The ‘pingti’ effect: Quince tests luxury’s mark-up

What happened American direct-to-consumer retailer Quince has launched in the UK, its first market outside North America. The brand has built its business on a simple proposition: products made with premium materials, priced well below those of traditional luxury and premium labels. It gets there by working directly with factories and selling only online, skipping the wholesale and retail markups that typically inflate prices threefold to fivefold, according to Quince. Luxury pricing under pressure as 70% of shoppers walk away Its model arrives as luxury shoppers push back on price. About 70% of luxury consumers skipped a purchase in the past 12 months because they judged the price unjustified, according to a BCG and Altagamma survey published in July, 2026. In the same study, logo visibility ranked last or near-last as a purchase driver in all 12 categories analyzed. At the same time, manufacturers — particularly in China — are finding new ways to reach consumers directly through e-commerce and social media, narrowing the traditional distance between factories and shoppers. Together, these shifts sharpen the question of where value lies: in the product itself, the brand attached to it or the retail system connecting the two. The Jing Take Quince’s UK expansion is a test of whether an American retailer can win over British shoppers. It also raises a question with particular resonance in China: If consumers can get comparable materials and manufacturing for less, how much will they still pay for a name? How Xiaohongshu shoppers test whether a price holds up China’s “pingti” (平替) culture, the hunt for affordable alternatives to pricier products, shows how that question plays out. The term is short for “pingjia tidaipin,” or “affordable substitute.” On Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote), shoppers routinely compare products across price points, dissecting materials and construction to judge whether a higher price holds up. Saving money is part of the appeal. So is the satisfaction of finding something that delivers comparable value without what shoppers see as an unnecessary premium. Shoppers who think this way are Quince’s natural customers. But the Chinese market also exposes a weakness in its model. Once a company proves that premium-feeling products can sell at accessible prices, the formula is easy to copy. Quince also remains a middleman, standing between the factory and the shopper. Its cashmere, for instance, is made in China from Inner Mongolian fiber, according to its product pages. Manufacturers that build their own consumer-facing brands could eventually cut it out, just as Quince cut out wholesale and traditional retail. For luxury, the implications reach past pricing. Direct-from-manufacturer businesses force brands to spell out what customers receive beyond materials and production. Heritage, craftsmanship, design, service and cultural relevance can all justify a premium, but only if customers believe those qualities are distinctive and worth paying for. Luxury aspiration survives, but prestige alone no longer justifies the mark-up Luxury brands should not mistake the appeal of affordable alternatives for the death of aspiration. In the global BCG-Altagamma study, more than half of the consumers who walked away from a purchase over price stayed within luxury, either choosing another product from the same brand or switching to a competitor. Chinese shoppers, too, buy affordable alternatives and luxury goods for different reasons. The same shopper might buy a lower-priced cashmere sweater for everyday wear while still prizing a luxury house for its creative identity or cultural cachet. What should concern brands more is that consumers are now better equipped to interrogate pricing. As comparisons get easier and manufacturers gain more routes to market, prestige alone makes a weaker case for a premium. Britain will show how far Quince’s version of affordable quality travels. Whether the company can hold its advantage as more players compete on the same terms is a harder question. When manufacturing expertise no longer sets a brand apart, making the product for less stops being an edge. The advantage may go to whoever builds the strongest relationship with the consumer. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

The ‘pingti’ effect: Quince tests luxury’s mark-up

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The ‘pingti’ effect: Quince tests luxury’s mark-up

TUMI’s new growth playbook: From travel expertise to lifestyle performance