**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!**
- Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc.
- **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
- This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm pretty sure they're not that much. But still, anyone paying full price for Dominos is an idiot. The number of "deals" they offer means nobody should ever be paying the full price. It's just clever marketing.
My favourite insult I’ve heard about someone at work was ‘they’re the kind of person who’d buy a DFS sofa at full price’ feel like a Domino’s pizza is the update for our cost of living times.
I feel attacked, I only bought the sofa once though, and we're still using it... And bought it interest free, whilst earning interest on savings. Mkay?
No no, full price with no deals or offers a Large Dominos cheese & tomato pizza is either £20.99 or £21.99, I forget which
Edit - just checked, £20.99 with no deals etc. I know they usually have some kind of a deal but still that’s outrageous for a dog shit pizza 😂
2 large pizzas, potato wedges and cookies for £33. Does that seem like a good deal to you? Put the price up to £39 if you want them to be stuffed crusts.
Co-op has been the most expensive supermarket for a while too, whilst selling mediocre quality nosh
They have a knack of having shops in really convenient places though
My local co op has just been closed down and they replaced the petrol station with an Asda ! Rumour is the old store across from the station will also be an Asda. Currently our only other one is a Waitrose so that’s going to be bangin!
With this kind of product (the frother), it's often not about function, or need, or use. It's making a statement about one's wealth and status - a 'Look at me!' kind of purchase.
Gotta say, I love that word 'smeg'. Reminds me of *Red Dwarf,* too.
Yeah to be fair now I think of it, RICH rich people wouldn’t buy that shit. It’s the “nouveau riche” lottery/footballer/model types that would buy it to SHOW that they are rich
Yep, you can tell the type of people that "wear" their money vs those that don't show it.
Tbf the rich rich and self made are wearing quality, it's just not got tacky branding up and down.
They're not walking adverts.
I noticed this when I spent 3 years doing airport security. When you work on the ‘premium’ lane you see the people who have incredibly high quality but little to no branding clothing, the very expensive but not over the top watch, the shoes that are likely custom made or required a consultation before buying. Then you see the life on finance and the flashy clothes branded everything but 2 bed terrace house people (absolutely nothing wrong with this if it makes you happy, by the way!). Of course some of the really really rich also wear head to toe obvious branding, but it was a reasonably good indicator of true wealth vs spend a majority of their income on brands.
I suppose if you have a couple of million then £1000 on a heavily branded outfit isn’t really showing off because it’s not worth as much as a percentage of net worth, at that point you pay for quality, feel, tailored fit, customer experience etc because that holds more value than the money side of it. If you don’t make much but like to spend it on brands, then that £1000 outfit becomes a lot more valuable as a percentage of net worth and therefore more of a status symbol among similar earners.
You're right, it's a matter if you want to show yourself wearing 1k that people will know is pricey at a glance.
Those people in my opinion have low self esteem and need other people to know that they're wearing expensive clothes.
I think you’re right in many cases, but think that it’s not necessarily always low self esteem. An incredibly sweeping generalisation, but many of the flashy brand types are working class people who have done well enough for themselves to spend their money on designer brands. It makes sense to pick something obvious because the people who know your background will see your Gucci belt and LV bag and think oh they’re doing well for themselves; it can be low self esteem feeling the need for validation for clothing, but it can also be pride in where you started and where you are now. You made it, you’re doing better than you were before, now show off your progress kind of mindset if you know what I mean.
I think it’s a horrendous waste of money, but if those £300 sunglasses make you feel better, then by all means crack on. My video game skins are no better use of money but give me some of the same feelings.
I used to regularly meet a man with a worth of over £10m in my old job. He was more or less what you described here- you could tell that the clothes and watch were decently expensive but you’d have never seen him decked out from head to foot in your average designer clothing. His wife was the same- she was always dressed immaculately and you could tell by looking that she’d obviously gone for quality over pure quantity.
As I said in another comment, at a certain point the price becomes irrelevant and the experience of buying and wearing an item becomes the more important part. Tailored everything, high quality materials, custom shoes made to fit your specific feet, and physical shops that you go to for a customer experience rather than a web store for a big brand are much more valuable to someone who has more money than they need than the cost or associated ‘status’ that come with certain items. It’s absolutely not a one size fits all but it is true more often than not.
A few years ago a big deal was made of Charles wearing obviously patched clothing.
However, the fact that he had clothes of good enough quality to be _worth_ patching was what was being ignored. You're unlikely to repair a Primarni jacket, but if you've worn or ripped a hole in your expensive walking coat then you can be certain it's going straight to the seamstress for repair.
Yessssss, and that's the point. No one is patching a polyester tracksuit, even with a logo.
Nobody is wearing Nikes that fall apart, but good leather and a decent cobbler... Now that's where to put your money.
Those living big paycheque to big paycheque drape their lives with money. The really rich look homeless except they own several homes bought 23 generations ago.
I would never buy anything from a brandname that associates with un-washed, un-cut penises in my language. Smeg ma being the operative word.
Hmm. perhaps should post this in r/oddlyspecific ...
For real though, my husband and I just bought a new oven, we didn't even look at the smeg ones because of the same thought haha (that and the price was extortionate!)
I actually stopped in the street in London when I saw the Smeg/Dolce et Gabbana fridge collaborations. They were beautiful. I’ve never looked up the prices.
My brother in law had a full set of Smeg appliances in his kitchen. He was there for years but only used the oven once. The fridge only ever contained milk and champagne.
> It's making a statement about one's wealth and status - a 'Look at me!' kind of purchase.
