't believe the prices. I bought a teeny tiny shower gel for £8.50. The smell was OK but not for that price. I bought a solid shampoo bar which was very good.

They charge it because people pay it.

Not me, I might add. Plenty must pay it or they'd be out of business

It's a combination of marketing and the fact that their products have short shelf lives so they have to offset the costs somehow. I don't use their products. Shit ingredients and the smell is revolting.