UpCircle was founded on the desire to make circular skincare at an accessible price point. We want sustainable products to be available to all, and this was always the goal of UpCircle founders (Anna and Will) when they launched the brand aged 22 and 25 - making products they would buy themselves at that age. Price point shouldn’t be a barrier to planet-friendly purchasing. Ethical, sustainable, fair-trade ingredients cost more, but we’re committed to remaining a brand accessible for all. That's why the cost of living crisis is one close to our own hearts, we'll always do our best to ensure we remain accessible to our community.

We know how incredibly difficult the cost of living crisis has been for everyone. That's why we spent much of 2022 exploring the impact of rising inflation, conducting our You Gov poll and then making 5 pledges on the back of our findings. One of those pledges was to freeze our RRPs to help everyone manage the rising cost of living, and not have to sacrifice their ethics when purchasing skincare. We absorbed the costs of that pledge as a demonstration of how committed we are to accessibility. That said, as a small independent brand, continuing to absorb ever-increasing costs forever is simply not possible. Therefore, for 2023, we will be increasing our prices in order to maintain a profitable business. Let's dig into more reasons why we need to do this.

Why are we increasing our prices?

• Cost of Materials

The surge in material prices continues to affect us significantly. This includes our packaging, branding/marketing materials, ingredients and much more.

• Our Supply Chain

Ongoing supply chain complexity and disruptions affects our costs. The increased freight pricing has made it difficult for us as a supplier to keep stock levels healthy, further impacting retailers purchasing amounts and frequency. Labour shortages mean we're operating with low to no inventory on many lines across all regions. With some of our important product components sourced overseas, it's much harder, slower and more expensive to keep products in stock. Having key lines out of stock impacts our bottom line.

•  Shipping costs

Shipping costs have also skyrocketed in 2022. To fulfil our business promise of speedy delivery, free delivery on orders over £25, and free returns on our refill scheme, shipping costs have eroded our profitability. The strikes (which we support!) have also made things a little..... clunkier, shall we say!

• Salary expectations

Payroll has never been higher, understandably so!

How much will we be increasing prices by?

 From January 1st 2023, we will be increasing our product prices by 10%.

Final message from team UpCircle...

As we approach the new year, we wanted to share this information as early as possible so our stockists and customers are aware and can use this opportunity to stock up on UpCircle goodies while the price remain where they are. 

The post Covid, post Brexit & pre-recession retail market has been a difficult place for a lot of businesses, we work with a wide variety of independent stockists – from small zero waste vans to iconic department stores, everyone has felt the pinch.

It's broken our hearts to see business after business fail in recent months. We'd like to thank you for your ongoing support and understanding, and to encourage you to continue to shop small whenever possible.

With all our love, Team UpCircle x