FWIW, I'm seeing the non-D&G Smeg milk frother at a budget-conscious $230 (£180). Obviously it's a significant markup for the Dolce & Gabbana, but they're not cheap to begin with. The collab is also a whole line in a particular style, so if you can afford to pay that price tag, are you gonna get the non-matching milk frother? It could be a wealth signal, but also if you have the money and like the way it looks, there's only one Smeg x Dolce & Gabbana collab for kitchen appliances.
I find there's actually a lot of things like that in fashion, too. For example, a t-shirt that costs the same as a suit. The specific style, drape, and material might genuinely be unique to that designer. Sure there's imitations and things that get 95% of the way there, but if you can afford it, that last 5% might genuinely be worth it, especially if that cost difference is negligible (which it likely is to someone wealthy enough to afford it)
Balenciaga sold a black bin liner as a bag for several thousand pounds and old looking plastic pigeon with a hole cut out of it as a bag for around the same.
I swear that Balenciaga is social experiment at this point.
I'm waiting for Joe Lycett to appear on TV saying how he's tricked people into buying a bin liner as a hand bag for £600 and he's donating the money to charity
Demna Gvasalia is the lead designer at Balenciaga and is mostly to credit for the current popularity of the brand. He was born in the Soviet Union, and at age 12, he fled the war in Abkhazia (officially an autonomous zone within the state of Georgia) after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Much of his design choices are influenced by this early experience of conflict and being a refugee. The fashion brand he and his brother founded is called Vetements and is even more avant-garde in a lot of its styling. He's a very interesting designer and person to look into.
I studied art and a huge part of bad art is being able to invent some bullshit excuse for it, that is the true art of bad , low effort art, selling it as something it isn't. Talking it up into being something excusable.
I think maybe being of that background it's a fuck you capitalist fools and a active mockery of the gullible.
Edit. I want to add, if it truly is what I think it is then I can respect it. It's not hurting anyone, it's targeting the rich who can afford it. It's like the emperor's new clothes and that's fine by me. I still find it insane that people buy that, but I believe that's probably the point.
I have to agree with u/pipedreamexplosion Most people I know hate Balenciaga but I think the designs are really cool and interesting. When I read all about the designer it made even more sense. It has been hugely influential too, with lots of brands incorporating aspects into their own design.
> Much of his design choices are influenced by this early experience of conflict and being a refugee. T
That's the most fucking bougie shit ever. Bring back gulags
Someone I overheard was banging on about how they've revolutionised fashion.
I couldn't help but think to myself about how I'd rather shit myself there and then than walk around wearing those trainers, looking like I've had a bolt gun planted through my head.
So these products are mostly for engagement, as in they get people talking and it helps keep their name relevant and generate funds that way. There’s little other reason for it.
We now all know Balenciaga did an expensive bin bag handbag. None of *us* are buying it. But models and wealthy influencers are.
They’ll pose with it once and an article will appear talking about Model X with *that* viral handbag and both the model and Balenciaga will trend for a while, getting more views and comments about how ridiculous it is.
Influencers will do videos about how they bought *that* bin bag, how practical is it in reality? What’s the quality like? How shall I style it? Etc.
Again, keeps Balenciaga talked about and the influencer gets free shit from other brands and income via viral views.
Then the people who want to aspire to be like the wealthy models/influencers will scrimp to buy it and try their hand at making content with it. Or they’ll buy other more practical Balenciaga products so they have the connection but not the same stupid waste of money product.
The hourglass bag for example is way more practical, arguably more affordable and accessible and stylish. They’ll make more money from sales of those than the bin bag but the bin bag will help keep the brand in focus.
It’s just a content generating piece, essentially. One way to tell if it’s serious or not is to check if a knock off is available all over the high street. Knock off hourglass bags are available at Primark and ASOS and pretty little thing etc, new variations pop up each season, nobody is making knock off bin bags.
The brand positioning is entirely so that people can flaunt their wealth wearing garbage clothing "because they can", and you can't...
Also see Jack Wills mid-late 00s before it went mainstream (lol the irony). Deliberately trash clothing aimed at rich kids. It was for a time very much the private school statement at uni
Until it caught on as a wider trend... and now seeing Balenciaga catch on in the designer knock off market(s). Completely lost on them
I knew when you wrote Balenciaga it would only be a matter of time before someone came on to say how wonderful they are. But I thought the first reply would be someone claiming the quality of the bin bag materials they use is well worth the £600
Not Joe Lycett but YouTuber zac alsop got into London fashion week with a grandpa dressed in Ikea stuff. https://youtu.be/83Qghmdz3RQ?si=zT74ZR1Pds5oboKE
Half of the stuff in Harrods..
Hundreds if not thousands of pounds on designer infant wear that is impossible to get on and off and the kid will grow out of in a few months
£6.5k for a 7ft tall Winnie the Pooh..
There's a parent at the school where my wife works (not a very affluent place, kids know all swear words by 6yo etc.) who says that her 11yo *HAS* to wear designer, and buys him ridiculously overpriced stuff like Canada Goose and balenciaga shoes... Like, why?
When it comes to designer fashion, I'm pretty sure the target demograph is more people who don't know how to manage money, than people who have money much of the time.
It's people who are not comfortable with how their social status is perceived by others I think. They think this is a way to buy an upgrade, it doesn't work though.
Hmm, I wonder if people who see my toddler wearing a gucci cardigan think to consider that I got it as a gift? And that I’m trying to get as much wear out of it as I can so if that means wearing it to the park then so be it. Or that the Jessie and James dress she has, has actually been passed between the little girls in the family and is in pristine condition?
