Everything Is Content - Everything in Conversation: The New Wave of Influencer Luxury Brands

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

Happy Wednesday episode day, EIChuppaChups! 🍭This week we’re diving into the recent backlash to influencers charging luxury price points for their brands and products. It's not a new issue, but boy is the internet pissed off with some recent examples.Hannah Neeleman known best as Ballerina Farm, one of the most popular trad wife influencers, was hit with backlash for selling a $259 cutting board on her website. Meanwhile, The Girls Bathroom co-hosts Sophia Tuxford and Cinzia Baylis-Zullo launched their new lifestyle brand with a £110 robe, £60 candle and £45 slippers. Both have been called “crazy” and “out of touch’ since.Thank you so much for all of your amazing takes. Please consider leaving us a review and passing the podcast onto a friend <3 love O, R, B xoxo EIC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Beth. I'm Ruchera. And I'm Anoni. And this is Everything in Conversation. This is our midweek episode designed to lift your spirits and propel you to the Friday episode. Remember if you want to take part in these extra episodes, and I think you do, just follow us on Instagram at Everything is Content Pod. That is where we decide on topics and ask for all of your opinions. This week, we're diving into the recent backlash.

to influencers charging luxury price points for their brands and products. It's been one of those bubbling issues for years now, I think, but there's been a few big examples, which is why we're talking about it now. So most recently, Hannah Nealman, known best online as Ballerina Farm, one of the most popular tradwife influencers, was hit with backlash for selling a $259 cutting board on her website. She addressed the feedback in an 8-minute Instagram video saying, quote,

A lot of comments are coming in about this scalloped cutting board, saying that it's expensive and it is. I actually got this board a few years ago. I think it was three years ago. A local mum dropped it off and she was like, quote, my husband and I make these. We hand make them and I wanted you to have it. She was honestly one of the most genuine people I've ever met

and she's actually a good friend of mine now. She continued. But she came up to me this summer with tears in her eyes and was like, I cannot believe that you're selling these cutting boards at the rate you are because it's really changed the dynamic of our family and our family business.

So the 34-year-old influencer pointed to the 24-year-old influencer pointed to the 24 by 17 inch cutting boards weight as the apparent reason for its high price point. And she also asked for Grace basically saying that it's hard to have all of these things figured out as she is also a mum and a business owner for the first time. She said it's just been a bit tricky. And I guess the second big example that we're going to talk about is the girls' bathroom co-hosts Sophia Tuxford and Chincia Bayless Zello, who announced their new lifestyle brand rooms recently and they launched it with a 110 pound robe, a 60 pound candle,

and 45 pounds slippers and were faced with some quick backlash calling them crazy and out of touch for the prices. And the thing is, it definitely divided people because some people then started responding to comments saying that the price point makes sense for the materials and the production costs, but then some accused them of selling Promark home aesthetic items and called for them to acknowledge the steep prices. One person wrote, acknowledgement of how much you have upset the fan base, especially as Patreon girlies would be nice. Naturally, a lot of people were pointing to the fact that their audience is quite young, is this scammy? Somebody said, they should ask themselves, would I have been able to afford this when I was a teenager, aka their target audience? And they've

also been accused of being really out of touch. Like I said, this is not a new issue, but with the cost of living crisis and the knowledge that fast fashion is literally destroying the planet, and that being one of the biggest issues of our time, where do you guys sit with influencers charging luxury prices for their brands? Can I ask a quick question about the ballerina of farm one because I had seen the news of it. Is she selling this woman's chopping board? Like I was a bit confused about the origin of the chopping board. I think I know a lot more now about the other brand that we're going to mention. But like I'm just a little bit confused about the law of the chopping board. So my understanding is yes, she's selling those chopping boards, which is why

in this explanation, she's saying that her selling them has changed this woman's life. So basically the woman makes the chopping boards and then it's being sold through. Okay, because I I thought that basically she'd got this trap and board from this woman and just nicked it. And the woman was like, you've ruined our lives, but actually what you're saying. This is why media literacy and asking questions is important. Okay, so with that in mind, I mean, I think this whole debate is really interesting, but it does require. I mean, one, it's a conversation about like overconsumption, which I am just blanketly against, but it's also about luxury price points and whether or not they are reflecting quality and whether there is and how things are made, who makes them, whether they are made in bulk.

