Economic Naturalist Why Are Baby Clothes More Expensive Than Adult Clothes 1 
Why are baby clothes more expensive than adult clothes?
Every time when I go shopping for my niece and nephew, it is not surprised that I ended up paying more than that of my shopping, and I always wonder why this happens. Frankly speaking, baby clothes or shoes are usually charged at a similar price to me, however, sometimes they maybe even more expensive! For example, a pair of Women/Men Baya clog will be selling in Crocs for HKD $298, but it is selling at HKD$248 for kids’ version. If you compare those with cartoon characters, the price can goes up to HKD $428 while the classic one for adult is only HKD$348.
However, the sizes as well as the raw materials used for kids clothing is actually much smaller and less. Also, adults may wear their shoes for up to 10 years whereas kids will have to buy a new one a year after due to their constantly growing up, and that makes the life span of those apparels and shoes even shorter. We can rationally assume that the price would reflect this. Seeing as this is clearly not the case, why exactly is it that baby clothes or shoes are so expensive?
First of all, the materials used to make the shoes actually represent an extremely little proportion of the cost. What makes it so expensive is the variable cost – skills involved in making a pair of small shoes is way more difficult than when comparing to those big ones. On top of that, there are many rules and regulations when it comes to safety requirements such as keeping toxic substances out of the products that one must comply with for younger age groups. With regard to the production fixed cost, it is reasonable that kids’ designed version should be higher than that of adults due to some safety testing for hazardous materials. However, kids’ population should be relatively smaller than adults, hence; the demand for kids’ shoes is less. When the demand is less, the price would be higher in order to achieve the break even quantity due to the high variable cost and fixed cost.
Every time when I go shopping for my niece and nephew, it is not surprised that I ended up paying more than that of my shopping, and I always wonder why this happens. Frankly speaking, baby clothes or shoes are usually charged at a similar price to me, however, sometimes they maybe even more expensive! For example, a pair of Women/Men Baya clog will be selling in Crocs for HKD $298, but it is selling at HKD$248 for kids’ version. If you compare those with cartoon characters, the price can goes up to HKD $428 while the classic one for adult is only HKD$348.
However, the sizes as well as the raw materials used for kids clothing is actually much smaller and less. Also, adults may wear their shoes for up to 10 years whereas kids will have to buy a new one a year after due to their constantly growing up, and that makes the life span of those apparels and shoes even shorter. We can rationally assume that the price would reflect this. Seeing as this is clearly not the case, why exactly is it that baby clothes or shoes are so expensive?
First of all, the materials used to make the shoes actually represent an extremely little proportion of the cost. What makes it so expensive is the variable cost – skills involved in making a pair of small shoes is way more difficult than when comparing to those big ones. On top of that, there are many rules and regulations when it comes to safety requirements such as keeping toxic substances out of the products that one must comply with for younger age groups. With regard to the production fixed cost, it is reasonable that kids’ designed version should be higher than that of adults due to some safety testing for hazardous materials. However, kids’ population should be relatively smaller than adults, hence; the demand for kids’ shoes is less. When the demand is less, the price would be higher in order to achieve the break even quantity due to the high variable cost and fixed cost.