possibly a must-

Man, I'm not desensitised - I still ask the exact price of everything I'm buying at H, and I STILL freak out at many of the prices. Having said that, Hermes has certainly desensitised me to OTHER brands' pricing. A $2K dress I would have cringed over a few years ago seems reasonable to me, these days.....oh dear....
 
I think brilliantly they "upgraded" the canvas bags into leather made. so they are somewhat affordable to the public and at the same time is a great profit maker for the company.
 
I guess I'm a zombie because I don't get shocked at sticker prices unless they are affordable. When I found out how much the Picotin and the Evelyne was I was like :wtf: :yahoo:

It's very easy to swallow spending $800 on a pair of shoes :confused1: Oh gawd! I think I need to see a shrink, something is wrong with me! My mom always told me I think with my toes!

Haha,... great read. In the end everything gets more expensive but affordable. Remember when a gallon of milk was 75 cents or when cigarets were 1 dollar or when eggs were 50 cents for a dozen,... geesh! My grocery shopping rings up at 2 to 3 hundred a week and we're all skinny!!!! Whole foods,.... more and more popping up in your local neighborhood!

Rent keeps going up and now mostly anyone can afford a house in the suburbs!

This has been happening since the start,... earth was founded on EVOLUTION.

Okay, this is me talking after a feeew martinis! :drinkup: thank gawd for spell check! haha!
 
I guess I'm a zombie because I don't get shocked at sticker prices unless they are affordable. When I found out how much the Picotin and the Evelyne was I was like :wtf: :yahoo:

It's very easy to swallow spending $800 on a pair of shoes :confused1: Oh gawd! I think I need to see a shrink, something is wrong with me! My mom always told me I think with my toes!

Haha,... great read. In the end everything gets more expensive but affordable. Remember when a gallon of milk was 75 cents or when cigarets were 1 dollar or when eggs were 50 cents for a dozen,... geesh! My grocery shopping rings up at 2 to 3 hundred a week and we're all skinny!!!! Whole foods,.... more and more popping up in your local neighborhood!

Rent keeps going up and now mostly anyone can afford a house in the suburbs!

This has been happening since the start,... earth was founded on EVOLUTION.

Okay, this is me talking after a feeew martinis! :drinkup: thank gawd for spell check! haha!

2 interesting thoughts - did you know that there are a lot of things that are priced lower at whole foods than at some other less fancy stores (things like large bottled water and canned goods), because they know they will sell a lot of them and/or because that isn't why you go specifically to whole foods, so they can price them competitively and then the produce, gourmet frozen foods, etc. will be priced more steeply - things you pick up because you might as well since you're already there.
the other thing is that more people are (or were) buying homes, but in fact all the recent reports show that they could not actually afford those homes. it was a total illusion and those adjustable rates are now swallowing up people's dreams, lives and homes. it's no different with the cc cards. with the home-buying, banks said, look, we'll lend you all this money. the customer was amazed and empowered and bought the dream. now the bank says, pay up, at this interest rate, the the customer is drowning. the credit cards say look, you have this high of a limit. the cc companies are not being responsible about figuring out how high to make the credit limit based on income - hello. they do not want the customer to be able to pay them back. that does not make the cc company any money. high interest makes the cc company money. and the new bankruptcy laws protect the cc companies' money. that is, the money the customer owes the cc company. the customer thinks 'wowee, that is my credit.' suddenly the whole world feels accessible to someone. what's the big deal charging a 6-7k bag if that gives you a year to pay for it. save $20 a day and i'll be fine, someone might think (it's a great plan if they do the saving before the purchase). but it almost never works out that way.
very dangerous to spend fantasy money...
and it seems like hermes is expanding to share the fantasy.
if it means more keychains purchased, etc., that's one thing, but if it's basically entrapment, that's a shame.
i do prefer that hermes is hard to get because it does probably increase my own pleasure in my own pieces, that they cannot be taken for granted (by myself). i am crazy enough that if i were determined to buy a bag, i would plan a trip to make it possible, so having hermes be restricted in accessibility would not be a deterrent for me and i'm sure a whole lot of other people.
 
HH-Very good points you have. It´s very easy to get lost in the cc-world. And Baggs-I know, sometimes when I would hear someone spending more than 100 dollars on shoes for example it would have made me cringe, now, it´s "cheap" when I consider the pricing or the brands I love.
 
Yup, I know exactly what you mean!

One of my neighbors got caught up in one of those schemes and lost their house. That's why it's good for you to have a lawyer present before you sign anything. If they tell you "pay this for 5 years" Then we with re-adjust say HELL no and run like the wind!

