We know that a Birkin handbag by Hermes may cost upwards of RM40,000 but why does it cost so much. Aside from the obvious markups due to wanting to make it exclusive, amortising overheads like advertising, employee wages and store upkeep there is that all important fact called Quality Control that is prevalent in all luxury products.
A luxury product usually has very stringent quality control compared to normal store products. It is simple when you look at leather goods and shoes. If you check out a cheap shoe from a departmental store you would find that the thing was made with the cheapest leather (if even leather at all), its stitching and glue slightly sloppy and the overall quality fairly bad. You can tell if you bought a no brand bag from the night market and compare it to even something as mundane as a Coach bag and you can see how difference the levels of quality are.
Even if you are unfamiliar with leather quality do take a look at some of the stitching. You can tell a quality bag has neat and/ or hidden stitching instead of sloppy work such as unaligned stitching or sloppy tucking in of the ends. With that in mind if you buy luxury the laws of diminishing returns do come into play. A Coach bag may have a certain quality of leather and hand finishing compared to one by Bottega Venata or Hermes or Chanel. And the higher up you go the more extras you get. Dust bags for protection, the service given by the boutique staff and of course, the finishing in the product itself.
Personally I compare all the shoes that I have bought. And I do buy a lot. Take for instance the Santoni I wear on a regular basis (shown above). The hand finishing is impeccable. It is a RM2,000 shoe and if I compare it to my RM350 Italian derbies (pictured below) which also has hand finishing on the leather they are still miles apart. Both may be blake stitched in construction but you can tell the difference between the two. The quality of leather used. Then its the stitching on the uppers - neater in the Santoni. Then there is the handworking of the patina or colouring of the shoe - utterly fantastic up close on the Santoni, sloppy and larger strokes on the cheaper derby shoe. There are also other details on the Santoni like the fiddlewaist that is not on the cheaper shoe and the packaging which is more thoughtful with extra instructions on its care and that.
So buying luxury provides you a certain much higher level of quality. Yes, it does spoil you a bit into buying things which do the same thing as the cheaper items but you get something that may last years because it is made better overall and that there was a person in a room looking through the finished product, making sure that the item passes a certain standard before fit to being sold.
That being said, I also believe there is a certain price level which one is comfortable to spend on any product. To some, it may be RM1,000 for a shoe. To some, it is more. Pay for the level you are comfortable with and you must also be aware that what you are paying for is at a certain price point. If you buy Meermin shoes, please do not expect it to be as good as a pair of St Crispins or a pair of George Cleverleys. Do not expect a Rolls Royce at MINI Cooper S money.
This is what luxury partly means. The luxury we pay to have better quality control in our products than normal products do. Granted there is a caveat here also. There are still lemons at every level. If you are unlucky.
And now a quote from author Samuel Johnson
"You cannot spend money in luxury without doing good to the poor. Nay, you do more good to them by spending it in luxury, than by giving it; for by spending it in luxury, you make them exert industry, whereas by giving it, you keep them idle."
Yes. Buying luxury does not mean you're wasting money on 'luxury'. It actually means feeding the mouths of artisans, their families and other related people.It also showcases what we can achieve with love, passion and care. And you get products that last a lifetime.
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