# Is Hermés overpriced?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 1, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037 "2011-03-01T06:04:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/41 "2011-03-02T03:48:49Z")
> [@Ponch8](#):
>
> This is the gist of what I was going to say. I once read that there was a waiting list for some of their merchandise. If this is the case, it shows that the items are _under_priced.
There are waiting lists for some items, but it doesn’t show that the items are underpriced. Rather the waiting lists exist because Hermes knows that to saturate the market with their product would ultimately force them to lower the price when the resulting handbags lost some of their exclusive status. The waiting lists exist to enforce the higher price not because the price is so high.
---
### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/42 "2011-03-02T04:31:10Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#):
>
> Who goes around flaunting and bragging about their scarves? Or are you saying that just wearing it is flaunting? Because I’m not sure why a scarf from Hermes is any worse than anything else. I know people who easily spend about that much on various clothing/make up items in a year. Why is it different because it’s a scarf? Why is spending $500 on just a scarf wrong? And where do you draw the line? There are some that think spending $300 on an outfit/item is too much and some who think it’s normal.
>
> Why is the WoW mention a strawman? I bring it up because I know it’s something you enjoy. I’m sure someone who never plays computer/video games thinks it’s an asinine thing to spend money on, just as you think that $500 on a scarf is insane.
If you saw a Hermes scarf for $500 that you really liked, and right next to it was a JC Penney scarf for $25 that looked and felt exactly the same (even down to the stitching), which would you buy and why? If you’d prefer to buy the Hermes one, it’s because you want the status. Or maybe because the cash is making your purse too heavy to carry around and you have to drop it, fast. People don’t spend more money than some people make in a week on scarves casually, or because they’re better quality, or because their neck is cold. It is by nature a conspicuous purchase.
The WoW mention is a strawman because it’s not a luxury item that can ever be displayed to passersby to assert a higher social status by virtue of spending money more frivolously.
> [@](#):
>
> My point is that almost anything can be considered copious by someone who has less than you.
That’s a point completely unrelated to the point I made regarding conspicuous consumption. Yet you brought it up like we were talking about the same thing in lesser degrees. Playing computer games in the privacy of one’s home is not in any way construable as a conspicuous purchase. Buying a Hermes scarf is not in any construable as a non-conspicuous purchase.
You can and should do what you want. But it doesn’t mean you won’t be judged. Affluent folks will judge you more favorably, or people like me might judge you less favorably. In the end it shouldn’t affect you much either way, since this isn’t a topic people are likely to discuss outside of a message board.
---
### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/43 "2011-03-02T04:59:06Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#):
>
> If you saw a Hermes scarf for $500 that you really liked, and right next to it was a JC Penney scarf for $25 that looked and felt exactly the same (even down to the stitching), which would you buy and why? If you’d prefer to buy the Hermes one, it’s because you want the status. Or maybe because the cash is making your purse too heavy to carry around and you have to drop it, fast. People don’t spend more money than some people make in a week on scarves casually, or because they’re better quality, or because their neck is cold. It is by nature a conspicuous purchase.
Personally, I wouldn’t buy either because I never wear scarves. For me, even $25 would be too much because it’s a waste. To get back to your question, though, I doubt that would ever happen. Have you ever seen an Hermes scarf? It’s of a quality that you’re not going to find in a department store.
> [@](#):
>
> The WoW mention is a strawman because it’s not a luxury item that can ever be displayed to passersby to assert a higher social status by virtue of spending money more frivolously.
> That’s a point completely unrelated to the point I made regarding conspicuous consumption. Yet you brought it up like we were talking about the same thing in lesser degrees. Playing computer games in the privacy of one’s home is not in any way construable as a conspicuous purchase. Buying a Hermes scarf is not in any construable as a non-conspicuous purchase.
>
> You can and should do what you want. But it doesn’t mean you won’t be judged. Affluent folks will judge you more favorably, or people like me might judge you less favorably. In the end it shouldn’t affect you much either way, since this isn’t a topic people are likely to discuss outside of a message board.