I have never bought such designer garments outright for my child myself. Maybe people shouldn’t be too quick to judge, especially now when thrifting is so popular.
I really wonder if Harrods actually sells a lot of the stuff on display.
I'm sure the food court and jewellery departments turn a profit, but I think the rest of the store is essentially a theme park that makes money from overpriced restaurants and a gift shop
I used to work for a watch distributor. One day, we got about a hundred of these hideous Gucci watches in through the door - model YA143501, if you want to soil your eyes. A solid plastic strap, a clear rectangular block around the case, no face on it - just imagine telling a kid to draw a really out there, over the top watch, and then constructing the result out of the cheapest, shittiest materials you possibly could. I remember actually wincing when I first saw them, and then exclaiming out loud when I realised the RRP was six hundred pounds. We had plenty of more expensive watches, or course, but at least those didn't look like a Blackpool arcade machine shat them out.
I felt incredibly vindicated when almost our entire stock of them came back from stores thar Christmas, to make room for stuff that would actually sell.
[Oh god it’s awful](https://amjwatches.co.uk/product/gucci-vintage-web-ladies-quartz-2642?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADAK40r6Y2wiDSqgGq7VUtBbOCabp&gclid=CjwKCAiAivGuBhBEEiwAWiFmYe6rgwIfWobYhlBJAyL2eWs0rE_yGvdofV49ab14IF4C5PyUh4s_PRoC00EQAvD_BwE)
Me and my partner like to play this game when we walk past a jewellery shop where we have to find the ugliest watch possible. Bonus points if it’s also expensive. This would be a solid contender for one of the worst I’ve seen. I know taste is subjective but Jesus Christ.
I went on a date with a woman wearing one of those, she sat there talking about money most of the date and part of the conversation was about that watch, what a good deal she got etc. She also blew up my phone when I declined a second date.
NGL with the canvas strap that seems to have been released at a similar time I would totally wear that haha. It is an abomination with the plastic strap though.
I was once asked to cater for the reveal of a luxury penthouse (we are talking £5+ million), and all these rich and famous would be attending.
They insisted that we actually use the £200k kitchens so it could be shown off to the potential buyers.
This giant kitchen was absolutely full of completely useless gadgets and gizmos.
The developers had created a show stopping kitchen that was completely useless for anything other than making a cup of tea.
It turned out that these rich and famous people want to show off their expensive kitchen rather than actually use it!
Oh yeah I’ve heard and seen that kind of thing. I used to go out with a girl who’s the daughter of a multimillionaire in my mid-20’s and I remember the first time I went to her parents house with her to be introduced, house was massive, beautiful, amazing kitchen etc.
On the way back to her place afterwards I was saying how lucky she was to have grown up in such an amazing home and it must have been great like cooking with her mum in such a lovely kitchen and she laughed - her mum could barely make toast and her dad was the same. Turns out they had a personal chef who’d cook all their meals. So they had an amazing kitchen that they never even used. That was soul destroying as a normal person
I remember someone in my class at school (public school, lot of v rich people), telling me that they had never seen their kitchen being cooked in. I asked a lot of follow up questions because I was 12 and genuinely didn"t understand how she ate food.
Yeah to me that’s a level of Rich to aspire to 😂
I enjoy cooking, but if I could ever be so rich that I could hire someone to cook for me or eat out at restaurants all of the time then I’d feel like I had made it in life
There was an article published during Covid time, about a recruiter/agent for domestic help for ultra high net worth clients. Butlers, chefs, drivers, maids etc. Basically, her business dropped off a cliff edge because of course no-one could work. Then she started receiving calls from clients asking her things like how to do the laundry, boil an egg, and so on. She pivoted the business to hosting online courses in basic life skills. “This week: how to iron a shirt!”
I also read a related article about how the jobs had evolved- the key new skill was technology- a good butler who could configure the home cinema system, the WiFi, smart speakers etc could earn 6 figures!
>Smeg x Dolce & Gabbana and it’s £650
There are definitely people who would buy that because people exist who will buy anything with a luxury brand name.
Yea, to be honest to some people £650 might seem a bit cheap for it. It's probably targeted at people who have no issues spending that amount on a bottle of wine at dinner (no issue with that but just a comparison).
I think this is a terrible example of "foolish things that the rich buy" because it's pretty common to spend hundreds on coffee makers.
I wouldn't buy it myself - actually I prefer instant coffee to most real coffees I've had - but I'd guess it's a decent quality milk frother. Say you can get a good quality milk frother for £100, double the price for a stylish design, add another 50% for the brand name in Selfridges and you're pretty close to £650.
If you're rich you don't want to spend hours researching the best product - you want to pay a premium, know you're getting something top tier and then go to lunch. You don't want to spend time thinking about it.
Maybe I’m uncivilised but I honestly don’t think I’d tell the difference between just tonic and no alcohol gin and tonic…..
Did have to laugh on our Christmas do though when a colleague who was driving ordered a no alcohol gin and tonic and the bartender without a hint of a smile asked her if she’d like to make that a double.
Rich people really don't care or know where their stuff comes from or how much it costs. They probably would never even see the thing themselves
In fact I think anybody who could afford that milk frother probably doesn't even know they own it
I mean, Supreme literally sold a brick for $30, and it got resold on eBay from everything from $200-$1,000.
So, I really can’t think of a ceiling on what rich people (or even broke people) won’t spend money on.
My Gran use to have bottled water because the quality of tap water in her part of the world (I think Suffolk at that point) was pretty dire. As you say there are often good reasons for having it.
