Funny you mentioned Zip... I have a few stories to add to this fun topic...
True story... I was trying on a Zip for fun (SA brought it out from the back). SA told me the Zip was sold to a father who purchased it for his daughter's 16th birthday. The father was doing a big birthday bash event for her Sweet 16. For the party favors to be given to the guests, he ordered Vintage Alhambra pendants.
Another true story... I was wearing my emerald ring and earring set one day. SA commented on them, and we started talking about emeralds. SA says since you appreciate fine emeralds, I want to show you an emerald and diamond necklace that was commissioned by a client. SA says you can't try it on or touch it. The client is very very picky about who handles her pieces. I told the SA I'm not even going to breathe when you show it to me... I might exhale and fog it up!
Wow... the necklace was so gorgeous.
VIPs get their pieces hand delivered to their house.
What perks do VIPs get? One final story... my friend is a VIP at another luxury brand (not VCA).
For her birthday, the luxury brand invited her and her husband to Paris for a weekend. The first night, they were driven to the luxury brand's flagship Paris boutique. The Paris boutique closed early for her and threw her a birthday party. The luxury brand paid for everything... airplane tickets to Paris (my friend lives in the US), hotel, meals at restaurants, limo & driver at her disposal for the weekend, etc...
This is the stuff of VIPs... I can't even make this stuff up it's so over the top.
All that said, for me, the gifts and perks are nice, but they are really not necessary. In a way, I feel too many gifts and perks create a sense of needed reciprocity, as in... I now feel a bond and obligation to buy from the SA and to keep buying the brand.
I buy from other luxury brands, and through the years, there were some luxury brands I went nuts over. The SA would send me photos of new items and let me have first dibs. I would get invited to events, lunches, and dinners (which I turned down). I would get gifts (I kept those!
). The SA would "think of me first." However, there were times I felt I had to return that thoughtfulness with a purchase. It happened to me with one particular Chanel SA. Anyone who buys from Chanel knows Chanel gets new stock all the time, every season. I got too wrapped up, and I literally purchased something every two weeks from that SA. The good thing is I finally realized it, smacked myself on the head, and I woke up. I even stopped going to that SA to start over clean. Full disclosure, I did that with another SA as well (I'm a slow learner, but I do learn!).
From those experiences, I told myself I will never let myself get too close to a SA. The SA is not my best friend, and these are business transactions, albeit luxury transactions. I don't want to get caught up in the allure. I don't want the dinners, events, perks because by accepting them, for me, I feel a sense of obligation to make a future purchase. Truth be told, that is the only reason why any of us are given gifts and perks... the SA and the brand wants us to continue to buy from them.
This is just me... I'm very low profile when buying at the boutiques. Don't whine and dine me, no champagne, no food (I will however, take the chocolates To-Go as hubby loves them and I banned him from coming
). For me, I want to stay focused on the jewelry. In a way, some SAs appreciate the simple transaction. SAs are sellers, and all sellers dream of no effort sales transactions.
Yes, we are talking here about the fun and wonderful gifts and perks when purchasing luxury items. However, put aside all the fun gifts and perks, even the brand name, and "buy what you truly love." That phrase has been said here a million times, but I think it's even more relevant in this context of not getting caught up in the allure of luxury purchases and all the freebies. Of course, my friend loves all the perks, so everyone is different.
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences and hope it was helpful to some of you.
), I only ever bought 1 or 2 pieces from VCA (far far far away from being a VIP) but my bestie and I have always been treated pretty well at our store. Before the pandemic started we used to go in every Friday to try on bling, hang out with our amazing SA/friend and then go grab coffee at the local cafe with him or just hang in the store and have cappuccino. Felt zero pressure to buy. We were always showered with gifts of flowers, chocolates, coffee table books, candles on our birthdays, mother days, Christmas and got invited to every Mother’s Day party..our SA even threw us our own private breakfast party of 2 once. I was even able to plan a surprise birthday party for my bestie this year with the help of our amazing SA at the store. He set up one of the display windows with her name on it, flowers that the store had got for her, my gift etc.
nahhhhhhh not at all, girl.
we are the masses for VCA, the plebs hahahaha
necklace.