So what makes an Hermes scarf copious consumption? Is it that it’s $500? Is a $500 pair of boots (which I do have–a gift/cast off) also copious consumption? Because at some point, it is a matter of degrees. A $25 scarf isn’t copious consumption and a $500 is. So somewhere between the two prices, we’ve gotten to what seems to be in your opinion decadence.
Basically, you seem to be assuming that the only reason people buy these scarves is to show off and make yourself look good. For a lot of people, $500 isn’t a lot of money to blow on a luxury item. And for some people, the amount of money you spend on things you deem important may seem frivolous. And I’m sure there are people who think makeup/cosmetics are silly and think that I’m crazy for spending $20 to $30 on a Lancome eye pencil when I could get a $5 one at Sephora. I’m saying that it’s relative based on what you, the consumer, think is worthwhile to you. There’s nothing magical about the Hermes scarf that makes it stand for luxury or over consumption.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/44 "2011-03-02T05:12:14Z")
I do think it’s better to get one quality scarf that you love and will keep forever than to get twenty scarves that will sit in the back of your closet until you throw them out.
That said, I’m pretty sure most luxury brands make most of their money off (somewhat) affordable gee-gaws. For every $500 scarf, they sell 20 $100 key chains. It’s a business of tee-shirts, coin purses and money clips, with the expensive stuff serving as much as advertisement as product of it’s own.
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### Author:  [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/45 "2011-03-02T05:13:04Z")
There’s no way you’re ever going to find an Hermes scarf that’s identical to a scarf at JC Penney, so your hypothetical is flawed. Also people don’t buy expensive things for the sole purpose of “flaunting” them. As **Freudian Slit** said above, to some people, $500 isn’t a huge amount of money. They buy Hermes scarfs without a thought to the price, simply because they like them.
Also, unless you have the Hermes scarf spread out and pinned to your back, wearing it isn’t immediately going to scream “Hermes” (the way a LV or Gucci bag is instantly recognizable).
---
### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/46 "2011-03-02T05:16:23Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#):
>
> Buying a Hermes scarf is not in any construable as a non-conspicuous purchase.
Oh come on. Sure you can. People really can truly just like something and buy it because of that, not because of the name on it or to show it off.
What about wedding/engagement rings, or other jewelry? Many of those cost WAY more than $500 and are much more common than high-end scarves. Does it also make you vaguely sick to see someone wearing a nice necklace or diamond ring?
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### Author:  [@lshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lshaw)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/47 "2011-03-02T08:01:10Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#):
>
> Anyway, I’ll echo **sven** and say they’re not my style. I’m sure they’re fine quality, but when I see them, I can just smell the old lady perfume.
I’m with you guys here. Every time I see a woman carrying one, I feel that it ages her 10 years and acts as deadweight. Not my style at all.
---
### Author:  [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/48 "2011-03-02T13:17:21Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#):
>
> There are waiting lists for some items, but it doesn’t show that the items are underpriced. Rather the waiting lists exist because Hermes knows that to saturate the market with their product would ultimately force them to lower the price when the resulting handbags lost some of their exclusive status. The waiting lists exist to enforce the higher price not because the price is so high.
If they raised the price on those items, there’d be no waiting list, but there’d be a small enough number of people buying them that market saturation wouldn’t be a problem. Therefore, the items are underpriced.
---
### Author:  [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/49 "2011-03-02T13:30:19Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> The word “overpriced” really irks me, it’s like nails on a chalkboard.
>
> If you sold something and you weren’t getting enough buyers, what would you do? You’d lower the price. And what if you got so many buyers you couldn’t make enough? You’d raise it.
>
> So, a product can’t be “overpriced” for long–if the price is too high (meaning that the seller isn’t getting enough buyers), then the price will lower.
>
> Just because something costs more than you are willing to spend on it doesn’t mean it’s “overpriced.” It seems as if you are asking if the price is objectively too high–if it’s higher than what the price “should be.” But there is no should here, there’s no objective value to something. Something is worth only exactly what someone else is willing to pay. Hermes appears to still be in business, so there are people willing to pay what they ask for their wares. The fact that you are unwilling to pay that much is inconsequential.
