(no subject)

[fishsupreme]

I just read this article on MSNBC about fraud on eBay, with people auctioning off supposedly-designer merchandise that's actually a cheap copy. However, what amazes me is not the fraud on eBay, but that people would want these products in the first place.

“Obviously, I was in over my head,” said Lori, the woman who narrowly escaped paying $4,000 for a fake handbag.

Who the hell would want to pay $4,000 for a real handbag? Why would a person want a handbag that costs more than a used car?

Comments

[ginger]

ugg. i can't imagine paying more than $60 for a piece of clothing at all, barring something like an evening gown for a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

[fishsupreme]

I am amazed at how the very rich are able to spend the amount of money on living expenses that they do. I can't imagine a pair of shoes being so much better than my $100 ones as to be worth $1000, even if I were making millions of dollars a year. But there are people who go through half a million dollars a year (or more) in day-to-day purchases and living expenses, not even including houses, cars, and other big capital purchases. I don't really see how it's possible. If I just bought everything I saw that I wanted (excluding big capital purchases), I still don't think I'd go through $4,000 in a month... let alone on a handbag.

However, I've noticed that it's not all the very rich that do this.. it tends to be the "old money" very rich, or the "celebrity" very rich. I can't imagine that, say, Steve Ballmer owns any $4,000 clothing -- or at least that if he does, it's because some consultant told him he needed it for a business or social function, and not because he actually wanted it. But somehow people get in the habit of spending these outlandish sums of money on pitiful consumer products.

[pyran.livejournal.com]

You know, that's almost the cost of my FastTrack program. For that, I get three certifications and learn 7 programming languages. As for her, for that money she gets... a piece of cloth with text stamped on it that holds stuff.

I'd say I come out on top. ;-)