Telegraph: Duchess Meghan’s sold-out As Ever product line is just a ‘marketing ploy’

Wednesday morning, I wrote about how the Duchess of Sussex’s As Ever product line would be going on sale at any moment. I was thrilled that the products were finally being launched and I had a feeling that they would sell quickly. But I didn’t know that they would sell out in under an hour!! Meghan sent out the As Ever announcement email at 9:15 am EST (at least that’s when I got my email). I ordered three items just minutes later – two teas and the raspberry spread – and I immediately got my order confirmation email. It looks like tons of people missed out though! So many Sussex Squadies are fighting!

Soon after As Ever’s product sold out, Meghan posted the IG above, with this message: “Our shelves may be empty, but my heart is full! We sold out in less than one hour and I can’t thank you enough…for celebrating, purchasing, sharing, and believing. It’s just the start @aseverofficial 🎉 Here we go!” Interestingly enough, I thought her earlier IG caption was more notable: “We’re live! Come shop the As ever collection I’ve poured so much love into. So excited to share this with you…*Limited quantities for each seasonal drop*.” This is the first time we’ve heard anything about a “seasonal drop,” right? Meaning, what? Was this all we get for spring? Will supplies come back in stock for the spring product line? Or will people have to wait for the summer product line?

Meanwhile, Wednesday was also the first time the prices of As Ever products were revealed. While the items were “pricey” if you’re used to Walmart shopping, I didn’t find them outlandish at all. $14 jam, $15 flower sprinkles, tea mixes for $12. Those are farmer’s market prices and lemme tell you, a lot of people are used to farmer’s market prices. The Telegraph also huffed that the only reason why As Ever products sold out was because there were only limited quantities:

The Duchess of Sussex has revealed the prices for her lifestyle brand, including wildflower honey with honeycomb priced at $28 (£21.60). The As Ever range also includes a $14 (£10.80) jar of raspberry jam and flower sprinkles for $15 (£11.60).

The goods, which also include shortbread and crepe mixes, both costing $14 (£10.80), and various herbal tea mixes for $12 (£9.30) each, went on sale in the United States on Wednesday and the entire product range appeared to have sold out within 30 minutes of going live.

A well-placed source told The Telegraph that the items would be made available in small quantities and quickly marked as sold out to generate interest, which is a common marketing ploy.

[From The Telegraph]

I think it’s always difficult for a start-up to gauge the demand for their product, and most start-up businesses will find it easier to scale up rather than scale down if they’ve wildly overestimated interest. Meghan started small to see what the real-world interest would be in her product line. Now she knows that the demand is there and she can scale up accordingly. Interestingly, the Telegraph’s “marketing ploy” eyeroll reminded me of Kylie Jenner starting Kylie Cosmetics back in the day. Kylie also underestimated demand, and for the first year of Kylie Cosmetics, every product drop would be sold out in minutes. It wasn’t a marketing ploy, it was an inexperienced businesswoman trying to figure out how to scale up to meet demand in real time. Anyway, Kylie is now a billionaire or close to it. Something to think about.

Photos courtesy of Meghan’s IG, Cover Images.

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90 Responses to “Telegraph: Duchess Meghan’s sold-out As Ever product line is just a ‘marketing ploy’”

  1. Blogger says:

    Sounds like DT’s source didn’t get the chance to order the products and write a bitchy review about them.

    I bet a lot of rats are searching for them in the secondary market. Sucks to be the rats 😂

    • Lau says:

      I think that’s definitely the problem here. These people are children wearing adult clothes.

      • bisynaptic says:

        Nasty children.

      • Maja says:

        Adults, with the power of adults and antisocial, marauding aggression that is not restrained by anyone. No healthy child with normal feelings behaves in such a destructive way.

    • westcoastgal says:

      According to reports there was 250,000 items to be sold, the honey was the most limited item, the crepe and teas were the largest so hardly a marketing ploy, just an extremely successful launch!

  2. Vs says:

    I am a pissed off squadie today and I was one yesterday. I was at work and I thought I will some time to buy some items: all for me, all for my mom, 2 of all for colleagues who just gave birth. I got 0… when I tried, everything was sold out
    Yes, she did underestimate the demand!

