4 ms·

I don't really get it. I thought oh yeah I guess I buy expensive for my income so why not. But if I want a bag I research to try and find the best one for me, n

by jemmyw 2y ago

I don't really get it. I thought oh yeah I guess I buy expensive for my income so why not. But if I want a bag I research to try and find the best one for me, not for prestige. Same with every item. I guess people buy fancy watches and jewellery, and that's fine, but what I can't imagine is having all that money, meaning you have freedom to do pretty much whatever you like, and spending that freedom hanging around a posh clothes store frivolously buying shit in order to ingratiate yourself to buy a bag.

AlotOfReading 2y ago
To put it in a way that might be more familiar to someone in tech, it's like buying an absurdly powerful computer to show off to friends. In all likelihood you don't actually need a 64 core, 128gb monster with dual 4090s, but you might want to be the kind of person who does need it and use it for the kinds of activities you imagine such a person might do. For computers, that might be playing a game at 16k at 240hz. For a purse it might having something appropriate to a gala or looks good in Paris. That's why luxury brands sell lifestyles, not extol the product itself.
- jemmyw 2y ago
  Yah but you can just buy that. You don't need to waste your time sucking up to the sales rep, and if you did you could go get another, just as powerful a system from someone else.
  - achenet 2y ago
    because in this case, there's only one company making that special computer, and it's either suck up to their sales reps or buy an 'inferior' product. I guess probably like periods when NVIDIA GPUs or Raspberry Pis get scarce, and people go on eBay to buy them.
    - immibis 2y ago
      The bags aren't special high-quality bags. They're just bags. Even if they were made of tougher material, Sam Vimes Boots Theory doesn't apply at this massive price difference. Their main purpose is showing off that you schmoozed the sales rep - nothing at all like how a computer works. "Check out this super rare thing I managed to get" does happen occasionally, like Intel Larrabee graphics cards - but only occasionally.
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    I mean, while I'm not in the market, I gather it was getting that way for high-end Nvidia cards during the crypto mining bubble if you wanted to get them at MSRP; I assume that is also difficult today with all the genAI stuff.
  - throwaway2037 2y ago
    > the sales rep This is my least favourite part of luxury brands: the bloody sales reps. They are so awful. Full of themselves, trying to make you feel so small and insignificant. Yes, I know there is a reverse psychology to the whole thing.
gabruoy 2y ago
At this scale, things aren’t being bought with money, but with other systems of value. Imagine if you had near-infinite disposable income, and also all of your friends do too. What could possibly be considered interesting or status-worthy at that point? Luxury status symbols that can only be bought with things like your own time spent with a brand, status, and personal connections are the only ways to distinguish yourself from others.
- add-sub-mul-div 2y ago
  Living your life as if conspicuous consumption is bullshit is much more distinguishing.
  - 082349872349872 2y ago
    Call me crazy, but I'd guess that retail products that (a) have a SKU, and (b) are submarine advertised on websites with >40mm monthly viewers, however much they may be positioned as being sold to those with near-infinite disposable income, are really being hawked to those with merely disposable income. see https://images.dowjones.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/183/2018/05/09164150/WSJ.com-Audience-Profile.pdf https://images.dowjones.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/183/201...
    - throwaway2037 2y ago
      > submarine advertised I never heard of this term before. What does it mean? And can you give an example?
      - 082349872349872 2y ago
        https://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html https://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html Examples aplenty (from biblical times to the present, albeit in a slightly different domain) to be found in Linebarger, Psychological Warfare (1954) > Almost all good propaganda—no matter what kind—is true. It uses truth selectively. (note that PR people used to call themselves "propagandists" in peacetime as well, until WWI gave that a bad rep, and they needed to rebrand)
criddell 2y ago
If you have more money than time, you just buy on the gray market for a big premium.

by jemmyw 2y ago

AlotOfReading 2y ago

To put it in a way that might be more familiar to someone in tech, it's like buying an absurdly powerful computer to show off to friends. In all likelihood you don't actually need a 64 core, 128gb monster with dual 4090s, but you might want to be the kind of person who does need it and use it for the kinds of activities you imagine such a person might do. For computers, that might be playing a game at 16k at 240hz. For a purse it might having something appropriate to a gala or looks good in Paris. That's why luxury brands sell lifestyles, not extol the product itself.

jemmyw 2y ago
Yah but you can just buy that. You don't need to waste your time sucking up to the sales rep, and if you did you could go get another, just as powerful a system from someone else.
- achenet 2y ago
  because in this case, there's only one company making that special computer, and it's either suck up to their sales reps or buy an 'inferior' product. I guess probably like periods when NVIDIA GPUs or Raspberry Pis get scarce, and people go on eBay to buy them.
  - immibis 2y ago
    The bags aren't special high-quality bags. They're just bags. Even if they were made of tougher material, Sam Vimes Boots Theory doesn't apply at this massive price difference. Their main purpose is showing off that you schmoozed the sales rep - nothing at all like how a computer works. "Check out this super rare thing I managed to get" does happen occasionally, like Intel Larrabee graphics cards - but only occasionally.
- rsynnott 2y ago
  I mean, while I'm not in the market, I gather it was getting that way for high-end Nvidia cards during the crypto mining bubble if you wanted to get them at MSRP; I assume that is also difficult today with all the genAI stuff.
- throwaway2037 2y ago
  > the sales rep This is my least favourite part of luxury brands: the bloody sales reps. They are so awful. Full of themselves, trying to make you feel so small and insignificant. Yes, I know there is a reverse psychology to the whole thing.

gabruoy 2y ago

At this scale, things aren’t being bought with money, but with other systems of value. Imagine if you had near-infinite disposable income, and also all of your friends do too. What could possibly be considered interesting or status-worthy at that point? Luxury status symbols that can only be bought with things like your own time spent with a brand, status, and personal connections are the only ways to distinguish yourself from others.

add-sub-mul-div 2y ago
Living your life as if conspicuous consumption is bullshit is much more distinguishing.
- 082349872349872 2y ago
  Call me crazy, but I'd guess that retail products that (a) have a SKU, and (b) are submarine advertised on websites with >40mm monthly viewers, however much they may be positioned as being sold to those with near-infinite disposable income, are really being hawked to those with merely disposable income. see https://images.dowjones.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/183/2018/05/09164150/WSJ.com-Audience-Profile.pdf https://images.dowjones.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/183/201...
  - throwaway2037 2y ago
    > submarine advertised I never heard of this term before. What does it mean? And can you give an example?
    - 082349872349872 2y ago
      https://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html https://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html Examples aplenty (from biblical times to the present, albeit in a slightly different domain) to be found in Linebarger, Psychological Warfare (1954) > Almost all good propaganda—no matter what kind—is true. It uses truth selectively. (note that PR people used to call themselves "propagandists" in peacetime as well, until WWI gave that a bad rep, and they needed to rebrand)

criddell 2y ago

If you have more money than time, you just buy on the gray market for a big premium.