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An iPhone is also quite a technological challenge, yet Apple doesn't spend nearly as much making it as people are willing to pay. Same goes with these bags, the
by lordnacho 5y ago
An iPhone is also quite a technological challenge, yet Apple doesn't spend nearly as much making it as people are willing to pay. Same goes with these bags, they are a luxury item that people will pay far over the production cost for. You literally buy them to show how much money you have, so it's the brand doing most of the work, and the bag-making process just needs to be somewhat professional.
From what I gather the factories in China that make the real thing will also make extra copies of the real thing, thus making it extremely hard to tell the difference.
The social element is maybe the most interesting, it's like a hobby for these ladies. What I've noticed through my life is there's always people who do some kind of cottage buying-and-selling on the side: friends who buy luxury watches, collectible cards, used cars, restoring old laptops. There's something universal about that instinct. Being socialites it makes sense they gather about this particular thing.
- Jyaif 5y ago> From what I gather the factories in China that make the real thing The Hermes bags are made in France, by leather artisans.
- thablackbull 5y ago> The Hermes bags are made in France, by leather artisans. And yet ironically in the article, > She echoed a number of women I spoke with who think authentic customers are the ones getting played. “These days, the reps just tend to be better made,” a Hamptons-based chief strategy officer tells me. “They last longer. There’s more attention to detail. You can tell that things have been done by hand.”
- nebula8804 5y agoThe Chinese are just next level when it comes to the work ethic in learning every little detail about a particular product and applying techniques to improve. Their EV offerings will probably be very competitive once they hit the US.
- ridgered4 5y agoI remember reading an article about attempts to defeat counterfeiting of native American jewelry in the southwest. I guess people in Mexico were making their own versions cheaper and then shipping them in undercutting the people who made them on reservations. At first it was pretty easy to sort out the fakes but the Mexican manufacturers eventually improved their process so much no one could even tell the difference anymore. Which brought up some interesting questions about what authentic even is in this space.
- School-Cotton 5y agoThe comparison to the iPhone doesn’t make sense to me. Who is buying iPhones just to show off? They’re not that much more expensive than flagship Android phones.
- kwere 5y agoHere in Italy are still a status symbol
- Jhsto 5y ago> They’re not that much more expensive than flagship Android phones. You sure the women in the article don't think the same way about the bags? The price difference between a working Android phone and top of the line iPhone is around 10x as well.
- nebula8804 5y agoIts not a great comparison. You might as well get a flip phone, the price difference can be even greater. A better argument is that you are paying for access to iOS which makes more sense.
- hulitu 5y agoA lot of people. Some buy more than one. Apple is like Porsche. It shows your status.
- nebula8804 5y agoSo tired of hearing this argument. What ever happened to just wanting a reliable phone that works well? Many Android -> iPhone users have been burned by the numerous amounts of garbage that has come out of that ecosystem over the years. Its not always about "status symbol". Hell the cheapest iPhone is 429$ today. And that gets you their top of the line CPU that essentially blows away Android at any price. This isn't "status symbol" just immense value.
- gowld 5y agoiPhone is not status. A diamond-crusted case for the iPhoneis status.