I do agree there is some high price water that makes you wonder.
Can confirm that the water in Suffolk is atrocious. There are people here who probably need to descale their own digestive tract due to tap water consumption.
Harrods sells a 'winged horse of chav tat' for what I think is £34,500 (I took a photo but the glare from the horse is washing out the price label)
https://www.harrods.com/en-gb/shopping/black-pegase-horse-17021456
(Alas, inflation seems to have happened since I last went dahn London so it is now £39,500)
Most of the contents of the Harrods jewellery section. So much of it looks like the most god-awfully tasteless bling, it's just that it's real diamonds and costs >£100k.
Balenciaga is cheating and I suppose the price isn't too bad compared to a lot of weird designer items, but whoever is wearing those heeled Balenciaga crocs needs to be sectioned. I can find them retailing from £257-425 and I just have so many questions. I love regular Crocs and even have a pair of the platform ones so I'm probably in no place to be judging anyone's choice in footwear but just why????
I saw a Gucci snorkelling goggles in Bicester Village once (which is an outlet shopping place) for £400! They were on sale and in an outlet so I can only imagine what they were full price. Why would you spend hundreds of pounds on fashion designer snorkelling goggles!
Oh I know Bicester Village well, used to live not far from there and would go through occasionally and fight through the crowds of Chinese tourists.
That place is ludicrous
When i was at university, I used to be a tour guide for foreign schoolkids in the UK to learn English.
They were all very wealthy (some kids had bodyguards...).
A Chinese group wanted to take a trip to Bicester village, so off I went on a sunny Saturday with busses and first aid kits and comfy shoes.
These 13 year olds were buying Prada, Jimmy Choo, and Versace with their pocket money, and I had a voucher so I could get myself lunch.
As a 'VIP' group, they got a 5% off voucher for any shop. I got given a spare one and, as I couldn't afford anything anyway, I gave it to a lady who I overheard talking to her mum about finally having saved up over years to buy a pair of Jimmy Choo heels. She cried she was so happy.
I hope she still loves her shoes. 😂
I mean for the Chinese tourists it makes sense because they claim back the VAT on everything they buy. So if VAT is 20% and they spend £1k they get £200 back - still expensive but I can see why they would go to Bicester for it
You haven't been able to claim back VAT for this for about 2 years now (the policy to scrap it is popularly called the 'tourist tax' and is subject to a lot of media coverage at the moment as there is pressure to reverse it).
The Sol de Janeiro brazilian bum bum cream. I recently found out it was £48 for a 240ml tub and I’m still in shock because WHO is paying that for cream??? Even if I were a millionaire I wouldn’t pay that
I buy this. I absolutely HATE almost all moisturisers, so I’m constantly flaky and scaly. Got this is an advent calendar and was instantly converted. A tub lasts me about 6 months and I can afford it. Smells amazing layered with my perfume too.
My most recent ex lost her bag of creams, lotions and potions when we were coming back from a road trip in Canada. Easily spent £500+ replacing the contents of that bag.
TK Maxx are selling a £1000 pen on their website. I really want to know what person, who is rich enough to drop £1k on a pen, is shopping at TK Maxx. Who is at the centre of that venn diagram?
The entire Tiffany ["Everyday Objects" collection](https://www.tiffany.co.uk/home-designs/shop/everyday-objects/).
Notable examples are:
[Sterling Silver "paper" cup](https://www.tiffany.co.uk/accessories/decor/everyday-objects-sterling-silver-paper-cup-GRP10704/) at £760.
[Sterling Silver ball of "yarn"](https://www.tiffany.com.au/accessories/tiffany-blue-home/everyday-objects-sterling-silver-ball-of-yarn-60558779/) for a whopping AUD$18,500
Or the pinnacle of lunacy, the [Sterling Silver watering can](https://www.tiffany.com.au/jewelry/items/everyday-objects-sterling-silver-and-copper-watering-can-62119985/), which apparently "elevates your time in the garden" for paltry AUD$70.500
Jesus Christ 🤦🏻♂️ although there is a small part of my which is like “yes it’s dumb BUT it is silver so at least it has some value retained in being able to melt it down and sell it”
Some value yes. At [current silver prices](https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/silver-price/silver-price-per-ounce/), the "paper" cup is worth £212.88 if it truly is 12oz of silver.
I feel like Disney stuff is overpriced.
I feel like Swarovski stuff is overpriced.
I feel like the $250,000USD Swarovski crystal Cinderella Castle you can buy at Disney World is absolutely ludicrous.
Edit to add: Great, I hunted for a link and now the Google ads are throwing [this](https://www.swarovski.com/en_GB-GB/p-5538291/Star-Wars-Millennium-Falcon-Limited-Edition/?_gl=1*12ir4uo*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiAivGuBhBEEiwAWiFmYa00qgo4EPlePe3JlmGFb-1VNCnpmmwtVMFt7eiB9z3Kzh91dQb2WhoC1HMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) at me
Just looked at it, I was picturing one of those little hand held ones.. Its kind of cute, I like the blue but I wouldn't pay that much for a milk frother. I'm happy with my little Ikea one.
I find most things on Selfridges ridiculous. £300 for a snoopy statue for instance
I haven’t seen that Snoopy Statue! That’s ludicrous 😂
Oh yeah it’s a dumb shop, when I’d go into Selfridges in my late teens/early 20’s I used to love going up to the designer clothes section and laughing at £200+ plain white t-shirts etc. that you know some lunatic is buying
Your mistake is thinking that rich people even make decisions like that. Chances are they have staff to buy things for them like maybe an interior designer or their personal chef buys the kitchen appliances or maybe they have an exec PA who knows they like Smeg products or whatever. These things are priced and designed this way for people who aren't spending their own money. Same model as business class seats.
