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Comment by charlesdm | Hacker News Reader

Just another guy pointing out WHY they're a ripoff. Most luxury goods are "ripoffs" (from a financial point of view). Yet plenty of people love buying luxury items for the feeling it gives them and the experience, and because the item (in comparison to a non luxury item) is still much better.

Nothing wrong with that in my view. Personally I don't share they view they're a ripoff, but to each their own.

Have you ever bought a mechanical watch? I have, and I loved the experience -- from researching and exploring it, to visiting a few jewellers, to getting a good deal, to finally getting the item. I look forward to the day when I can buy my (to be) wife amazing pieces of jewellery, regardless of the price.

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Yet plenty of people love buying luxury items for the feeling it gives them

For me that is the huge rip-off next to the financial part: for a lot of these luxury items the extra money doesn't get you proportionally more or better functionality nor quality (2 things which are imo actually worth money since they give you something practical and useful back). It's often more about looks and how it feels. But do the people really care about the looks themselves, or rather how they are perceived by others? And is that really worth pursuing? And does buying a feeling really work and how long does this feeling last? Also is the feeling 'real' or is it just made-up in the end because culture tells you it's like that?

Why would it be a rip off? You act as if 'overcharging' for something is always a rip off. If I'm walking in a desert without water.. I'll likely be billing to pay (a lot) more than if I had a bottle with me.

Luxury goods often have more price elasticity compared to other items, but they still deliver value to the people buying them. Not that you need an entire Louis Vuitton collection, but splurging can be fun. It's really not your call to make whether spending on luxury items is worth pursuing -- depends on how high your income and wealth is.

Also: perception is everything in the world. Someone who is well dressed is generally taken more seriously than the same person in a hoodie and wearing sweatpants.

You act as if 'overcharging' for something is always a rip off.

Syntactically those 2 terms indeed have a similar feel to them - 'over' doesn't have a good connotation in 'overcharging'. But I'm not sure why you think I consider them to always be equivalent, I don't.

they still deliver value to the people buying them

It's exactly the worth of that (perceived) value I was questioning.

It's really not your call to make whether spending on luxury items is worth pursuing -- depends on how high your income and wealth is.

You're not claiming I cannot take part in this discussion if my income isn't high enough, are you :] Anyway, rest assured: my income and wealth are such that I could buy more than a bunch of VT bags or rings with diamonds or whatever. Even more I'm no stranger to having bought overpriced luxury items in a distant past so I kind of know what I'm questioning here. Ha, it's exactly the reason I'm questioning it. But even if it were not why would I not be allowed to ask questions about other's motives?

Also: perception is everything in the world

Correction: a part of the world. A part which is way too big for my liking and for which I consider myself extremely fortunate I don't have to deal with it often. I want to be taken serious for who I am and not because of what I look like. Also: one can look well dressed (to whatever standard) in clothes which don't cost a dime so there's a fine line between 'well dressed' and 'expensively dressed so it must be well'.

Signaling is also a strong component of luxury; you let everyone know that you have means, good tastes, and that you belong to such and such circle. Some brands don't even bother to deliver superior quality products, they just "sell the signal" -- the term "ripoff" then feel adequate.

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