Source: Green Report. \”UPCYCLING în ROMÂNIA: Sustenabilitatea (încă) NU vinde\” (UPCYCLING in ROMANIA: Sustainability Does NOT Sell (Yet)). Author: Irina Breniuc
Published May 25, 2016. [Online Article].
May 25, 2016
Design is the most important aspect when it comes to upcycling. At the same time, sustainability does not sell. These are just two of the conclusions reached by the designers and artisans who repurpose waste.
In one form or another, Reciclare Creativă, Upside Down, remesh, Turific, Wood be nice, QUIB, Tubatect, PinkLime, PIMP the GARBAGE, Upcycling Deluxe, Bolsos Berlin, El Reinventor, Freitag, and Upcyclist manufacture or promote products made from waste. One might think that the sustainable nature of their products is exactly what ensures sales. However, things are not quite like that.
Design: The Most Important Aspect
All the designers and artists I spoke with believe that design is by far the most important criterion in a purchasing decision. That is why they invest time and effort into making aesthetically pleasing products of impeccable quality and, above all, functionality. The mix is extremely important if they want to stand a chance against mass-produced items that come at very low prices.
When it comes to the elements that sell her products, Andreea (Upside Down) mentions design, functionality, and uniqueness. Being made from various banners, no two products will be identical. This applies to her and to all the other designers and artisans I interviewed. As for the sustainability of the products, Andreea believes it is a secondary element in the buying decision.
Daniel (Wood be nice) shares this opinion. He admits that upcycling is not easy to sell because consumers do not primarily think about the ecological nature of the project.
\”I don\’t know if people think about buying a product because it means a tree won\’t be cut down. I think rather that this trend has reached us, especially online: we are tired of having the same furniture in our homes, buying it from retailers, made by robots in China. We want something special for our space.\”
This same aspect differentiates Daniel (El Reinventor) in the market. His clients are diverse, he says, but they have one thing in common: they no longer want mass-produced items and they appreciate sustainable, creative products. Creativity and design are the most important aspects for Stefan (Upcycling Deluxe) as well.
Ionuț (QUIB) has also observed that, generally, consumers are less interested in the sustainable aspect of products. Consequently, he must win their interest through what he calls \”flavor\” or \”coolness\”—meaning, through design.
Adapting to the situation, both Pink Lime and Pimp the Garbage are currently working on new product designs. Ștefan Sava wants to improve his products, obtain certifications for them, and identify people who can help him produce for export. With some regret, he confesses:
\”I should change the design, use premium materials, enter a different price category, and run marketing and crowdfunding campaigns. I should have done that from the beginning, actually.\”
He found the solution in the West, but he knows that the money available in the West doesn\’t exist here.
Price: An Impediment
Stefan (Upcycling Deluxe) confesses that their products are not easy to sell. The culprits are the high costs of production, storage, transport, and display, which make the final prices higher than those of mass-produced items. Despite handling the marketing and distribution of a large number of products, their profit is modest and is reinvested into developing the company, Stefan mentions.
Daniel also knows that only in Berlin can he sell his products at a fair price. \”In countries like Colombia, I wouldn\’t stand a chance of selling a rocking chair for 1,000 euros. But people have reproduced it.\” This doesn\’t bother him; on the contrary, El Reinventor encourages people to copy his items. He even offered to teach us how to make lamps from hangers via video conference.
At Bolsos Berlin, a simple backpack costs 26 euros, a wallet 50 euros, and a bag can go up to 130 euros. Not everyone can afford it, Brita admits, but she doesn\’t complain about a lack of sales. On the contrary, she works intensely to keep up with orders.
In Romania, prices are much lower than in Berlin, but slightly higher than mass-produced goods. Consumers don\’t understand why. They believe that if it\’s made from waste, it should be free. They don\’t take into account all the costs of production, storage, transport, and display, Stefan (Upcycling Deluxe) points out.
What Daniel Loagăr and Andrei Cornea do at Wood be nice, for example, is not simple upcycling. It is art in the truest sense of the word. They might work for several days on a single product and charge accordingly. However, they sell their products 10 times cheaper than they would abroad. The purchasing power of Romanians is one of their main problems. Although they appreciate design, consumers in our country don\’t often buy. Therefore, the two artists hope to expand across borders soon.
Pink Lime and QUIB will follow the same direction. Ionuț admits: \”In Romania, there is no clear critical mass of consumers. That\’s why we concluded that we must go to foreign markets, develop cradle-to-cradle certified products here, and export them.\”
Marketing: The Simpler, the More Effective
Promoting products sometimes gives designers and artisans headaches. Brita (Bolsos Berlin) reveals that marketing is not her strong suit. Therefore, to sell her products to the general public, she uses the German version of an Etsy-style online store.
Upcycling Deluxe, on the other hand, has turned marketing into a business. They help their suppliers sell their products, and the commission they charge covers their operating costs.
A similar model is followed by those at Reciclare Creativă. They created Wunderkraft, a platform where designers and artisans can sell products made from alternative materials. Alina and Georgiana help those who don\’t know how to estimate a fair price to sell their products. remesh, Upside Down, Wood be nice, and Tubatect are just a few who already use it.
Separately, they promote their products as best they can, adapting as they go and dropping some features so as not to \”dizzy\” the customers. Raluca (remesh) explains why simplicity is needed:
\”Practically, what we promote externally doesn\’t show what we truly do on the social side, but it is more effective, because the client finds out what you need and what they can get from you. Communication is already quite complicated, and we should simplify the messages, because no one has time to fully understand everything we do.\”
While some have not invested much in advertising, letting the products speak for themselves (Tubatect, Wood be nice, Turific), the foreigners at Freitag place great value on communication.