whether they're mass produced, whether like the high price point is, especially the robe, the slippers, the stuff from the girls' bathroom is made well enough that that luxury price point is just so that everyone gets paid or if this is, because I think what can happen lately is people have got wise to, okay, if something is really cheap means that someone's not getting paid, it means that it's not ethical, whereas when you attach a higher price point, a lot of people are like, make the leap. Okay, this must therefore be something a little bit more special, more luxury and also more ethical and that's not always the case. So I think it just I don't have, I've been searching high and low for answers about the production of both of these items and just

haven't found anything conclusive frustratingly. But I think that is where my brain went initially because as much they hate overconsumption, people buying tat and shit and even stuff that's well made but they don't need. I can't be too much of a hater if things are made well and they aren't mass produced. I think that would be too far even for me. So we had a mess from Jess on that which said, if those prices ensure good quality materials, fair labour costs and transparent supply chains, then fine. But usually influence of businesses turn out to be fast fashion, convenient production tied up in an excellent marketing bow, e.g. Molly May's clothes are just as synthetic as prime mark. I actually this year had my own foray into seeing this firsthand because I did a

collaboration with my friend Natalie who has a actwear brand called 8. We brought out like a really limited run of shorts and bras and my mum was like they're really expensive and I was like well yes but actually the cost of production because it's all made from dead stock fabric we had like less than a hundred units that makes it really expensive it's all made like ethically and blah blah and actually the markup on it was really low and she was explaining to me if we had the capacity but we couldn't any because we'd use dead stock fabric which is fabric that's like lessover but say we'd order a thousand units you could make it much cheaper so one of the things to keep into account is if it's someone that's not making a lot of stuff that costs more, if it's made

ethically with ethical supply chains, that costs more, the fabric, all of those things costs more. And I don't think it's a bad thing for us to adjust to spending more on good quality items because I think that can discourage over consumption. It can make you more mindful with your shopping. It can make you considered. But like you said, Beth, what a lot of brands do, and this isn't exclusive to influencers. There's so many people now going around shops. For instance, I saw one the other day about and other stories where they're saying, this shop used to be like quite good quality as all of the high street has done it's all plummeted in quality but they're selling 100% acrylic 100% polyester jumpers cardigans whatever it might be

in the hundreds of pounds at the price point that we used to expect 98% wool 2% something else a cashmere jumper would be that price this is happening a lot across the board and I think it's quite interesting when influencers tend to bear the brunt of things because we know them as a person as a brand and it's very easy to immediately kind of tear them down I again don't know the ethics of the products being made by Sifia and Shinsia, so I can't comment on that, but I think it's interesting that this has been what's opening people's eyes

because for so long, the high street has been doing this to you, you've been buying that £10 pound coat and Zara and it is absolutely not worth it. Like Jess said about the Molli Mae thing, I think there's a time and a place to be frustrated with the cost of things, but I actually don't think the cost should be the issue. It should be exactly what you said, Beth, and what

Jess said, which is, how has this been made, how has this been created? If anything, we should be more dubious of things that are extremely cheap, because that does point to the idea that it's probably made unethically, perhaps in sweatshops, perhaps by children or women wearing nappies, because they cannot get a toilet break. These are all conversations we need to be having. I do find it funny, not funny, I find it interesting that people feel cross when it's like their fave bringing out a product that they deem to be too expensive.

This is not just happening with influences. This is every shop you go into now on the high street. Unless you're looking at the labels, unless you're tracking things, pretty much everything is overpriced, badly made and not made to last. Yeah, I honestly got obsessed with this two years ago. I read a piece in, I think it was possibly the New Yorker, about the quality of jumpers going down and everything is mixed, everything is blended, whereas jumpers in the 90s, the famous kind of, you know, big turtlenecks in Richard Curtis films, you just know you can feel that they're so good quality and they're just 100% wool. And now it is astronomically expensive to get 100% wool items. It's so difficult unless you get them when you go on holiday and you manage to get it from, you know, locally sourced people who are able to sell it at cheaper prices than, say, and other stories or any kind of like high street chain.

