I like passerby & am a subscriber - but a gift guide without prices is not much of a guide? Or is the intention to write to/for/ the most monied and aloof readers? There's no shortage of lists online of pretty things online; it would be nice to have things grounded in (sorry to say) reality a little bit. Maybe this was done purposely - there's a thoughtful note about not buying from temu/shein (nice, duh), and a list of charities (great), and then a parade of items divorced from the context of money, where there's some kind of extractive shopify link for readers to click to get even this basic bit of info to see if it has any relevance in their real lives at all. Might as well write a gift guide of just ideas and types of things, no links to anything at all (would read!).
Maybe I'm just a bit burnt out on gift guides with absurdly high-ticket items or feeling hot under the collar of my own capitalist life in which The Row is simply a place in a spreadsheet. The funny thing about these expensive 'fair trade' items is that, if only the boss-class can afford to buy them, someone is getting squeezed somewhere - likely the creative officinas and wage slaves who read substack on their breaks. I'm not trying to fizz out in a 'no ethical consumption' type of place, I swear. My holiday will include cards, carts, and carbon footprints. But logging on to this website and seeing the let-them-eat-cake parade makes me feel sick sometimes, and I didn't come to PB for that.
We appreciate the thoughtful feedback! The gift guide includes items at a range of price points starting from $1.75 — and we have more suggestions at a range of price points in our monthly recommendations, published Monday, and will have more options in the mini vintage gift guide we'll be publishing on Friday as well. We've now added prices to the guide so that information is more readily accessible and hope that's of help to our readers. Thank you for the suggestion. Our priority is always on authentic recommendations, so while we do include affiliate links where they are available because it supports our work and enables us to continue spotlighting stories not often told, we continue to include items we recommend when no affiliate link is available. We certainly don't think it's necessary to spend a lot to give a thoughtful gift, and as our gift guides have always reflected, our first suggestion is always a donation in a loved one's name, in whatever amount is possible for you.
Shove that Miami fruit box down my damn GULLET!!!!
I like passerby & am a subscriber - but a gift guide without prices is not much of a guide? Or is the intention to write to/for/ the most monied and aloof readers? There's no shortage of lists online of pretty things online; it would be nice to have things grounded in (sorry to say) reality a little bit. Maybe this was done purposely - there's a thoughtful note about not buying from temu/shein (nice, duh), and a list of charities (great), and then a parade of items divorced from the context of money, where there's some kind of extractive shopify link for readers to click to get even this basic bit of info to see if it has any relevance in their real lives at all. Might as well write a gift guide of just ideas and types of things, no links to anything at all (would read!).
Maybe I'm just a bit burnt out on gift guides with absurdly high-ticket items or feeling hot under the collar of my own capitalist life in which The Row is simply a place in a spreadsheet. The funny thing about these expensive 'fair trade' items is that, if only the boss-class can afford to buy them, someone is getting squeezed somewhere - likely the creative officinas and wage slaves who read substack on their breaks. I'm not trying to fizz out in a 'no ethical consumption' type of place, I swear. My holiday will include cards, carts, and carbon footprints. But logging on to this website and seeing the let-them-eat-cake parade makes me feel sick sometimes, and I didn't come to PB for that.
We appreciate the thoughtful feedback! The gift guide includes items at a range of price points starting from $1.75 — and we have more suggestions at a range of price points in our monthly recommendations, published Monday, and will have more options in the mini vintage gift guide we'll be publishing on Friday as well. We've now added prices to the guide so that information is more readily accessible and hope that's of help to our readers. Thank you for the suggestion. Our priority is always on authentic recommendations, so while we do include affiliate links where they are available because it supports our work and enables us to continue spotlighting stories not often told, we continue to include items we recommend when no affiliate link is available. We certainly don't think it's necessary to spend a lot to give a thoughtful gift, and as our gift guides have always reflected, our first suggestion is always a donation in a loved one's name, in whatever amount is possible for you.