    • Amy G says:

      I checked before the email went out and ended up doing two orders when the jam showed as available again.
      I understand disappointment, but anger?
      Geesh.
      And BTW, you could only buy two of anything. I bought one of each of the 4 items I got other than the 2 jams.
      So if you’re mad because you couldn’t buy anything and planned to buy multiples, you weren’t going to be able to anyway.

      • Vs says:

        I saw after than AsEver was capping to 2 per person. I shared my goals, I am not mad at Queen Meghan, I am one who wants to see her become a billionaire…racism and hate will never win in this world and she has my support! It is hard to estimate demand as a startup…. I am pissed off that I missed out

      • StarWonderful says:

        Yeah, I don’t understand anyone being angry, especially at this early stage of Meghan’s business. I, too, tried purchasing a couple of products but was unsuccessful; nevertheless, I was thrilled that her products sold out.

    • Hypocrisy says:

      I’m a happy one because she sold out.. I will get some flower sprinkles, fruit spread and honey eventually..

      • Eurydice says:

        The same here. I get just as much joy watching Meghan succeed.

      • Nerd says:

        I’m also someone who wasn’t able to purchase anything. I had something in my cart and before I could complete the transaction it was sold out. I’m disappointed as anyone would be if they were looking forward to something and they weren’t able to get it, but I’m definitely not angry or pissed that other squaddies were able to purchase what they wanted and that her items sold out. I’m ecstatic for them, but especially for Meghan. My time will come. It’s weird that anyone would think that a business person and their distributor being rightfully cautious with their launch as being part of a ploy or not planning their first sales perfectly as being inexperience. Of course their experience into something new is inexperience, but being cautious with their distribution at launch seems more like the more reasonable approach than making too much, regardless of how popular someone is or isn’t.

      • Christine says:

        Agreed, the glee in yesterday was watching Meghan sell out so fast after everything Salty Isle has done to her! Getting a jam was a happy surprise.

    • westcoastgal says:

      It was a launch, not a roll out like a big consumer product that General Mills produces so obviously there was not going to be endless supply. According to reports there was 250,000 items to be sold so it was simply an incredibly successful launch. They knew the demand was going to be great thus the 2 item limit to allow as many people possible to get her products. So, I get you might be disappointed but I can’t understand anger. Think of us Canadians, we didn’t even have a shot!

  3. Cheryl says:

    I am so very happy for Meghan. I was able to get the jam and the shortbread cookies. I was disappointed about the honey and the flower sprinkles, but hopefully she will get more products in.
    I hope she does become a billionaire. She and Harry will be able to pour their money and hearts into their philanthropic work!

    • Magdalena says:

      See, I want her to become a billionaire, but MAINLY so they never ever have to worry about security for themselves and their children ever again, and that they can continue to live a fabulous life. They already have a charity to which they currently donate and will almost certainly contribute more if they can, but there is absolutely no reason for them to become billionaires for charitable purposes only, when they have bills to pay and a family to support and protect.

      • kirk says:

        You make a really good point Magdalena. To think of that harrowing place they were in a few years ago with paparazzi cutting holes in the fence, flying drones and them trying to figure out how much they could spend on security. Yikes. I missed out on getting any AE products, but clicked ‘get notified’ on everything I wanted. Except for honey. Oh well.

    • westcoastgal says:

      I want her to become a billionaire simply because it will upset so many people on the nasty island!

  4. Aimee says:

    I tried to buy some stuff but after I put my info in it came back saying it couldn’t verify my card details so I gave up.

  5. Jan says:

    “As Ever” sales policy, once your order is placed it can’t be cancelled and no returns, because, it is edible.
    If the derangers thought they could place orders and then cancel, not happening, and no returns on half eaten jam.
    One of the lying tabloids claimed Meghan snubbed England, only the brain dead will believe them, when they can see for themselves on the website, the products are only available in the USA.