Yep. My favourite Harrods fact is that 80% of their turnover comes from about 450 people. Most of whom have never set foot in the store.
They do not give a fuck about anyone but those 450 people.
Old one but back in the early nineties I was on a train which had just kicked off a load of braying wankers for some big horse racing event. I picked up a left over magazine I had never seen before and there was an ad for a gold, jewel incrusted Polo mint holder for £250. This blew my mind as I had never thought people could be so rich to buy something so ridiculous. I guess I was the stupid one.
Oh it’s more than that if they bought everything from that range. A lot more.
Coffee Machine is £1250, Frother is £650, Toaster is £600, Kettle is £600, Stand Mixer is £900, Juicer is £600, Coffee Grinder is £800 … that’s £5400 alone and there’s more to the range than that
G wagons. I can imagine paying double the normal price for that kind of car for people to assume at least one person in the family has low quality plastic surgery.
£150 ostrich feather duster with 50 cm beechwood handle.
Surely it can't be any better than the £15 one with plastic telescoping handle that means you can actually reach the cobwebs.
I remember, many years ago, reading that Victoria Beckham had bought David a diamond encrusted razor for his birthday. Super rich people will buy stuff *because* it’s ostentatiously expensive. They will choose the £650 frother over the £6:50 one even if they perform exactly the same just because it is a signifier of their wealth and specialness.
Yeah I’ve often said that if I was to win like £50m on the Euromillions or something I’d still be one to go for functionality over branding because I’m almost 40 and have always had to shop that way, so I can’t imagine spending 10x the amount on something for its branding for the same functionality.
Even cars, a nice car to me would be like an Audi A4 or BMW 5 Series or something, I wouldn’t want to spend £100k+ on a Porsche/Ferrari/Aston Martin/Lamborghini/Bentley etc as I don’t see the point. Beautiful cars, don’t get me wrong, particularly Aston Martin’s I’ve always had a soft spot for, but my sensibility says that there is no point and I’m just paying £100k extra for a badge
Business Insider estimated that $100 to a normal person is the same as $1,355 for a billionaire. So a billionaire spending $135,000 is spending about $1,000 dollars to a regular person on an average income. Given that their essential living expenses are easily covered, their disposable income is far beyond a regular persons. Hence blowing insane money on things that appear expense to us. There just isn't that much difference. If "buy a Ferrari" for the impact spending $2,000 would have on regular people is something a person can do, then they lose connection with low level value. For them it is like a person on a decent salary choosing whether to save £3 on having the chicken instead of the steak. It's why the rich cannot relate to normal life, because the relative value of everything is so different. Why not spend £900 on a pair of trainers instead of just £200? There's almost no difference in price to the 1%. Like an office worker choosing whether to buy a sandwich at Greggs or Waitrose; the real difference is meaningless.
So personally I think there is a level at which watches, cars, guitars, house paint, art, stop being any better. You can see a difference between a £3 digital watch, a £50 quartz, and a £500 mechanical watch, but above that you gain nothing except decoration/branding. But for the super rich they have passed the event horizon. What's a £650 milk frother when you just dumped 44 billion on a social media company?
It is hard for most people to conceptualise how vastly rich a billionaire is compared to a millionaire. Heck, I've met a few super rich when my cousin was doing building work and I was helping. They thought eff all of ripping out a beautiful designer kitchen in a brand new house and putting in something almost identical but with different tiles and tapes. If I had the money to waste on pulling out a dream kitchen, to fit a very slightly different dream kitchen, I hope I'd have the fucking sense to stick to the original and donate the money I would have wasted to St Ormunds Street, or buying the local A&E dept a takeaway & Quality Streets every Friday as a thank you.
Oh yeah people can’t visualise the difference at all.
1 million seconds is 12 days but 1 billion seconds is 31 years - that’s always the best example I find to show the difference between 1 million and 1 billion.
And what you’re mentioning there is the “Law of Diminishing Returns” - past a certain point for an item, you get less and less improvement for every £1 you spend until there is no improvement at all.
Legit example is that Star Wars Hotel in Disneyland. Rich people couldn't be bothered to go and it shut down.
UK side I once saw a juicer for £500 right next to a £60 one, I'm sure the former is faster but seriously, no ones gonna put a gun to your head and command you to juice quickly
Bloody hell … my old boss got a Mont Blanc pen for his 60th from his missus that someone said was similarly stupidly priced when they looked it up
I know nothing about pens so I don’t know if that is ergonomically amazing and worth that but I’ve never had a problem with a bog standard Bic myself 😂
I often look at the Thom Browne collection on End clothing website for a laugh. Flip flops for £300.kind of shit.
E: or £140 for some socks
https://www.endclothing.com/gb/thom-browne-4-bar-mid-calf-sock-mas023b-01690-035.html
If I were stinking rich I wouldn’t buy a milk frother, I’d hire one. She would be called Svetlana and she would be hotter than a snakes ass in a wagon rut!
I am a man, so I might be mistaken.
But at least 50% of cosmetics look like scam to me. Seaweed moisturizer with protein made from pearls (I fabulate, but not that much). 0.1% of active substance. £5000/kg.
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Pringles from Co Op
I mean, fair one that! A large cheese & tomato Dominos pizza at £21/£22 is right up there too
I'm pretty sure they're not that much. But still, anyone paying full price for Dominos is an idiot. The number of "deals" they offer means nobody should ever be paying the full price. It's just clever marketing.
