The True Cost of Cheap

Follow the Money on a $10 T-Shirt

Grab a mental calculator. A basic fast-fashion t-shirt might cost $10 in a Dubai mall or on a shopping app. Where does that money actually go?

Roughly speaking, the biggest slice — often around half — covers retail: the shop's rent, staff, marketing, and profit. Then come the brand's profit margin, shipping and import costs, and the fabric itself, which is usually the largest production expense. By the time you reach the person who actually sewed your shirt, there's almost nothing left.

The Clean Clothes Campaign, a network of garment-worker rights groups, famously broke down a €29 t-shirt and estimated that the worker who made it received about 18 cents — roughly 0.6% of the price. Across the industry, worker wages are commonly estimated at just 1-3% of what you pay at the till.

Here's the twist: that percentage barely changes whether the shirt costs $10 or $50. A bigger price tag usually buys a bigger logo and a bigger markup, not automatically a better-paid worker. So 'expensive' and 'ethical' aren't the same thing — which is exactly why the numbers matter more than the vibes.

The Gap Nobody Prints on the Label

A minimum wage is the lowest pay a government legally allows. A living wage is what a person actually needs for food, rent, transport, healthcare, and a little left over for emergencies. In many garment-producing countries, there's a canyon between the two.

Take Bangladesh, one of the world's biggest clothing exporters. In late 2023, its garment minimum wage was raised to 12,500 taka a month — roughly $110. Unions had asked for nearly double that, arguing the new figure still couldn't cover basic living costs for a family. Groups like the Global Living Wage Coalition consistently estimate living wages well above legal minimums across the region.

It gets tougher. Many workers are paid piece rates — a few cents per seam or collar — so a slow day means a smaller paycheque. To hit targets, long hours and unpaid overtime are common. And when the Clean Clothes Campaign surveyed major brands for its 2020 Fashion Checker project, it found that 93% of them couldn't show that any workers in their supply chains earned a living wage.

None of this happens because workers lack skill. It happens because brands squeeze factories on price, and factories pass that squeeze down to the sewing machines.

So Why Does 'Made Ethically' Cost More?

Here's the question everyone asks: if wages are such a tiny slice, why are ethical brands more expensive?

Part of it is scale. A small ethical label making 500 shirts pays far more per shirt for fabric, printing, and shipping than a giant ordering 500,000. Add the cost of certifications like Fairtrade, independent factory audits, and better-quality materials, and the price climbs — for reasons that mostly aren't about wages at all.

Because here's the wild part: the wage fix itself is cheap. Oxfam Australia's 'What She Makes' report, with research by Deloitte in 2017, estimated that only around 4% of the price of clothing sold in Australia reached the workers who made it — and that paying them a full living wage would add roughly 1% to the retail price. On a $10 t-shirt, that's about ten cents.

Ten cents. Less than the cheapest thing in any vending machine you've ever seen. The barrier isn't that shoppers can't afford ethical wages — it's that brands compete so hard on price that nobody wants to blink first. Which means pressure from customers, even young ones, genuinely matters.

What You Can Actually Do

You don't need a salary to change how this works. You need a habit or two.

Start with cost-per-wear: divide an item's price by the number of times you'll realistically wear it. A $40 hoodie worn 80 times costs 50 cents a wear; a $15 party top worn twice costs $7.50 a wear. Suddenly the 'cheap' option isn't cheap — and 'buy less, but better' stops being a slogan and becomes maths.

Second, ask questions. Fashion Revolution, the movement founded after the Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013, encourages people to ask brands #WhoMadeMyClothes — and brands really do track those messages. A polite DM asking 'do you pay garment workers a living wage?' takes 30 seconds.

Third, check before you buy. The Rewoven app lets you scan a clothing label and see the brand's grades, including Labor — a quick way to spot who's actually paying fairly.

None of this requires being perfect. It requires being the kind of shopper brands notice: one who counts wears, asks about wages, and knows exactly where the ten cents should go.