    • Lady D says:

      I can’t get them in Canada? I hope they will be available here soon. I really want to help this lady become a billionaire, and it makes me happy to see her succeed, very happy. Her success is proof of karma, which also makes me happy.

    • Square2 says:

      “*Limited quantities for each seasonal drop*.” This is the first time we’ve heard anything about a “seasonal drop,” right?”

      When they (Meghan & Netflix) first announced As Ever, in the press release, it clearly stated it’s Seasonal Collection, and only ship to USA for this Spring (Breakfast) Collection. That’s why some people outside USA were using forward service.

      Real SSwere not really angry about their missing out, they’re annoyed that derangers/haters got their order in, or received the PR Gift Box.

  6. MrsCope says:

    I got two spreads, the flower sprinkles and the crepe mix. How much work did I get done yesterday morning? I can’t say. I was back and forth between Threads and the As Ever site. I fully expected this to be like a Hamilton/Beyonce ticket scenario. This is new territory for As Ever and Netflix and there is no comparable market test case when it comes to Meghan. I think it was a strategic underestimate/marketing move to make sure that today’s press wasn’t “Meghan’s Effect works for everyone…. except for Meghan.” Even if I hadn’t gotten anything, I wouldn’t knock the strategy because she has to position herself cautiously for wins. Her site has a “get notified” button that people can use to know when she restocks, which from a business perspective will help them identify the cheerleaders vs the customer. All are important,of course. But they don’t need to stock the shelves based on cheerleaders. My PR and limited consumer behavior science experience, though!

    • IdlesAtCranky says:

      Thank you for mentioning the Get Notified buttons on each sold-out product on the As Ever site (except the limited-edition honey.)

      I’m another who didn’t move quickly enough to buy anything during the launch. I saw the Get Notified buttons while looking at the prices etc. but thought “Oh I’m already signed up for the emails, I don’t need to do that.”

      But since you mentioned it, I went back and used them for specific notifications for the several items I’d actually like to buy.

      I’m hoping they are able to do a restock on this product group, and we won’t need to wait a few months for the next seasonal drop!

      😊🍯💛🫖💛☕️💛🏵🌿🐝🐝🐝💛

    • Christine says:

      This is an excellent point, I can’t think of anyone who is comparable to Meghan that they could have used for forecasting. The first run was going to be pure best guess work. The people lined up to scream about the Meghan effect not working for Meghan were thoroughly shut down. I love to see it!

  7. Bronco says:

    Bahahah I predicted this response days or weeks ago. They’re laughable. And laughably predictable.

    Poor willy must be wetting his willy. He must need his nanny. Poor love.

  8. Hypocrisy says:

    I’m just waiting for the restock… she has a hit lifetime style show and sells out whatever she wears she doesn’t need a marketing ploy her products were going to sell out anyway people have been waiting a long time to give Meghan’s cooking a taste and this is the closest most of us will ever get.

  9. Shoegirl77 says:

    And yet, here you are, DT. Giving her free marketing and advertising with every delulu opinion piece you cryvomit onto your keyboards. If this is irrelevance, I would like some irrelevance please.

  10. Jan says:

    They’re two special needs guys in Australia, that made Meghan’s Spaghetti dish, they have a cooking show on YouTube.
    They did a really good job, squabbling along the way, was dicey watching one cut up garlic, then they invited Meghan and Harry to come cook with them.

    • MrsCope says:

      I love that! I have been seeing it pop up more in the disability community and it’s awesome! I initially thought of it as a space saver type recipe for people in smaller spaces, but I’m learning so much about wait for it….WHO ELSE IS WATCHING. (The all caps is for the hate campaign and the “bonafide Italian chefs” etc. frothing rabidly to take Meghan down a peg for some pasta that tastes great and never hurt anyone LOL. )

    • Blogger says:

      Link?

      • MrsCope says:

        Here you go! https://youtu.be/SdHJhKsx-f4?si=c5X9e6GqC6OIvYW7

        This is just one, but there are others where they explicitly state how helpful the recipe is and that they don’t cut anything up at all so that it is fully accessible.