So that's my Roman Empire. But we had quite a lot of messages about how pricing has warped our brains. So Sam message and said, have seen people refer to clothing over $15 as expensive. Fast fashion has warped minds. And then Dina also said, people just aren't used to paying for quality products as they're brainwashed by Sheen. And it's an interesting point, isn't it? Because I think with an issue like this, there are so many different bits. Obviously, we're talking about the quality, what is the quality, what is supply chain and the sustainability. But also, there is a part of it. I wonder if committing

to just paying really low prices and kind of seeing those low prices everywhere, mirrored back to us, has warped our minds into what is a right price for something. Obviously, you're right and only we are getting scammed out of the wazoo by high street chains that are selling us dog shit for extensive prices. But I wonder what the average person would say is a respectable price for something that is worth that money, you know, for 100% wool jumper or for really good quality wooden chopping board that was hand-sourced from a local artisan. It would be interesting to get feedback on what people would actually think is a reasonable price for that. I think we would be shocked and I think a lot of people probably would undersell a lot of items because, of the skewing of pricing. And it's very true. Like in the case of, well, one, the chopping board, people are pointing out that, like, you can get it for cheaper elsewhere. And it's like, well,

if you can get it for cheaper elsewhere, then you can go and buy that. If you personally believe this is too high, it's out of your price rates. If you can go and acquire the item that you really want and need, then it's sort of like a moot point. And the same with, so the dressing gown that Sophia and Chintzia are selling, it's 100% cotton, which would, from somewhere like M&S or I care, you could get that for maybe 30 pounds. But typically it's going to be 50 pounds and above. The one that they're selling is, I believe, 110 pounds. And I have been seeing, there's a lot of happy customers, but there's also, I wasn't aware that this was happening with them. I didn't know it was their brand. I've not actually listened to their podcast,

but I'm peripherally aware of them. If I had seen in two different videos, one person slagging off the robe saying that it had come in horrible condition, it was already kind of snagging and that they wanted and then they had reached out and gotten a refund. And then someone else with the candle was saying it wasn't burning properly or it was a bit wonky and that they had also done the same. And it was only then researching this piece for this episode that I was like, oh, it was this brand. It was by these guys. This is the slagging off. And obviously it's the internet. And so negative reviews do catch fire more. They do get more traction. But it was quite interesting to me to see people who'd bought this, obviously, because they are fans of the

girls. I think knowing what's on the market, I doubt anyone not a fan of these women and the show would be shopping at all because you can get very similar items, very similar quality for slightly less and so I think everyone was a fan and so watching the critique does feel and it's sort of what harry messages are saying the backlash might be consumers having an epiphany their beloved source of personality only exists for commercial gain and it is it's just almost quite dangerous actually as a as a personality to put anything out because you don't have the shield of a big retailer sort of what you were saying and only it really makes you the face of it and when people feel betrayed they're not just like oh how annoying this item doesn't work they're like you personally

trusted you have wronged me. I just think I do feel quite bad for them that this is not gone maybe as well as they'd hoped. Yeah, it's interesting because Becca said, I'm not really sure on the backlash too harsh out of touch points, but I think it's kind of you're assuring to see that the lifestyle they're living and showing their audience is actually so expensive and unattainable rather than us just not buying the right things or living the right way. She said on the Sophia and Chintzia stuff, their price points are literally the same as Jeff Avenue forward slash any other freaking influencer brand. Smaller independent brands do just cost a bit more than bigger name brands. I also don't think it's exploiting audiences per se to sell products at

price points matching other prices in the industry. I think it's more indicative of the cost of living crisis and wealth gap in general. I agree with this. I often think this with influencers that come out with brands. I find it interesting when their lifestyle is so inflated when they have so much money and perhaps it does feel like they're selling products that tug on their customers' heartstrings or I feel that I can potentially, because I have stepped away or tried to step away from overconsumption that I don't consume fast fashion, I think, why are you selling this product? This product exists in so many different iterations.

It's not any better than if you bought it off Amazon, you simply like slapped a label on it. And I do feel a sense of, in those instances, I can find it a bit scammy. Other times people bring up products and you're like, wow, this is amazing, it's really innovative. You've genuinely created a fashion line that doesn't exist. You're really looking at interesting things.

Like there's obviously always going to be good and bad products out there. But ultimately, I guess I do feel like say people were buying this chopping board rather than from Ballerina Farm, but from this friend who is making it, you would feel so much less probably vitriol towards them because you're like, oh, you're genuinely making, hand-making this product to sustain your family. Like, that is the thing that you do. I think that sometimes when influencers get a hold of it in the case of Ballerina Farm, it's like, are you solving a problem?

