Ever since the pandemic I have shopped less overall and mostly online. The YouTube algorithm decided to send me information about shopping and apparently there is a lot I don’t know.
First, I had heard of buy now pay later in terms of ads for big ticket items like mattresses with no interest for a year or so. I always considered them bad deals (although when he was young my father bought a suit like that to establish his credit history). And of course there is always layaway where they hold the item until you have completed the payments.Apparently now, though, there are a ton of apps (Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm) that split charges into four biweekly payments or have free interest for 30 days and people are using them for routine purchases.
That is what I use my credit card for. Charge things and pay it off every thirty days. The difference is that if you are late on payments or can’t pay these new apps can have interest fees up to 35%. I just had no idea these were so popular. Now I see them every time I make a purchase.
On the other side of the spectrum I learned about the prespend at luxury brands but especially at Hermes. Now I think paying more than $100-200 at most for a purse is crazy and I don’t care about designer labels. Apparently if you want a high end Hermes purse like a Birken or a Kelly, you have to do a prespend. You have to go into one of their stores and establish a relationship with a sales associate. You then need to buy Hermes merchandise up to a certain amount (1-3x the cost of the desired bag). This merchandise cannot be other purses or accessories such as wallets. They prefer things like fine jewelry, watches, scarves,clothing or housewares. You then drop hints about the specific purses you are interested in, or can put them on a wishlist. If the sales associate deems you worthy you may be invited to buy one of these “quota bags”. You may not get the style or color you desire and you still pay full price. And yet there are people allowing themselves to be treated like this for the privilege of possibly buying an overpriced purse. Some of the threads discussing prespend ratios and and what are the best prespend items to buy are insane. Keep in mind that these “quota bags” retail for $10,000 to $100,000 each. Rich people are crazy and pretty gullible to fall for this crap.
Also I learned that if you hit one wrong button you can delete an entire thread. Sorry for the duplicate.
The purse, bag market is insane. They can’t expect to carry the company if they sell one a week. So they gotta set themselves up to sell more items. If a customer has that much scratch to waste, it does matter to them. They just want the latest and greatest.
Some people have so much money that it’s basically monopoly money and has no real meaning to them.
I can’t imagine doing something like that, though I have spent more on purses than most people would. Nothing outrageous, but one of my favorite brands runs around $500. Of course the purse or bag will last me twenty years. I’m not really a fashion person or very interested in what’s popular.
I believe in spending more on quality items, but I also believe there’s a point of diminishing returns for dollars spent. That point is much, much lower than whatever a Hermes bag costs. There is a certain point when all you’re really paying for is status, and I don’t fully understand why anyone would care that much about status. I just want good stuff that lasts.
Also, the payments with no interest thing has been popular for a while, it allows stores to inflate the prices of their products for everyone rather than make money on a few delinquent payments, essentially passing any loss onto the consumers who pay their bills on time. I don’t generally do payments.
FYI, here is a gift link to a New York Times article talking about the poor quality of some new luxury goods, like shoes or handbags that fall apart very quickly. I’m with you in valuing quality, but this stuff is increasingly not even that. (And I’m also annoyed by things like Louis Vuitton luggage covered in the LV monogram. Why would I pay all that much to advertise their brand?)
Thanks. The brand I bought is Lo & Sons which is probably not a household name. I’ve had a few of their products for a little over a year (a work tote, a small purse, and a wallet) and they still look brand new. Only time will tell if they endure forever. What I love about them is they are designed with function in mind, to a degree that seems to exceed any other brand I’ve owned in the past.
I heard about them in the reddit Buy It Once subreddit.
I had a Samsonite rollaboard suitcase on which the wheels failed. So I replaced it, and the rest of my luggage with ones from Travelpro. What I like about their stuff is that, as far as I can tell, all of the parts are put together with actual screws (unlike the rivets in my previous Samsonite luggage) and Travelpro sells replacement parts.
Yeah, I like the USA-made products from Tough Traveler in upstate NY. Anecdote: In 1985 I bought a small canvas under-seat bicycle toolbag from them. 41 years later, still in perfect condition (except I got some chain grease stains on it), including all hardware and straps. I buy all my luggage there now.