It’s like the joke where a woman is selling a rose for a hundred thousand dollars and someone asks who would buy such a thing. The woman says “I only have to sell one”.
Same thing applies here. Just because it’s not a hundred thousand dollars doesn’t mean it’s not overpriced. That just means there’s a fundamental flaw in your line of thinking. “Hm. Won’t pay $100,000? What about $15,000 for a purse? It’s a bargain! Look at the craftsmanship!”
Also, yeah, it does seem like older lady stuff, however, I’m notoriously unable to picture womens’ clothing and accessories on a woman unless I actually see it on a woman.
---
### Author:  [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/50 "2011-03-02T13:35:23Z")
> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> I can find a few I don’t think are outright ugly, but on the whole I find them too busy and the whole horse schtick to be pretty tacky. Even the whimsical stuff seems “whimsical in a way that would tickle my grandmother’s fancy.” I guess it’s just not my thing.
Of course Hermes is “tacky.” They manufactured [fine saddles & tack](http://www.doversaddlery.com/category.asp?c=1715)–& still do. Hence the equestrian themes. But the horseless carriage encouraged the company to diversify.
I don’t have a Hermes budget but I’ve lusted after the scarves designed by Texas artist [Kermit Oliver](http://www.hooksepsteingalleries.com/artists/thb_oliver.shtml). Here’s [a favorite](http://www.hooksepsteingalleries.com/images/oliver/oliver_orpheus.shtml); that’s a painting–far more expensive than one of his scarves. Here’s [one of them](http://societynoir.blogspot.com/2008/01/kermit-olivers-marquis-de-lafayette.html).
Yes, many of the ladies who can afford the scarves _are_ older than you. Should they wear all black in mourning for their lost youth?
---
### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/51 "2011-03-02T13:46:21Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
>
> Yes, many of the ladies who can afford the scarves _are_ older than you. Should they wear all black in mourning for their lost youth?
Well, yes. Of course.
Actually, that is part of the issue. As I’ve gotten older and better off, my level of what Rachellogram would consider “conspicuous consumption” has increased. (She shouldn’t worry, so have my charitable contributions- including four figures a year at affordable housing for those single moms she is so concerned about.) But my tastes are getting more and more mature as well. I like trendy, but at this point in my life, I’m way better off with classic - it looks better with my greying hair and middle age looks - it doesn’t look like I’m trying to hard to look younger than my age.
But classic also holds up better at this point. Twenty years ago, the things I bought lasted a season, maybe two. Now I wear the same classic cut little black dress for ten years - if I spend three times as much on it, its still a bargain over a slate of new dresses every year. A scarf that I’m going to wear with that black dress for the next ten years - I’ll spend less on a Hermes scarf than I would on ten years worth of costume jewelry to accessorize the previous outfits. And that is where the “value” in a Hermes scarf comes in - no one is going to look at you and say “that’s last years scarf.” They are collectors items - you can pull them out of your drawer next year or twenty years from now and its still going to be a Hermes scarf.
Excuse me now while I go put on my black crepe and orthopedic loafers.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/52 "2011-03-02T15:15:52Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
>
> Yes, many of the ladies who can afford the scarves _are_ older than you. Should they wear all black in mourning for their lost youth?
No. I don’t really care if they choose to wear gaudy eye-bleeding scarves either. From my eyes, that last scarf you linked to looks like something my great-grandma bought at a DC gift shop in 1973.
Hey, I also think Paris is ugly. Taste is taste.