Are you filling a niche? Are you creating something that no one else ever created? Which used to be how brands would work. Like it's really hard to set up a brand out of nowhere if it doesn't actually solve a problem, if it's not innovative, if it's not something that's taste making or taste changing. But obviously because of the gravitas that influences have

and because people, that psychological feeling that if I buy that blazer from Molly May, maybe my life will be a bit more like Molly Mays. That's how the paris social relationship feeds itself. People can kind of sell anyone anything. And a lot of the messages are saying this. It's like some people feel that that's why it's exploitative, and some people feel that as consumers, we need to be more savvy and say actually just because my favour is selling something, I actually don't need to buy it. And I think it does go both ways. Obviously, if they have young impressionable audiences, it does make me feel a bit sad to think that young women think they have to buy overpriced items in order to be cool or to be trendy or to be like someone else. At the same time, I do think that we have to remember that we do not have to buy everything that's made. You can vote with your wallet. We can very much change what exists in the economy. system by not funding it and that goes across for all fast fashion brands. Honestly, I couldn't say anymore. You've just said it all for me. That's exactly how I feel. No notes. And I think it's

interesting hearing from people as well. I mean, this was the perspective that I really valued. We got a message from Harry, he said, as a craftsman, it frustrates me that our silly consumerist culture has resulted in people buying tat from brands, influences and not talented artists crafts people directly and being proud of that. And I think it's so interesting, isn't I think there is something about this removing of the idea of somebody being your friend, even though you see so much of their life. And the minute they start a brand, it suddenly becomes very obvious that they're not your friend because they're starting a business, they're posting about the success of it,

they're presenting the launches, they're doing all of these things that make them feel more out of touch. And it does almost feel like that becomes the trigger for people to suddenly get pissed off because they start to feel that feeling of being exploited. But it's interesting because there is a debate to be had about right from the the beginning, there is a level of exploitation anyway in the way that social platforms are designed to just take your time and energy away from you. We've said it before, but obviously in the attention economy, you are literally paying money with your eyeballs to something. So right from

the beginning, whether you think or not, before they've even started a business, there is a level of some kind of taking away from you or kind of, they are making money from your attention. They literally are. That's the point of them. And I think what you said about being able to see they're living these luxury lifestyles, off the back of the businesses they create where they're kind of sucking their fan bases for money. It's not that, but I get why people feel that, because as they're raising the prices for these products, you are seeing them jet off to, you know, different countries. I'm talking theoretically, by the way. I'm not, you know, talking about any of the people involved specifically. I'm just talking generally. And you can literally see where the dollar signs are going

that you possibly have spent buying these products. So it becomes so visible in a way that I don't see, you know, the owner of, what's a brand that I like? I don't know, just a brand, any kind of clothing brand. I'm not visibly seeing day-to-day what they're doing, but to maintain the job as an influencer, you have to keep up that level of visibility of what you're up to. So it would just make you pissed off. You would be pissed off being like, I bought this fucking t-shirt and now you're jetting off to L.A.

You're going to Coachella. And I feel like this t-shirt was expensive and I'm annoyed now. Yeah, I think you're so right. I think it's like it highlights to the consumer in a way that, as you say, we are paying with our eyes, we're paying with our attention. But I'm not watching it leave my bank account in that way. whereas when I buy something I am and that's when it feels way more extractive to give to hand over money and to see like I am making this person money and then it's like and it just feels a lot more personal and it's a lot of I mean that's why it sells in the first base because it's a person fronting it instead of a more faceless legacy brand it's one person a person that you maybe have seen podcasting from their spare room to then having you're buying their own house with the proceeds and then branching out into this other business and I think the dial turns. so quickly on women especially

who get too big for their boots as people would say the relationship sours and it's a relationship that has only ever gone one way from really as much as influencers will say like you're the reason I can do this I love my fans it's the actual relationship it's like you know who they are they do not know who you are and it's just really it's in really

stark terms like oh I am the one footing the bill I am the one that has placed my trust in this person and actually when it comes to commerce and making money and starting this business with wanting to make as big a profit as possible you are then reduced to numbers and it's not as sweet and trusting and nice as you are able to convince yourself it is

when you're watching them like spell their secrets into a microphone. I do think there is a case where influencers should pause before they do this. It's hard because obviously podcasting influencing is not stable money and with a platform you do want to financially shore up your future. But then on the other side, it's listeners and consumers. You have to think, why am I looking to buy this thing? is it because I need it or is there an element of parasciality here? I think for years we have all been taught like how to shop and we learn who to trust

and who not to trust the quality that we would expect and what to do when things fall short. And as I said before, in the past you'd just be annoyed that a retailer has oversold who something you'd return it, life would go on. Whereas when it is a person that you trust, it damages that relationship and it really muddies the waters. I think it's just such a new, it is a really new and novel way that people are both shopping and selling. I think things will reach a breaking point.

