Cost of designer goods

Hi all,

Was reading an article last night about designer goods and the cost of counterfeiting to the producers. Very interesting stuff.

Anyway, I was shocked to read that a Luis Vuitton bag cost EUR1200. The counterfeiters can turn out nearly identical bags for EUR40, that's one thirthieth of the price.

So I was left wondering, how the hell do they come up with this figure of EUR1200. Ok, the quality is probably a lot better but surely not to the tune of EUR1160. Surely, it's just a case of 'we'll charge whatever people are foolish enough to pay' (maybe I'm being a bit harsh).

Personally, I find 1200 Euro for a bag to be disgusting. Having said that, I was chatting to my wife about it and she said that if money was no object, she'd pay that!

What's going on? Does anyone know of anyone who has paid that for a bag/fashion accessory? Is the whole world gone stark raving mad? Please help. Please Please......

...

ask your wife if she'd still be prepared to pay for the exact same bag if the label/logos said 'St. Bernard' and not 'Louis Vuitton'....tenner says she wouldn't.....weird isn't it?

The girlfriend got some Vuitton rip-offs in Thailand for a tenner each (thanks to the wonderful bargaining skills of yours truly - its amazing what mentioning roy keane can do!) and I swear to God I'd be hard pushed to tell the difference (compared it to a real one her friend had)....but the thing I find weird is girls go 'lovely bag, is it real?'...if she says no they give a deflated 'Oh' like its suddenly not as good as their eyes told them it was a minute earlier, if she says yes they go 'wow'! Whereas amongst the lads when I showed them the addidas runners I got for one tenth of the price they are here (still perfect nick after a year) their attitude was 'fair play - quality gear at a quality price'. I'm constantly amazed at the attitude people have to designer gear. Don't get me wrong I like having nice stuff too but there is a line and a 1200 euro bag is surely crossing the line in my book.

Designer Goods

I have no doubt that designer items have a huge markup but the knock-off merchants do not have to pay the design costs for these items, which can be huge. Certainly with the Louis Vuitton bags, the high cost is also due to the limited supply produced to keep the "brand" desirable. If everybody had one, they would not be desirable any more. Therefore, all the design and manufacturing costs have to be spread out over fewer items.

Dublin

Does anyone know any place in Dublin that you can get decent knock-off gear ?

When I used to live in London, I used to go to Hackney market on Sunday mornings all the time. You could buy everything and anything there for a fraction of the price of stuff in the shops

Re: Dublin

davido,

Enjoyed reading your interesting observations.
I still can't understand the logic behind people who pay such money for these items

Company keeps supply down
Low supply keeps demand high
High demand equals high prices

It's a situation totally manipulated by the producers. The bag ain't worth 1200 Euro because of it's quality but merely because the producers keep the supply low. A totally false situation.

Personally, I have major moral issues with someone paying EUR1200 for a bag but I suppose if people have the money and it makes them feel good....

Designer Goods

It's a situation totally manipulated by the producers

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The same goes for oil producers.

Re: Designer Goods

davido,

Very true - but aren't there other complexities such as local and global economies as well as the management of oil supplies.

With designer goods, the price is at a completely false level. To most, the price could be seen as a nominal figure that the producers believe buyers will pay.
Obviously, this is not the case and I'm sure there's some complex formulae to determine the price level. Interesting stuff indeed!

Re: Designer Goods

If you're stupid enough to pay the prices or to care what other peoples opinions of your handbags are then go right ahead and pay your hard earned €1200 to the super-rich designers! If not just sit back with your knockoffs and laugh at the rest of the muppets while you sip more drink than they do!

Don't forget that by buying knockoff stuff, you are probably lending your support to organised criminal and/or terrorist groups.

Don't forget that by buying knockoff stuff, you are probably lending your support to organised criminal and/or terrorist groups.

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Very true rainyday but you are also helping to support the person in whichever 3rd world country that made the goods in the first place.
Isn't it ironic that the only way they can trade with us without a legitimate company putting a massive multiple on what they produce is by using drug runners and criminals as middle men. Says a lot for how we do business (see my last self righteous moralising scribblings in the Poverty in America thread).