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        Love! Thank you @MrsCope. Megsketti! I”m going to make Megsketti tomorrow. Only have to buy 3 thrings that aren’t in house. OMG! She’s so unrelatable.lol

        Apparently, As ever, is the only business to do something, as ever no one else has done. As ever. The BM/affiliates need to work on their intelligence instead of what Meghan, Duchess of Success is doing. They should focus on the FQ’s initiatives and charities well being….oh wait..let’s not talk about that.

    • Mimi says:

      I’ve done the pasta dish. The first time, it came out a little watery and tasteless, but baby…the second time I did it, I added my own seasoning, more olive oil, sauteed the veggies (not just tomatoes, but jalapeños, onions, garlic and red peppers), added the pasta, sprinkled with cheese and it was delicious! Easy and delicious? You can’t lose.

      • antipodean says:

        Those boys are so sweet, and their joy for what Meghan, and the food they are cooking, means to them is palpable and infectious! I actually teared up watching them. They are truly lighting a candle in the darkness. The Duchess effect?

      • Corvus Corax says:

        Same!

        I’ve made it with zucchini and mushrooms as well as the vegetables the recipe calls for. Throwing the sauteed vegetables in after ~4 minutes makes for SO MUCH flavor.

      • Jane says:

        Did you saute peppers, garlic and tomatoes first? Then add pasta and water to that, with the lemon zest?

    • Eurydice says:

      What a charming and heart-warming video – thanks for the link @MrsCope – I love the NASA/garlic humor and I love how they called it Megsketti. I hope Meghan and Harry get to see this.

      • Jais says:

        Okay that’s cute. Megsketti. I’m going to watch the YT link later when I’m home. They seem awesome.

  11. Tashiro says:

    I was waiting to see how long this narrative would surface, since it’s all they’ve got.

  12. Dee(2) says:

    The way goal posts constantly move for this woman. If it’s a typical marketing ploy why frame it like she’s doing something nefarious? Why is it always her success somehow doesn’t count? Any business is going to assess demand and adjust supply to support it. They just wanted her shop to languish for days and weeks so they could write how no one likes her. Even after the VERY recent success of WLM, and the Shop my site.

    How many times does she have to do something, go somewhere, or wear something and have interest sky rocket before these people accept that they may hate her with all their guts but everyone doesn’t? Regardless of the quantity available people bought it because they were interested just like more people will buy when more is available.

  13. SueBarbri33 says:

    If you poke around deranger-land, you can observe them getting all of these talking points together. It’s ridiculous. $14 isn’t a lot of money for Montecito Jam. Come on. I was honestly thrilled to see such reasonable price points when I hopped onto AsEver yesterday.

    • Tessa says:

      The derangers are. Going ballistic even rehashing the waffle story

    • Angied says:

      14$ isn’t a lot. I went the the grocery store and priced Raspberry jam at 4.99. U.S. dollars. So
      a specialty jam at 14$ isn’t expensive. Go to any specialty shop and you will see.

      • Angie says:

        Those little jars of Bonne Maman Preserves are $9 at my local Safeway. I still pay that because they taste good (and the jars make nice drinking glasses 😂)

      • FlamingHotCheetos2021 says:

        @Angie I like to use them for pasta sauce and chili and chile verde pork, make a big batch and shove them in the freezer and one jar is a good size for one person for a couple meals.

    • Eurydice says:

      $9.00, if you don’t want the presentation packaging.

    • MsIam says:

      These aren’t staples like milk or eggs that you buy every week. (We won’t even talk about the price of those, lol.) These are special treats. So I think the prices are reasonable but if it’s not in the budget then pass it by.

    • StarWonderful says:

      It’s also a keepsake spread with special boxing, thus the price. The unboxed jam is set to be less than $10, according to the website.

  14. s808 says:

    Whoever managed to get the honey, just know I am not happy for you cause it should’ve been me! I got some tea though.

  15. FancyPants says:

    Ah yes, the sneaky secret “supply and demand” marketing ploy… is this supposed to be bad? She’s a business owner and her goal is to earn money and it’s working so good for her!