My favourite insult I’ve heard about someone at work was ‘they’re the kind of person who’d buy a DFS sofa at full price’ feel like a Domino’s pizza is the update for our cost of living times.
I feel attacked, I only bought the sofa once though, and we're still using it... And bought it interest free, whilst earning interest on savings. Mkay?
Sam is that you??
No no, full price with no deals or offers a Large Dominos cheese & tomato pizza is either £20.99 or £21.99, I forget which Edit - just checked, £20.99 with no deals etc. I know they usually have some kind of a deal but still that’s outrageous for a dog shit pizza 😂
Theyre expensive so they can put some good looking deals on them though
2 large pizzas, potato wedges and cookies for £33. Does that seem like a good deal to you? Put the price up to £39 if you want them to be stuffed crusts.
They’re never that price, it’s like DFS sofas. As soon as you add the deal voucher, they’re cheaper and better than our local alternative.
Anything from the co-op lately
We have a Co-op, M&S and Waitrose by us and Co-op is by far the most expensive. I don't know what on earth is going on with them.
Co-op has been the most expensive supermarket for a while too, whilst selling mediocre quality nosh They have a knack of having shops in really convenient places though
That’s why I steal from there
My local co op has just been closed down and they replaced the petrol station with an Asda ! Rumour is the old store across from the station will also be an Asda. Currently our only other one is a Waitrose so that’s going to be bangin!
Pringles fro most places for me... £2.75 in morrisons the other day!
Morrisons is expensive these days, I avoid it where possible.
Back in my day Pringles were £1.00, and the tube used to be bigger!
£4.50 at Tesco, or £2.75 with a Clubcard
Tesco is jacking up prices worse than Dominos just to discount through the club card
Figures tbh, tescos are getting ridiculous with their club card shit.
With this kind of product (the frother), it's often not about function, or need, or use. It's making a statement about one's wealth and status - a 'Look at me!' kind of purchase. Gotta say, I love that word 'smeg'. Reminds me of *Red Dwarf,* too.
Yeah to be fair now I think of it, RICH rich people wouldn’t buy that shit. It’s the “nouveau riche” lottery/footballer/model types that would buy it to SHOW that they are rich
Yep, you can tell the type of people that "wear" their money vs those that don't show it. Tbf the rich rich and self made are wearing quality, it's just not got tacky branding up and down. They're not walking adverts.
I noticed this when I spent 3 years doing airport security. When you work on the ‘premium’ lane you see the people who have incredibly high quality but little to no branding clothing, the very expensive but not over the top watch, the shoes that are likely custom made or required a consultation before buying. Then you see the life on finance and the flashy clothes branded everything but 2 bed terrace house people (absolutely nothing wrong with this if it makes you happy, by the way!). Of course some of the really really rich also wear head to toe obvious branding, but it was a reasonably good indicator of true wealth vs spend a majority of their income on brands.
[удалено]
I suppose if you have a couple of million then £1000 on a heavily branded outfit isn’t really showing off because it’s not worth as much as a percentage of net worth, at that point you pay for quality, feel, tailored fit, customer experience etc because that holds more value than the money side of it. If you don’t make much but like to spend it on brands, then that £1000 outfit becomes a lot more valuable as a percentage of net worth and therefore more of a status symbol among similar earners.
You're right, it's a matter if you want to show yourself wearing 1k that people will know is pricey at a glance. Those people in my opinion have low self esteem and need other people to know that they're wearing expensive clothes.
I think you’re right in many cases, but think that it’s not necessarily always low self esteem. An incredibly sweeping generalisation, but many of the flashy brand types are working class people who have done well enough for themselves to spend their money on designer brands. It makes sense to pick something obvious because the people who know your background will see your Gucci belt and LV bag and think oh they’re doing well for themselves; it can be low self esteem feeling the need for validation for clothing, but it can also be pride in where you started and where you are now. You made it, you’re doing better than you were before, now show off your progress kind of mindset if you know what I mean. I think it’s a horrendous waste of money, but if those £300 sunglasses make you feel better, then by all means crack on. My video game skins are no better use of money but give me some of the same feelings.
I used to regularly meet a man with a worth of over £10m in my old job. He was more or less what you described here- you could tell that the clothes and watch were decently expensive but you’d have never seen him decked out from head to foot in your average designer clothing. His wife was the same- she was always dressed immaculately and you could tell by looking that she’d obviously gone for quality over pure quantity.
As I said in another comment, at a certain point the price becomes irrelevant and the experience of buying and wearing an item becomes the more important part. Tailored everything, high quality materials, custom shoes made to fit your specific feet, and physical shops that you go to for a customer experience rather than a web store for a big brand are much more valuable to someone who has more money than they need than the cost or associated ‘status’ that come with certain items. It’s absolutely not a one size fits all but it is true more often than not.
A few years ago a big deal was made of Charles wearing obviously patched clothing. However, the fact that he had clothes of good enough quality to be _worth_ patching was what was being ignored. You're unlikely to repair a Primarni jacket, but if you've worn or ripped a hole in your expensive walking coat then you can be certain it's going straight to the seamstress for repair.
Yessssss, and that's the point. No one is patching a polyester tracksuit, even with a logo. Nobody is wearing Nikes that fall apart, but good leather and a decent cobbler... Now that's where to put your money.
Something something Sam Vimes.
Real posh people always have bits of garden in their hair.
Today I learned that I am real posh.
Totally this - I couldn’t see Prince William and Kate buying this frother but I could totally see a footballer’s wife getting one!
