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

How indeed do they get away with it? It's a very cunning system they have going on. Most people don't notice it.

What they do is, when people come up to the counter with items, they brazenly tell them what the items cost and then the people hand over that amount.

Honestly, I've seen this happening. You couldn't make it up.

What do you mean? Have you been told to leave the shop while wearing Let Women Speak clothing?

OP, I haven't read the full thread yet, but you do realise Lush (and how awful it is) is a MN all-time favourite topic, don't you?
I will now read back the thread to see how many people claim they get thrush, eczema, itchy skin from the (once, always an unappreciated gift) time they used it and/or get breathing difficulties/migrane if they come within a mile of a store.

honestly, I don’t get it either. Occasionally I’ll let dd buy a bathbomb or two on special occasions - don’t live that close to one of their stores to go more often anyway, but I tell her we have to go in and out quickly as the smell is revolting and headache inducing, the staff approach you immediately and I get overwhelmed 😅 I can’t use them due to eczema so I avoid. When dd gets them we often break them in half so get 2 baths out of 1 product! I wouldn’t buy anything else from there due to the cost!

dd saved a couple once and they went mouldy pretty quickly bent stored in a box in her bedroom!

I mean, they are very popular. I worked next door to the Oxford Street London branch for years, and it was never not rammed solid. I always pop into one on my UK travels. Always rammed. Exeter, Bath, all over Scotland, Newcastle, Leeds, you name it.

I have stopped buying from them now due to the prices. I used to buy Bath Bombs for my partner, as you could get them from £3, but even the basic ones now seem to start from £8. And don't get me started on the shower gel prices, as you say!

They do have some lovely stuff which I will buy once a year, but I couldn't afford any more than that.

Also DD has been to a pre teen birthday party there.

I think they come across as quirky and handmade and it's a vibe that attracts young people and those with disposable income who like bright and quirky. I don't tend to shop there because of the prices have been in to buy my niece gifts in the past year. I've also asked for a gift set in the past when I fancied some bath stuff.

Their bath bombs!!! Lush strangely rhymes with thrush.

The branch in Kingston has been going for 25 years, it stinks.

I made a Christmas fairy with some netting that C2G packaged a bathbomb in. I haven't darkened the doorstep of a Lush for years. The gender bollocks put me right off. Nothing they've done since has tempted me back.

I used to buy the odd bar of soap and liked them, still have a few in the fridge as were presents. Prices have gone up a lot, there is often a queue to get into the Oxford st branch, usually japanese, korean teens. I find the staff strange...almost programmed with the fake insipid smiles and asking me about my day

We always get a few Lush bits in for Christmas presents/ treats. I love it and my adult daughter does too.

Yes - it's pricey. Hence it's a treat.

I always have a chat with the customer assistant - and last time I went in she ended up gifting me £15 worth of extra 'broken' items. 😄 I was v happy with the customer service that day.

They're very successful at marketing to the young, rainbow LGBTQ+++, creative, urban crowd.

They have isolated products that are very good - the odd scrub or fragrance ( but their perfumes in recent years have been eye wateringly expensive), but otherwise they rely heavily on people's perception of 'natural is best' and people's loyalty to Left-leaning businesses, like many such companies.

Interesting, given that Lush is not a non-profit - they are a regular for-profit business, and the behaviour & training of their retail / sales staff is very full on. In some branches I've just pretended not to be an English speaker so I don't have to interact with them.

I like Lush and find the service excellent - we only get the bubble bars though. Id much rather this that Sol Janeiro or anything else rainbow coloured that the kids like. I do think Lush need to rebrand somehow - because things are all going the way of being environmentally friendly and Lush feels a bit dated/boho whereas i think brands like Fussy have done it right. That's the stuff im sure my kids will want when older, not Lush

Loads of people have dropped them. I stopped shopping there in 2013 when they did their "Cruelty Free Kisses" campaign where staff had to wear white t shirts and collect kiss imprints for a World Record attempt. Extract from staff experience here.

https://mitheringsfrommorningside.wordpress.com/tag/lush-cruelty-free-kisses/

@Marissa5 please point me in the direction of your Korean products. I also suffer from eczema. Thanks!

I can't even go into a Lush store, the smell makes me nauseous. I can't have their products in the house.

I love lush. I don't buy it often because I don't have to buy it often. The shower gels are really rich, fell and smell lovely (to me)
As for price, yes expensive at £27 but a bottle will last me 6months or more.
Other people spend this and more on other trivial stuff such as hair, nails., makeup, perfume. Its just preference on what people spend their money on.

PS the Lidl dupes are watery rubbish.

Not as migraine inducing as their right-on, wokey-ee-doke political posturing. They can take their boycott Israel, trans 'safe space' nonsense and shove it up their insufferable arses.

Three days, THREE DAYS is all it took them to get their BOYCOTT ISRAEL posters up in their shop window after the atrocities of 7th of October. They make me sick to my stomach and it's not just the nauseating smell of their revolting bath bombs.

I used to live in Poole where it started, it used to stink of Lush when you walked down a certain road. I don't know why people pay so much, my daughters are fans. They get free samples sometimes, it makes my face itch to go in there.

There are millions, maybe even tens of millions of people out there with more money than sense. It's aimed at them.

tbf you've chosen some of the highest prices to make your point.

Some of their body sprays are £20-25, and they last forever. Incredible sillage. Some of their perfumes are £20-30 for 30ml which is a bargain compared to most perfume brands.

I don't buy bath bombs cos I don't think they're worth the price per bath, but I do use their haircare as it leaves my hair the nicest it's ever been, and some of their skincare also.

I would pay not to have any Lush products in the house, the smell is migraine inducing!

As another PP said, I suspect the OP’s quoted prices are more to do with the Mario brand - £12 is double, & more than in some cases, the price of a typical Lush bath bomb.
I’ve been a fan of Lush for around 25 years - & the smell is a personal preference. But there have have been changes to its brand & products in the last 10 / 15 years as it wasn’t originally aimed at teens / tweens though now there’s a lot more of that, including brighter colours / smells etc. Some products aren’t the same as they used to be.
I enjoy going in (occasionally these days) with my dd and we both inevitably come out with something.

Thanks very much. I'll pass on

I have no idea. But I do know that if I ever want to smell like I’ve been hosed down with Toilet Duck there’s a much cheaper way…