    • Lover says:

      I know, right? A sneaky marketing ploy to … make money by selling things through her business. Lol. Enjoy that bountiful harvest of crispy lettuce, Meghan.

  16. Nanea says:

    If one thing is consistent in this whole sordid BM, Palaces and Derangers saga, it’s the delulu level of misogynoir hatred that Meghan always gets, no matter if she’s successful with a new project or just at home chilling for weeks on end.

    I love it for the BM that the BRF’s products sit on their respective shelves, accumulating dust while Meghan’s sold out immediately.

    Putting the blame on M though for being wildly successful is another of those many cheap shots. After all, As Ever is backed and supported by Netflix — meaning their marketing department wildly underestimated the demand.

    Better safe than sorry — and wait for restocks.
    *she says while quietly sobbing in her part of Europe that AE doesn’t ship here. On the other hand… tariffs*

  17. Becks1 says:

    They make it sound like she did something nefarious, rather than making a smart business move, because scarcity often increases demand. But, we don’t know how many she had of each product. Maybe she had 500, maybe she had 5000. no one knows how much she actually sold.

    I do think that starting out with smaller quantities was smart; “marketing ploy” aside it just gives them a little breathing room to make sure the orders are processed quickly, the website was working, etc. If they were selling 100k of each product from the start they might have gotten very overwhelmed on all ends.

    • MrsCope says:

      It’s smart, and Meghan isn’t supposed to be smart. It’s like watching a child lose at a board game, and instead of processing the loss they just start screaming, ” you cheated!!” Because THAT is the only reason they could possibly be losing (to them).

    • Eurydice says:

      Yes, and this is new for Netflix, too. There were only 9 products and the honey was limited, anyway. Even if she 1,000 of each, that’s not that many items, considering the level of interest and how many people are on her IG and signed up for notifications.

      • MsIam says:

        I guess Meghan is supposed to be like Proctor & Gamble and churn out millions of items a week. The things these folks come up with are killing me.

  18. Amy Bee says:

    I think it was smart to start small.

  19. aquarius64 says:

    I’m glad for Meghan’s success. The BM is mad the Sentebale scandal didn’t ruin the sales from As Ever. GBNews threw in Highgrove Honey and Jams at their price points (helping the money to sell its products)?

    • Blogger says:

      I’ve never seen Chuck make his own jam.

      #authenticity

      • Maja says:

        I would never shop in one of those dried up royal shops and online sites with their dusty 50s ambience and supplement the income of people who have made their billions at the expense of the population. And I don’t believe for a moment that the proceeds of these strange things go to charity. Just because someone says so. Without real evidence, I don’t believe anything.

  20. sevenblue says:

    Meghan has a big business partner (Netflix). I doubt, she is deciding on all these by herself. Any business starting a new venture would start small, then expand as the sales grow. Since this is also new for Netflix, they would act cautiously.

    • MrsCope says:

      Thank you!!

    • QuiteContrary says:

      Yes, this.

      I’m just thrilled the As Ever product launch was a hit.

    • Magdalena says:

      I thought that the Netflix chief said that they were a silent partner, which I assumed meant that they were providing financial backing only, but I guess they may also have been providing logistical support as well (though the financial backing would enable M to hire the right people to deal with such framework).

      • sevenblue says:

        @Magdalena, Netflix wouldn’t make the ultimate decision, but they would give advise to Meghan. They are investors. They would most definitely cooperate with Meghan on the business decisions. That is one of the benefits working with a giant company like Netflix.

      • Bronco says:

        Netflix likely provided the back end as that’s a huge part of their business

  21. Walking the Walk says:

    It was great and I want to buy some things. LOL.

    Also I have seen two really popular people on Instagram make her one pot dish and talked about how much they loved it. Some derangers tried to come in and got shouted down in the comments. You love to see it.

  22. Me at home says:

    Who exactly is mad? They’re making that up, pretending the Sussex Squad is breaking up with Meghan just like they want Harry to do. I missed out yesterday, but normal people can wait another few months for their jam and flower sprinkles. I’m sure she and her Netflix partners will scale up.

