Am I the only one who feels quality does not scale with price? Like whatsoever?
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The gist of this would be to get a Toyota Century and have the best of both worlds.
I like your thought process on this!
The gist of this would be to get a Toyota Century and have the best of both worlds.
What would that be for bags xD
Nope. Theres plenty of threads debating this issue especially when there is a price increase. 
It's like choosing clothes from Target vs. Armani. Or shoes from Aldo vs. Manolo Blahnik. Practicality vs luxury. A hundred dollar watch vs a $20,000 watch. Sure, the more expensive watch is luxury, but they both tell correct time.
As others have said, it's about the quality AND marketing. What are you trying to achieve with your look? What is the look you're striving for?
I think society has gotten lazy in terms of "Oh I can dress extremely casually, wear no make up, and put my hair in a pony tail, but as long as I carry a $5,000-$30,000 bag, no one will think I'm an actual slob".
Whereas some women wouldn't go to the mailbox without a full face of makeup and nice clothes.
In terms of quality vs the prices charged for certain items, it boils down to "what look are you going for" and "how do you want to "brand" yourself? Do you want to be that person who others talk about as "always dresses great"? Or does it not matter? That being said, there are inexpensive bags that can look great, but just as there's nothing wrong with driving a Honda, they won't carry the "cachet".
As others have said, it's about the quality AND marketing. What are you trying to achieve with your look? What is the look you're striving for?
I think society has gotten lazy in terms of "Oh I can dress extremely casually, wear no make up, and put my hair in a pony tail, but as long as I carry a $5,000-$30,000 bag, no one will think I'm an actual slob".
Whereas some women wouldn't go to the mailbox without a full face of makeup and nice clothes.
In terms of quality vs the prices charged for certain items, it boils down to "what look are you going for" and "how do you want to "brand" yourself? Do you want to be that person who others talk about as "always dresses great"? Or does it not matter? That being said, there are inexpensive bags that can look great, but just as there's nothing wrong with driving a Honda, they won't carry the "cachet".
Oops! I didn’t mean “Yup exactly you are the only one”. I meant “Yup exactly I agree with you that a high price doesn’t necessarily mean better in every way”.Yup exactly.
Silly me!
I think of bags more in terms of value. To me, loving my bag & the way it adds to my look & feeling is added value. Buying a utilitarian bag I don’t love has no value. I have a mix of luxury & contemporary & no name. Each item is used to accessorize my look for the day and that’s how I see them. All of my LV items have actually aged very well & don’t have quality issues. Most of my items that wore quickly were contemporary leather bags because that’s just the nature of leather - it wears with very heavy use. There is no cure for that regardless of brand or price point, especially delicate leathers & exotics. Thick full grain leather I find wears best/lasts longest (think saddles/baseball gloves) & most contemporary & luxury brands do NOT use this type of leather. The more you rotate the longer the bags lifespan.
One reason I love my Polene is that they do use full grain leather. My Fount bag arrives today, and they use full grain leather as well. It's sad that more designers don't.
I have two workhorse Jackson Wayne market totes that are full natural grain thick thick beautiful leather with real brass hardware. I love them. They will probably last forever! They are the type that can take a beating & keep on going.
You do not have to spend a lot of money to have a well-made quality bag. When I spend thousands of dollars on a bag, I am paying for the brand, craftsmanship, quality, and image and experience that goes with the purchase of the bag. People want to be associated with all of the above; it makes them feel good, and if it doesn't make you feel good, then don't pay the money for the bag. Everyone has the right to choose for themselves what they spend their money on.
However, I do agree that there are quality issues with some designer bags. You will have to use your discernment regarding this.
However, I do agree that there are quality issues with some designer bags. You will have to use your discernment regarding this.
The gist of this would be to get a Toyota Century and have the best of both worlds.
With cars as with bags, if it's going to be highly pricey, I prefer to buy gently pre-owned and buy at a steep discount. 99% of the time, no one can tell it was pre-owned unless they're familiar with the model of the car/design of the bag, and I save a bundle on something that, ultimately, winds up being disposable in the long run. I suppose this only works if you don't care about being trendy at all and only want a car/bag that fits your lifestyle and your particular sense of style, but I would way rather have something that I personally know I will love for a long time in either category versus something that is just a trendy item that OTHER people love.
We're paying for the name, and have been since time immemorial. Oldest trick in the marketing book, and some of us still fall for it. 
I was reading an article by Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) about how he made it as a comic artist in a time when newspaper strips were not innovating. It was a few months ago, so I'm roughly paraphrasing, but he explained that it's really easy to become one of the top 25% in a field - daily practice will make you a better artist than 75% of people in the world, writing daily will make you a better writer than 75% of the people...
It takes 5x as much work to become one of the top 10% of artists in the world, and 25x as much work to become a top 5%. So instead of becoming a better writer or a better artist - he worked hard to become consistently good at three things (being funny, writing and drawing) than to become brilliant at one thing.
When you are looking at "quality", whether you are looking at a custom piece or a brand or vintage - the indicators between high quality and superb quality are somewhat limited.
A top 25% bag might be one that is made of high quality body, with solid brass or steel hardware, pockets and a smoothing sliding zipper or closure method.
A top 10% bag will have soldered metal loops/chain. A unique or comfortable tab on the zipper. The bag will be lined. Possibly a more unique body material - exotic leathers, or something that is hand painted. It will be a variation on an original design.
A top 1% bag will be hand stitched, of rare or superb materials, lined and finished with unique and proprietary hardware and an original design.
Do you, as a consumer, think that the difference between a hand sewn bag and a machine stitched bag is worth $5000 or more? Would you even notice?
For some people, it's worth it. But it is a whole lot of money and time and energy for a very small amount of difference
It takes 5x as much work to become one of the top 10% of artists in the world, and 25x as much work to become a top 5%. So instead of becoming a better writer or a better artist - he worked hard to become consistently good at three things (being funny, writing and drawing) than to become brilliant at one thing.
When you are looking at "quality", whether you are looking at a custom piece or a brand or vintage - the indicators between high quality and superb quality are somewhat limited.
A top 25% bag might be one that is made of high quality body, with solid brass or steel hardware, pockets and a smoothing sliding zipper or closure method.
A top 10% bag will have soldered metal loops/chain. A unique or comfortable tab on the zipper. The bag will be lined. Possibly a more unique body material - exotic leathers, or something that is hand painted. It will be a variation on an original design.
A top 1% bag will be hand stitched, of rare or superb materials, lined and finished with unique and proprietary hardware and an original design.
Do you, as a consumer, think that the difference between a hand sewn bag and a machine stitched bag is worth $5000 or more? Would you even notice?
For some people, it's worth it. But it is a whole lot of money and time and energy for a very small amount of difference