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Comment by song | Hacker News Reader

> The display luxury category: anything by LVMH, Birkin bags

Birkin bags are also actually better products for more money, they can last quite a while with minimum care. They are display goods for sure but there is a qualitative difference between a good quality handbag from certain brands and a much cheaper one.

Just as an example, my wife's only handbag is a balenciaga bag that she's had for 12+ years, she's been using it to carry back food from restaurants, put anything she needs in it, etc... and it's still in good shape. In the end, her bag has cost her so far 60 usd/year.

So yes, it's not obvious to people not in the know but even products that seem to be display luxury category can actually be worth it from a quality perspective.

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Here's where the literal gatekeepers separate rich people from the riff-raff/"new money".

You've been jonesing for a fancy luxury item since you first laid eyes on it (Birkin bag, some European watch, a supercar).

Now that you're rich and have enough to pay for the item in cash, you decide to head to their fancy store and treat yourself.

Once you get in the door, you're faced with the cold splash of reality - luxury goods are not available off the rack/off the shelf, even if you can pay for cash on the spot.

You have to prove to the company that you're a loyal customer before you can purchase the object of desire.

How? You have to buy several of their products.

see https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/buying-an-hermes-bag and https://www.wired.com/2014/10/herjavec-ferrari-laferrari/

How hard can that be? So hard that people have sued - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/style/birkin-bag-hermes-l...

P.S. The markup on these luxury goods is high - https://www.businessinsider.com/dior-italy-labor-investigati...

>* they can last quite a while with minimum care.*

People don't buy such crap because it "lasts log". There's tons of products with same or better quality than Birkin bags, better leather and materials, and so on, that are cheaper. It's the brand that sells.

> Just as an example, my wife's only handbag is a balenciaga bag that she's had for 12+ years, she's been using it to carry back food from restaurants, put anything she needs in it, etc... and it's still in good shape. In the end, her bag has cost her so far 60 usd/year.

Some time in 2017/2018, I was in Decathlon and needed a bag for the other stuff I bought. Picked up a cheap rucksack for a single digit number of Euros, possibly €2 but it was ages ago now and I can't remember exactly.

It's still going fine, around 1/200th the price per year of your example.

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