Japan’s Reduce-Reuse-Recycle policies reduced municipal waste, but since 2010, progress has slowed, and primary resource use remains high. ‘Repair’ policies can address this by extending product lifetimes, reducing new acquisitions and disposal, and limiting waste creation. We explore the effectiveness of different price signals in incentivising energy using goods repair. We also investigate how lifestyles and income influence the impact of price signals. Furthermore, we assess the environmental impacts of these price signals. We apply a dynamic general equilibrium model combining material-flow analysis with a lifestyle model to two policy scenarios: (1) a repair bonus, and (2) higher Extended Producer responsibility fees, each under different repair barriers and heterogeneous lifestyle drivers. We find that, under low barriers, lowering repair costs could double repair rates, resulting in a 12 Mt/year decrease in waste by 2050, when we strengthen low-carbon cognitions in high-income groups, who constitute the largest portion of the population and are most likely to engage intentionally in ‘Repair’. High barriers to repair can reduce these gains by two-thirds. Low-income groups tend to respond more to price signals driven by their need to save money. Lower energy efficiency of repaired goods raises use-phase CO2 emissions, partly offsetting reductions in manufacturing/incineration, implying a trade-off between circular economy and climate mitigation goals. Raising EPR fees encourages sharing and ‘Refuse’, resulting in smaller waste generation and CO2 emissions. We highlight the importance of aligning price signals with measures that reduce barriers, addressing trade-offs, and implementing targeted awareness campaigns to achieve a sustainable circular economy.