and I think influences especially maybe are risking reputation and future earnings by pivoting too soon into a space that they aren't quite prepared for. I think that's a good point because I can be quite cynical about influence brands sometimes. At the same time, you have creators like Jamie Genevieve, who was a makeup artist for years, who then brought out her own makeup line, which is I keep meaning to buy it because everyone I meet everywhere I go. I'm like, oh my God, what foundation you've got on? It's always hers.

There are people that influences the way that we make money is you're advertising other people's brands. So I understand when people think, why am I marketing someone else's brand when this is my area of expertise? And actually, I think I can create it and do it better. And there are creators that have excelled to the point where they're no longer really influencers. They have created a brand because they were so specifically knowledgeable in that area, whether it's beauty or fashion or whatever, and have seen through years of influencing and being gifted stuff, they can actually like find where these products were flawed or where they could be improved. And some of those people have gone on to create absolutely incredible. brands that genuinely do plug holes in market gaps that, you know, satisfy customers in a way that

maybe older heritage brands weren't able to do. But then I think what happened was as the influencer market became more saturated with more and more creators, the amount of money that there is in advertising has been greatly reduced. And so it has become quite a well-trodden path for creators to go, okay, well, I'm going to start up my own brand then. And I think you can tell when it is something that is designed for money. I know nothing about Sophia and Chincia. I, but you, Beth, peripherally see their podcast imagery out the corner of my eye when I'm scrolling, but I don't, I've never followed either of them. But just from reading about it, I'm like, I don't know that they need to bring a dressing

gown and slippers. Like, that's the kind of thing I would think. Alternatively, if it was someone who had always been like a lifestyle and homeware designer who had done interiors for years that brought out a new bedding line that was made from a really breathable linen that she'd realized that was blah, blah, blah. Then it's like, you can see the story there and you can understand how they've arrived at that point. I do think sometimes it is just merch but made to sound like a brand. Like infants have always had merch where they get a hoodie and slap their name on it.

Now it's slightly more elevated and it can make it sound like it's a product. But ultimately it is more often than not pre-packaged kind of products that are being shipped out to multiple different suppliers that they are then putting a label on? I don't know anything about Sophia and shouldn't see again. But just when it's non-specific products to people, I do think you have to be as a consumer a bit wary and think are they the best person to be buying that from? Sometimes an influencer is the best person to buy it from. They are the person that genuinely has tried more products than anyone else. Sometimes it is just merch. And on that note, we will be launching the Everything is Content merch store next week.

What would be in our merch? I'm trying to think. That being said, I would actually love a hoodie that said everything has content. Yeah. What's its flavour? Oh, we should come up with our own crisp line. That would be sick. That would actually work for us.

Our own vape. So early. Lost Mary time to EIC So we had a message from Bridget which I thought was wonderful Which said personally I wouldn't buy Influencer branded products As I feel most of the time

The quality and workmanship isn't there Yet the markup is insane Over $100 AUD for slippers Which am mass overproduced no thanks In some rare cases The products are considered and can be appreciated I'm thinking Magnus Ronning's brand Ronning I'm not familiar with that by the way

So I hope I said that right and she closed off by saying, is it just me too, or is it all a bit icky to buy influencer branded products? As a person in their mid-20s, I relate more to influence products as something I would have been excited for as a teenager. Think Zoella Beauty. I think there is most certainly a premium price tag on these products, which shows the exploitation of their audiences in expecting someone to pay that much. While nobody is forcing you to buy it, the backlash from their audiences, who I assume a predominantly working class, is fair. Thank you so much for listening and for all of your opinions and takes on this topic. We love being in conversation with you all.

Please also give us a follow on Instagram and TikTok at Everything is Content Pod. And then please please, please give us a review wherever you're listening. We'll see you as always on Friday. Bye! I don't know.