I’m not sure anyone can argue that this [$240 keychain](http://usa.hermes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10202&catalogId=10052&langId=-1&categoryId=143568&leftCategoryId=143567&topCategoryId=127525&parentCategoryId=58009&productId=56469&nbItem=0) is some kind of classic investment in quality though. Nor is the [$135 coloring book](http://usa.hermes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?firstLevelLeftCategoryName=COLORINGBOOK&catalogId=10052&categoryId=157527&parentCategoryId=58022&productId=55453&topCategoryId=127529&langId=-1&docname=ShoppingArea/CatalogSection/ProductSubsection/ProductDisplay.jsp&leftCategoryId=157527&firstLevelLeftCategoryId=157527&storeId=10202&ddkey=CategoryDisplay) really going to be justified on the "but it’s fine workmanship that will last a lifetime!’ grounds.
Humans get off on spending money, and spending money on brands we imagine belong to a higher social class is fun and exciting. Luxury brands work very hard to position themselves to fulfill this desire.
---
### Author:  [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/53 "2011-03-02T15:25:17Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> The word “overpriced” really irks me, it’s like nails on a chalkboard.
> …
>
> Just because something costs more than you are willing to spend on it doesn’t mean it’s “overpriced.”
I’ll translate. “Overpriced” is normalfolk speak for “priced higher than items of comparable quality and style.”
---
### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/54 "2011-03-02T15:33:04Z")
> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> No. I don’t really care if they choose to wear gaudy eye-bleeding scarves either. From my eyes, that last scarf you linked to looks like something my great-grandma bought at a DC gift shop in 1973.
>
> Hey, I also think Paris is ugly. Taste is taste.
>
> I’m not sure anyone can argue that this [$240 keychain](http://usa.hermes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10202&catalogId=10052&langId=-1&categoryId=143568&leftCategoryId=143567&topCategoryId=127525&parentCategoryId=58009&productId=56469&nbItem=0) is some kind of classic investment in quality though. Nor is the [$135 coloring book](http://usa.hermes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?firstLevelLeftCategoryName=COLORINGBOOK&catalogId=10052&categoryId=157527&parentCategoryId=58022&productId=55453&topCategoryId=127529&langId=-1&docname=ShoppingArea/CatalogSection/ProductSubsection/ProductDisplay.jsp&leftCategoryId=157527&firstLevelLeftCategoryId=157527&storeId=10202&ddkey=CategoryDisplay) really going to be justified on the "but it’s fine workmanship that will last a lifetime!’ grounds.
>
> Humans get off on spending money, and spending money on brands we imagine belong to a higher social class is fun and exciting. Luxury brands work very hard to position themselves to fulfill this desire.
Nope. I’m particularly aghast at the $200 baby bibs myself. But I tend to buy those sorts of things at Target and probably would with limitless money.
On the other hand, those sorts of items do move money around. It does the economy more good for someone to spend $240 on a keychain than to spend $4 on a keychain at Target and put $236 under their mattress.
---
### Author:  [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/55 "2011-03-02T15:42:09Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#):
>
> If you saw a Hermes scarf for $500 that you really liked, and right next to it was a JC Penney scarf for $25 that looked and felt exactly the same (even down to the stitching), which would you buy and why? If you’d prefer to buy the Hermes one, it’s because you want the status. Or maybe because the cash is making your purse too heavy to carry around and you have to drop it, fast. People don’t spend more money than some people make in a week on scarves casually, or because they’re better quality, or because their neck is cold. It is by nature a conspicuous purchase.
>
> The WoW mention is a strawman because it’s not a luxury item that can ever be displayed to passersby to assert a higher social status by virtue of spending money more frivolously.
> That’s a point completely unrelated to the point I made regarding conspicuous consumption. Yet you brought it up like we were talking about the same thing in lesser degrees. Playing computer games in the privacy of one’s home is not in any way construable as a conspicuous purchase. Buying a Hermes scarf is not in any construable as a non-conspicuous purchase.
>
> You can and should do what you want. But it doesn’t mean you won’t be judged. Affluent folks will judge you more favorably, or people like me might judge you less favorably. In the end it shouldn’t affect you much either way, since this isn’t a topic people are likely to discuss outside of a message board.
You’re putting totally arbitrary values on these things, though. None of it is “necessary,” so what difference does it make _why_ someone spends the money they don’t need to spend? If a Hermes scarf makes someone feel good, then it’s worth it to them. If you enjoy playing WoW, then it’s worth it to you.