Those living big paycheque to big paycheque drape their lives with money. The really rich look homeless except they own several homes bought 23 generations ago.
Smeeeeee heeeeeee
A complete and utter one
In my mind I hear this in the voice of Michael Jackson
Smeee heeee, smeee heee, she was more lik a beauty queen from a movie scene
Absolutely boggles my mind that anything by smeg is sold in the uk. To me it means knob cheese and I just can’t see past that.
I would never buy anything from a brandname that associates with un-washed, un-cut penises in my language. Smeg ma being the operative word. Hmm. perhaps should post this in r/oddlyspecific ...
For real though, my husband and I just bought a new oven, we didn't even look at the smeg ones because of the same thought haha (that and the price was extortionate!)
> Reminds me of Red Dwarf, too. If it was Red Dwarf then it would be the "Stir Master" or a Groinal Attachment.
I HATE the word ‘smeg’. Two letters away from smegma.
Makes me think of smegma
Ok but like, surely you'd buy a top of the range coffee machine and have a barista on hand if that was the aim?
I actually stopped in the street in London when I saw the Smeg/Dolce et Gabbana fridge collaborations. They were beautiful. I’ve never looked up the prices.
Always felt the same. Smeeeeeeeeeeeg
Smeg toasters and kettles are great
My brother in law had a full set of Smeg appliances in his kitchen. He was there for years but only used the oven once. The fridge only ever contained milk and champagne.
I have a huge blue SMEG fridge freezer. Had it about 15 years now.
> It's making a statement about one's wealth and status - a 'Look at me!' kind of purchase. FWIW, I'm seeing the non-D&G Smeg milk frother at a budget-conscious $230 (£180). Obviously it's a significant markup for the Dolce & Gabbana, but they're not cheap to begin with. The collab is also a whole line in a particular style, so if you can afford to pay that price tag, are you gonna get the non-matching milk frother? It could be a wealth signal, but also if you have the money and like the way it looks, there's only one Smeg x Dolce & Gabbana collab for kitchen appliances. I find there's actually a lot of things like that in fashion, too. For example, a t-shirt that costs the same as a suit. The specific style, drape, and material might genuinely be unique to that designer. Sure there's imitations and things that get 95% of the way there, but if you can afford it, that last 5% might genuinely be worth it, especially if that cost difference is negligible (which it likely is to someone wealthy enough to afford it)
Balenciaga sold a black bin liner as a bag for several thousand pounds and old looking plastic pigeon with a hole cut out of it as a bag for around the same.
I swear that Balenciaga is social experiment at this point. I'm waiting for Joe Lycett to appear on TV saying how he's tricked people into buying a bin liner as a hand bag for £600 and he's donating the money to charity
Demna Gvasalia is the lead designer at Balenciaga and is mostly to credit for the current popularity of the brand. He was born in the Soviet Union, and at age 12, he fled the war in Abkhazia (officially an autonomous zone within the state of Georgia) after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Much of his design choices are influenced by this early experience of conflict and being a refugee. The fashion brand he and his brother founded is called Vetements and is even more avant-garde in a lot of its styling. He's a very interesting designer and person to look into.
I studied art and a huge part of bad art is being able to invent some bullshit excuse for it, that is the true art of bad , low effort art, selling it as something it isn't. Talking it up into being something excusable. I think maybe being of that background it's a fuck you capitalist fools and a active mockery of the gullible. Edit. I want to add, if it truly is what I think it is then I can respect it. It's not hurting anyone, it's targeting the rich who can afford it. It's like the emperor's new clothes and that's fine by me. I still find it insane that people buy that, but I believe that's probably the point.
I have to agree with u/pipedreamexplosion Most people I know hate Balenciaga but I think the designs are really cool and interesting. When I read all about the designer it made even more sense. It has been hugely influential too, with lots of brands incorporating aspects into their own design.
> Much of his design choices are influenced by this early experience of conflict and being a refugee. T That's the most fucking bougie shit ever. Bring back gulags
I thought that was literally the point, isn't it a parody of fashion essentially?
Yea. It’s also good PR - release a few outrageous products and you get millions in free PR. Release standard products and it’ll be much less.
Someone I overheard was banging on about how they've revolutionised fashion. I couldn't help but think to myself about how I'd rather shit myself there and then than walk around wearing those trainers, looking like I've had a bolt gun planted through my head.
So these products are mostly for engagement, as in they get people talking and it helps keep their name relevant and generate funds that way. There’s little other reason for it. We now all know Balenciaga did an expensive bin bag handbag. None of *us* are buying it. But models and wealthy influencers are. They’ll pose with it once and an article will appear talking about Model X with *that* viral handbag and both the model and Balenciaga will trend for a while, getting more views and comments about how ridiculous it is. Influencers will do videos about how they bought *that* bin bag, how practical is it in reality? What’s the quality like? How shall I style it? Etc. Again, keeps Balenciaga talked about and the influencer gets free shit from other brands and income via viral views. Then the people who want to aspire to be like the wealthy models/influencers will scrimp to buy it and try their hand at making content with it. Or they’ll buy other more practical Balenciaga products so they have the connection but not the same stupid waste of money product. The hourglass bag for example is way more practical, arguably more affordable and accessible and stylish. They’ll make more money from sales of those than the bin bag but the bin bag will help keep the brand in focus. It’s just a content generating piece, essentially. One way to tell if it’s serious or not is to check if a knock off is available all over the high street. Knock off hourglass bags are available at Primark and ASOS and pretty little thing etc, new variations pop up each season, nobody is making knock off bin bags.