On the CC note. I agree with you there too. I don't understand why some people burn their plastic like that. I've never been the one to charge anything! All my purchases are cash,... ALL OF THEM, shoes, H Bags, jewelry. Everything. Except vacations. Those I pay right away. I just don't understand some people who say "I'll charge this and pay of the minimum at the end of the month",.. that is really silly (unless you have money to burn like that)




2 interesting thoughts - did you know that there are a lot of things that are priced lower at whole foods than at some other less fancy stores (things like large bottled water and canned goods), because they know they will sell a lot of them and/or because that isn't why you go specifically to whole foods, so they can price them competitively and then the produce, gourmet frozen foods, etc. will be priced more steeply - things you pick up because you might as well since you're already there.
the other thing is that more people are (or were) buying homes, but in fact all the recent reports show that they could not actually afford those homes. it was a total illusion and those adjustable rates are now swallowing up people's dreams, lives and homes. it's no different with the cc cards. with the home-buying, banks said, look, we'll lend you all this money. the customer was amazed and empowered and bought the dream. now the bank says, pay up, at this interest rate, the the customer is drowning. the credit cards say look, you have this high of a limit. the cc companies are not being responsible about figuring out how high to make the credit limit based on income - hello. they do not want the customer to be able to pay them back. that does not make the cc company any money. high interest makes the cc company money. and the new bankruptcy laws protect the cc companies' money. that is, the money the customer owes the cc company. the customer thinks 'wowee, that is my credit.' suddenly the whole world feels accessible to someone. what's the big deal charging a 6-7k bag if that gives you a year to pay for it. save $20 a day and i'll be fine, someone might think (it's a great plan if they do the saving before the purchase). but it almost never works out that way.
very dangerous to spend fantasy money...
and it seems like hermes is expanding to share the fantasy.
if it means more keychains purchased, etc., that's one thing, but if it's basically entrapment, that's a shame.
i do prefer that hermes is hard to get because it does probably increase my own pleasure in my own pieces, that they cannot be taken for granted (by myself). i am crazy enough that if i were determined to buy a bag, i would plan a trip to make it possible, so having hermes be restricted in accessibility would not be a deterrent for me and I'm sure a whole lot of other people.
 
This is an exceedingly interesting read--and subsequent conversation.
I will definitely check out this book soon!

Like many of you, I cringe at the thought of people amassing huge credit card debts to live a "luxury" lifestyle. To me, the greatest luxury in the world is not owing anyone anything. If that meant I had to have a smaller house in a cheaper area, and carry Coach bags instead of Hermes, and buy all my clothes at Target, well, so be it. Debt = insecurity. At least to me. There is absolutely nothing luxurious about having "fine" products that one cannot afford.
 
wow, front page of the wall st. journal today: "illinois tries new tack against predatory loans" - a new law will require people in the chicago area who want to take out a non-traditional loan to spend an hour or two with a credit counselor "so that they won't be hoodwinked at the closing table." really sad that it's gotten to this, that governments cannot trust lenders. wow!

i agree with responses posted, btw. thanks to everyone who shared.
 
This all reminds me of a Saturday Night Live Skit a few years ago. The skit featured Steve Martin and Amy Poehler doing an infomercial for a book called "Stop Buying Things You Can't Afford." It was very funny but sadly, something many people should take note of.

A few years ago there was some proposed legislation that would require cc companies targeting college students to conduct themselves in a different way. Students would have been more informed about what they were really getting into with a cc. I don't rememeber the particulars but it did not pass.

Some people on this forum can afford a lot of Hermes bags. Some can't afford any. I have the one box birkin. That is a special bag for me and it was paid for before I bought it. I sold off part of my scarf collection to finance it. I don't think I will have a closet full of them, I just can't afford it. If I could, I would. Down the line I might add a bag or two but I can't help but think of how nice some of that money would be in the bank or invested or the trips I could take etc.

I love the CNBC show " the Millionaire Inside." One of the panel was getting annoyed at a woman who had put $3,000 on her credit card during a trip to Italy. She had bought some nice bags, shoes and a coat. His comment was that you cannot sacrifice your financial future for such immediate gratification. It was going to take her time to pay it off and she would have to pay the interest. His point was that you have to think more of yourself and that no material thing is going to make up for a lack of self esteem.

I kind of feel sorry for the people that have a closet full of Hermes bags and still want more and more and more. No bag is ever going to satisfy that kind of need. You should love every bag you have and use it. Otherwise they become clutter. I do love this forum and it has been a great resource for me not to mention a lot of fun. Sometimes though, I need a break and take the dog for a hike. That's the kind of stuff money can't buy. She brings me more joy than any material thing I have.