Honest Answers

Here we take the time to answer some of your most asked questions around sustainability. Honestly. Because we have nothing to hide. Feel free to ask questions yourself! Please send an e-mail to info@honest-basics.com or a DM on social media.

1. How are you able to offer products so cheaply?

There are three main reasons for this. First of all we only sell directly to consumers. We don't do wholesale. This automatically makes us about 20% cheaper than brands that do run wholesale programs, because we don't need a wholesale mark-up.

Secondly we buy directly from our partner-factory in Bangladesh. We produce ethically and transparently. As is covered on other parts of this website. We produce ethically and transparently, however it remains a fact of course that wages are much lower in Bangladesh than in for example Turkey or Portugal. This results in a lower buying price for us. 

Lastly we produce basic, simple styles. We don't design expensive 5 color prints. We don't use luxury packaging or accessories. We keep things simple and prices low.

2. How do you ensure good working conditions in your partner-factory?

We've visited the factory ourselves to ensure that indeed the working conditions are good. They are. We're preparing a virtual picture tour of the factory so you can see it for yourself.

The GOTS-certification (which all our products have) covers that the working conditions in the factory are following the standards set by the International Labour Organization. This means for example no child labour, no forced labour of any kind. The right for workers to unionize and so on. It also covers regular, independent checks to make sure these regulations are followed.

3. Where do you produce?

We produce with the help of the Honest Agency in Bangladesh. We're working mainly with one partner-factory that is vertically integrated and very well organized factory. Bangladesh has a bad reputation. However our partner-factory is definitely not one of the bad ones.

Sometimes we are criticized for producing in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is unfortunately a very very poor country. Our partner-factory provides safe working conditions and stable income to over 5.000 people. Imagine the positive effect this has on people’s lives, in one of the poorest countries of the world. We believe it is a good thing to not long away from the inequalities in our world, but rather do what little we can to give the poorest people in the world a slightly better chance.