  23. Blogger says:

    @Mrscope Thanks for the link! They are so adorable 🥰 (but hope they delete the nasty comments)

    And I hope Meghan cooks with them one day. I love the photo of her on their kitchen bench. They are big fans!

  24. Jais says:

    I’m still bereft over missing out on the flower sprinkles but I will live. I managed to get the jam in the special packaging so that’s exciting. Although truth be told I don’t really eat jam much? But I’m still excited to try it and share it with the fam. It’s just funny bc you know as soon as the products get delivered, derangers will be coming out to say it’s the foulest jam they’ve ever tasted. Which I’m sure will not be the case.

  25. I think this is the best article i’ve ever seen . Thanks for sharing

  26. Steph says:

    I want Meghan to succeed so if employs “a common marketing ploy” good for her! It’s a tried and true method. If the product restocks, I might try for one of the teas and the shortbread cookies.

  27. KC says:

    I just love this picture of her smiling with her Swiss chard. It’s how I feel about my Swiss chard, though I can’t wear white in my garden. Absolutely thrilled she’s sticking it to her shitty in-laws and their weirdo press.

  28. Chelsea says:

    She did smartly put a limit for customers to only be able to buy 2 of each for each product but that wasn’t enough. Id imagine they did want the items to sell out in its first couple days but considering that celebrities are now posting their gifted As Ever baskets on Instagram TODAT i dont think it was the plan for everything to sell out in an hour before anyone could even post to promote it.

  29. Libra says:

    I had my heart set on raspberry jam. It was to be my Sunday “treat day” , a break from my weight loss diet demanded by my Dr for health reasons. Have10 pounds left to go so I believe a special treat is deserved, but no. Jam is sold out. Disappointed, yes. I’ll survive this and try again.

  30. 809Matriarch says:

    I don’t know why the haters are so triggered. I’m old enough to remember when the purse for her Smart Set capsule collection SOLD OUT before the official launch.

    Even Duchess Doolittle ran out and bought Aquazzurra shoes, copying Meghan. Whatcha gonna do?😍😍

  31. Maja says:

    I can’t order from my country, but I received a very nice email from As ever. I understand that at the moment it is only delivered in the USA, if that changes I will be notified. I found the sentence at the end particularly nice:

    “We truly appreciate your support and enthusiasm.”
    Love this ❣️

  32. PDR says:

    Because I’m a native New Yorker and a bit competitive, I treated Meghan’s “As Ever” product launch the same way I would treat buying ComicCon or Beyoncé tickets. As we hadn’t been given a specific opening time, I started refreshing my browser every few minutes starting at around 6am ET. I had to step away briefly at 8:45 (because work), and when I returned at 9:00, the site was suddenly live. I quickly put several items into my shopping cart (no more than 2 apiece), used PayPal to pay fast, and was done by 9:02am. Even as I was selecting my purchases, I saw the availability status of several items change, and by the time my transaction was complete, half the items I had just bought were already sold out. About 30 minutes later, everything was all but gone. It was wild. And next time, given that everyone now knows we’re playing by Taylor Swift rules, it’ll probably be even crazier.

    • Gladys says:

      I’m with you, but trained by getting the elusive Disney pass holder ride preview tix or Disney cruise check in. I too started at 6:00 am checking the site. I refreshed every hour though. At 8 EST, I figured they were waiting til 6:00PST to give west coast a chance. Saw it was live at 9:02. Couldn’t get the flower sprinkles cause they were already sold out but tried again 5 min later and was able to get it in a second order ( so much for free shipping.) Figured supply would be low and would sell out fast. Good for them.

  33. Me at home says:

    Today’s NY Times Cooking feature is Meghan’s spring garden pasta salad recipe. Cry harder, haters.

  34. Roisin says:

    End to end supply chain testing…love it. I cannot wait for her to be a billionaire! So tired of reading all the nonsense about her and wishing her huge success!

  35. bisynaptic says:

    Oh, noes!… Not a marketing ploy! 😂

  36. AC says:

    Love it – esp how envious the BM is. lol.

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