**Dangerosa** is so right, too…classic things that don’t go out of style are often worth the money even in objective terms. If I buy a quality product that I will literally wear the rest of my life, then $500 is an investment, and amortized over years, not that expensive at all.
---
### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/56 "2011-03-02T15:51:32Z")
“As seen on TV” items move money around as well, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to have much respect for the people that buy them, even if they are people who can easily afford rooms full of iRenew bracelets.
I do think it’s reasonable to judge people by how they steward their resources. And I do think a need to display an assumed class status is one of the lower forms of aspiration. We only have so much energy, and there are some more productive ways to use that. That said, I don’t think a Hermes scarf that you will bring you a lifetime of use and joy is a necessarily a bad use of your resources. I will, however, feel free to judge people who spend $240 on an ugly piece-of-leather keychain because it has a name on it.
---
### Author:  [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/57 "2011-03-02T15:59:03Z")
> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> No. I don’t really care if they choose to wear gaudy eye-bleeding scarves either. From my eyes, that last scarf you linked to looks like something my great-grandma bought at a DC gift shop in 1973.
>
> Hey, I also think Paris is ugly. Taste is taste.
>
> I’m not sure anyone can argue that this [$240 keychain](http://usa.hermes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10202&catalogId=10052&langId=-1&categoryId=143568&leftCategoryId=143567&topCategoryId=127525&parentCategoryId=58009&productId=56469&nbItem=0) is some kind of classic investment in quality though. Nor is the [$135 coloring book](http://usa.hermes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?firstLevelLeftCategoryName=COLORINGBOOK&catalogId=10052&categoryId=157527&parentCategoryId=58022&productId=55453&topCategoryId=127529&langId=-1&docname=ShoppingArea/CatalogSection/ProductSubsection/ProductDisplay.jsp&leftCategoryId=157527&firstLevelLeftCategoryId=157527&storeId=10202&ddkey=CategoryDisplay) really going to be justified on the "but it’s fine workmanship that will last a lifetime!’ grounds.
>
> Humans get off on spending money, and spending money on brands we imagine belong to a higher social class is fun and exciting. Luxury brands work very hard to position themselves to fulfill this desire.
I already said that none of the Hermes items fit my budget.
And thanks for reminding us, once again, that you’ve been to Paris. Even though you thought it was ugly.
---
### Author:  [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/58 "2011-03-02T16:01:29Z")
> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> I do think it’s reasonable to judge people by how they steward their resources.
Why? If you are spending money on consumer goods, what difference does it make what consumer goods you are buying? If a person decides not to buy that ugly keychain, is there some other acceptable thing to spend that money on?
---
### Author:  [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/59 "2011-03-02T16:11:10Z")
> [@Ponch8](#):
>
> If they raised the price on those items, there’d be no waiting list, but there’d be a small enough number of people buying them that market saturation wouldn’t be a problem. Therefore, the items are underpriced.
Study the luxury goods market more. It doesn’t work the same as Sears and JCPenny. The bags with waiting list are 10,000 and up. For the people that buy them money isn’t a factor in making a purchase. Exclusivity, social clout, and in some cases tradition is.
---
### Author:  [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-hermes-overpriced/573037/60 "2011-03-02T16:18:44Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#):
>
> Well, yes. Of course.
>
> Actually, that is part of the issue. As I’ve gotten older and better off, my level of what Rachellogram would consider “conspicuous consumption” has increased. (She shouldn’t worry, so have my charitable contributions- including four figures a year at affordable housing for those single moms she is so concerned about.) But my tastes are getting more and more mature as well. I like trendy, but at this point in my life, I’m way better off with classic - it looks better with my greying hair and middle age looks - it doesn’t look like I’m trying to hard to look younger than my age.
Plus, a lot of the…uh, “older people stuff” is very nice. My grandmother buys a lot of clothes/accessories and as we are the same shoe size often gives me things like shoes or bags that she decides she doesn’t want. Some of my absolute best things have come from her.
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