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Ah…. If you already own multiple speedy, then I would agree that you should spend the money somewhere else!I hope this will come true. I have been waiting for many years for another turquoise Alma. There had been one 7 or 8 years ago but that was before I started buying LV.
For the Speedy, there always seems to be another bag that I rather want to buy than the Speedy B 25 DE. Also I already have 4 Speedies (3 in size 25). But that does not stop me from wanting the 25 DE also. But right now I am more interested in adding some variety to my collection with some Saint Laurent bags.
I agree with all of this. I'd also add that labor rates have gone up quite a bit in the last couple of years. That will naturally drive up the costs of the goods that labor is producing.Hmm, that is a little hard to say.
Price increases happen for everything over time. There is inflation and the cost of living has gone up. In general, we can expect prices of luxury to go up. But we do expect them at a steady and slower pace.
I understand that during the pandemic years, LV and Chanel have become infamous for their price increases during a very difficult time in the world (aka the pandemic) and that feels very unfair. (And it's not just them, we know that Dior, Fendi, Celine, etc. other luxury houses have done sneaky price increases in the past 2 years)
However, at the end of the day the costs add up for them too.
For example, gas prices in the US are now $6 per gallon, I believe my friend in Hong Kong recently filled up his car for $10-11 USD per gallon. So now, if LV needs to fly over a shipment of goods to the US or any other country, the cost of that transport rises significantly for them.
We are shocked and frustrated because due to our past experience with the brand, we knew how much they cost and how much we paid for things in the past. And in our minds, that is set as the price that it should be, because that is the price we were okay with paying for back then or the price that we initially saw and mentally put it in that position.
But things change, and usually, especially for luxury, price fluctuates in a way that it doesn't go down, and usually goes up.
Another issue concerning about increasing price vs increasing quality and craftmanship. I understand that it does not make sense to increase price if quality goes down. That is a big no no for anyone.
However, quality can only go so much. What if there is a point that LV makes a perfect bag every single time? Are they going to stop their price increases? I doubt it.
To justify future price increases, they can do other things I suppose, improve the quality of their services, they could become like Hermes and have them only handmade in France, etc.
But there will be a point, that, that is all LV can do. They will continue to do price increases even if they have no quality issues, have perfect customer service, do bag repairs and aftercare, etc. etc. etc.
So at the end of the day, we are buying the brand. We are paying mainly for the brand. It just depends on how much we are willing to pay for it.
I'm not saying I'm supporting LV (or any brand's) price increases or that they are 100% justified in their price increases. I'm sure there are some understandable reasons and the other is just being corporate and making more money.
Just sort of trying to see a different perspective of things, since this is the world we live in now. A world of inflation and price increases. Perhaps it has always been this way, but it has become very obvious and hard-hitting in recent years.
Just my thoughts though, no need to take it too seriously.
This quality issue has been “terrible” since I’ve been on this forum. I remember the quality being a constant discussion every year that I’ve been on here yet people still buy. The quality talks will be here just like the increases. For the people saying their older bags have better quality there was someone then talking about the quality of bags at that time. It’s an ongoing cycle. So yep 10 years from now people will be complaining of how great the quality was 10 years prior!My local grocery increased 25% avg, Ikea increased 30%, the pandemic was to blame
Well, LV is still my favorite, to prevent my kids to spend a future premium, I collected a couple for them. who knows the quality may get worse after 10 years? By that time, they are like "wow quality of 10 years ago is much better than now, I am glad mom collected these classics."
