A bit of TLDR
What a great an interesting thread. I’ve spent the last 3 hours reading through all the posts - have learnt a lot. Thanks papertiger, for starting a great discussion but also for providing insightful and thoughtful commentary on articles quoted.
I would like to add my two cents, although I think most pertinent comments have already been made. I am very new to this and and am only on this forum because I recently bought a couple of bags that were medium tier, pre-loved and came here to confirm authenticity. Then got caught up in some of the discussions taking place and now this one, which is especially interesting.
I have never aspired to own a premium tier bag simply because it’s not something I’ve been exposed to - no one in my family or amongst my friends wore them - so it’s just something about never thought about. Also, I’m a rather practical and pragmatic person. The 2 most important things to me about a bag has always been functionality and that it be well made and of good, quality leather. I’m a working girl, so I always just needed a work bag. So, a couple of work bags, a few weekend bags and some evening bags has always been enough for me. I probably shouldn’t be commenting here at all...
Anyway, as I’ve grown older, I’ve also tried to own less stuff - make more space in my life. In fact, I have taken on a motto and choice in the last few years, “that if I buy an item, I have to give away an item - be it shoes, clothes, bags.” Additionally, I hate buying something and not using it, - so I try to have a few items which I like- that are pretty to me and they are useful to me and I enjoy them. Like others have said, I also mostly use my money to travel and have experiences - I love being outdoors.
Personally, I’ve never liked wearing obviously branded items, so bags like LV,
Gucci etc have never appealed to me. This is just a personal aesthetic, and I am not throwing shade on anyone who loves these bags, it’s just a personal preference. (That said, as an aside, I’ve always liked the Adidas 3 stripes. There’s something very clever and aesthetically pure about the way Adidas designers uses those 3 stripes in their clothing and apparel. You don’t have to see the name, just those 3 stripes to recognize the brand from afar. No other sports manufacturer can do that). The fact that these bags are now so expensive then doesn’t really impact me directly, however, it interests me in the way economics work as it does influence at the tier that I actually do buy. So, in some way it has an impact on all. I have read posters saying that their threshold is now $2K. Consider that in recent years, the prices of fashion bags (non-leather) from Guess or Polo can cost ~$2K.
It also interests me that there are luxury brands and then there are luxury brands. Im referring to Queen Elizabeth II and her exclusive brands. I know that the Royal Family are not allowed to sponsor or advertise brands, and generally stick to British brands. However, the Queen has her own exclusive bags (Launer) - “ All bags made for the Queen are bespoke, made of the softest calf leather” - and handmade shoes (Anello & Davide) - “...classic black numbers (she has other colours in the same style) which cost about £1,000. Yet the Queen certainly gets value for money out of them, wearing the same pair for years and re-heeling them when they wear out. “ Her accessories though, appear to be very discreet - I don’t see aggressive marketing from her Royal Warrant makers, it appears a very exclusive set. I was once on a forum in which a German financier, who had interests in China - they exported luxury chocolates/ biscuits to China - once commented that if the Queen’s accessory makers, ever decided to market in China, they would make a killing. But it just doesn’t happen.
Anyway, back to the luxury bags,
norahyah said earlier, “Price is not driven by cost, it is set at the absolute maximum the market would bear”....and
tickedoffchick, “Left out of the discussion is the role of acquisitions and consolidation of brands and the resulting demand for higher and higher profit margins. This is what happened to many of the mid-tier brands and it's also having an impact on the "premium" brands as well. These are companies that have shareholders to satisfy, remember. Once the market is saturated, the only ways to increase profits quarter to quarter is to shave quality and increase price. “
For me, these are the 2 key points. What will the market pay? And in the luxury market, it cannot be too low priced because the perception would then be that if it is too affordable, it’s not an aspirational product. There’s a psychology to why people buy and are prepared to buy certain things at certain prices, even if they don’t know it themselves. Years ago, I sat in a Marketing workshop and the facilitator said one of the main reasons women by small bottles of expensive perfume is because they’re actually buying “Hope.”
It is what the market will bear. And I think that it’s awful, that the market will bear poor quality at such inflated prices. It shows a certain disrespect to the customer. I really hope that it does reach saturation level soon and that buyers vote with their dollars. Personally, I will stick with what I have or go for older, pre-loved bags (I like recycling) or good, quality non-branded bags.
I also just want to mention something about marketing and how powerful it is - and I apologize if anyone has come across this already. Regarding Apple - Jobs, the guru of Marketing never did surveys or utilized focus groups. His belief was that people did not know what they wanted, and if they say they want something, by the time you’ve made it for them, they’ve changed their minds and they’ve moved onto something else. So his modus operandi was to make something and convince you that you needed it. Not wanted it but needed it. I can remember when the iPad was initially launched, people considered it a bit of a joke. Now practically every household has one, if not more. An iPhone I understand, sells at 10x it’s manufacturing cost. I’m an iPhone user because it appeals to me both aesthetically and functionally. However, I’ve stopped at iPhone 6 for now as none of the latter versions has any significant improvements. The main improvement for me would be if they were to seriously increase the battery life. Thats not been done as yet,so I find the rest superficial and there’s a new phone each year. I don’t need to have it.
Sometimes, like another poster has said, we just need to step away from the crazy.
Lastly, great post , vintagefinds.
similarly he wishes he didn’t know (price wise as well)
(though was lucky to have my all degrees funded by Polish/UK government and I've always eaten very well lol so many things ticked off the list and more funds for handbags
)
ITA with every word