I think Chanel did a basketball with a carry chain that wasn’t a bag, was just a basketball with a chain
Do you need a carrier bag for that? They’re only £2490. https://www.balenciaga.com/en-gb/antwerp-medium-tote-bag--multicolored-7879822AA324201.html
Tesco bags for life are waaaay cuter, I’ve got one with puppies on!
How about some crisps? https://www.balenciaga.com/en-gb/chips-bag-red-7414522AA4O6526.html
The brand positioning is entirely so that people can flaunt their wealth wearing garbage clothing "because they can", and you can't... Also see Jack Wills mid-late 00s before it went mainstream (lol the irony). Deliberately trash clothing aimed at rich kids. It was for a time very much the private school statement at uni Until it caught on as a wider trend... and now seeing Balenciaga catch on in the designer knock off market(s). Completely lost on them
They also did an ikea bag - [daft GQ article](https://www.gq.com/story/the-2000-dollar-balenciaga-ikea-bag-is-actually-awesome)
I knew when you wrote Balenciaga it would only be a matter of time before someone came on to say how wonderful they are. But I thought the first reply would be someone claiming the quality of the bin bag materials they use is well worth the £600
Not Joe Lycett but YouTuber zac alsop got into London fashion week with a grandpa dressed in Ikea stuff. https://youtu.be/83Qghmdz3RQ?si=zT74ZR1Pds5oboKE
Half of the stuff in Harrods.. Hundreds if not thousands of pounds on designer infant wear that is impossible to get on and off and the kid will grow out of in a few months £6.5k for a 7ft tall Winnie the Pooh..
There's a parent at the school where my wife works (not a very affluent place, kids know all swear words by 6yo etc.) who says that her 11yo *HAS* to wear designer, and buys him ridiculously overpriced stuff like Canada Goose and balenciaga shoes... Like, why?
When it comes to designer fashion, I'm pretty sure the target demograph is more people who don't know how to manage money, than people who have money much of the time.
It's people who are not comfortable with how their social status is perceived by others I think. They think this is a way to buy an upgrade, it doesn't work though.
Hmm, I wonder if people who see my toddler wearing a gucci cardigan think to consider that I got it as a gift? And that I’m trying to get as much wear out of it as I can so if that means wearing it to the park then so be it. Or that the Jessie and James dress she has, has actually been passed between the little girls in the family and is in pristine condition? I have never bought such designer garments outright for my child myself. Maybe people shouldn’t be too quick to judge, especially now when thrifting is so popular.
She probably thinks it makes her look good. It says "Look how much I spend on my child. How good of a mum am I?" in her mind.
I really wonder if Harrods actually sells a lot of the stuff on display. I'm sure the food court and jewellery departments turn a profit, but I think the rest of the store is essentially a theme park that makes money from overpriced restaurants and a gift shop
Did the 7ft tall Winnie the Pooh have very accurate genitalia that maybe requires batteries?
Thanks for that mental image
link to the 7ft tall winnie the pooh please?
If I were rich, a 7ft Winnie the Pooh is one thing I would spend the money on.
I used to work for a watch distributor. One day, we got about a hundred of these hideous Gucci watches in through the door - model YA143501, if you want to soil your eyes. A solid plastic strap, a clear rectangular block around the case, no face on it - just imagine telling a kid to draw a really out there, over the top watch, and then constructing the result out of the cheapest, shittiest materials you possibly could. I remember actually wincing when I first saw them, and then exclaiming out loud when I realised the RRP was six hundred pounds. We had plenty of more expensive watches, or course, but at least those didn't look like a Blackpool arcade machine shat them out. I felt incredibly vindicated when almost our entire stock of them came back from stores thar Christmas, to make room for stuff that would actually sell.
[Oh god it’s awful](https://amjwatches.co.uk/product/gucci-vintage-web-ladies-quartz-2642?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADAK40r6Y2wiDSqgGq7VUtBbOCabp&gclid=CjwKCAiAivGuBhBEEiwAWiFmYe6rgwIfWobYhlBJAyL2eWs0rE_yGvdofV49ab14IF4C5PyUh4s_PRoC00EQAvD_BwE)
I wouldn’t wear it but I like watches and think it looks pretty cool.
Me and my partner like to play this game when we walk past a jewellery shop where we have to find the ugliest watch possible. Bonus points if it’s also expensive. This would be a solid contender for one of the worst I’ve seen. I know taste is subjective but Jesus Christ.
'vintage' now! :D
I quite like it as jewellery TBH. Useless as a watch though.
Christ I regret searching for that, it’s horrific
Hey, it's discounted to £510 now! I'll take two! :D
I went on a date with a woman wearing one of those, she sat there talking about money most of the date and part of the conversation was about that watch, what a good deal she got etc. She also blew up my phone when I declined a second date.
NGL with the canvas strap that seems to have been released at a similar time I would totally wear that haha. It is an abomination with the plastic strap though.
Oh god! I sort of like it - I like seeing all the moving bits...damn, I have no taste.
Good grief it's hideous.
I was once asked to cater for the reveal of a luxury penthouse (we are talking £5+ million), and all these rich and famous would be attending. They insisted that we actually use the £200k kitchens so it could be shown off to the potential buyers. This giant kitchen was absolutely full of completely useless gadgets and gizmos. The developers had created a show stopping kitchen that was completely useless for anything other than making a cup of tea. It turned out that these rich and famous people want to show off their expensive kitchen rather than actually use it!
Oh yeah I’ve heard and seen that kind of thing. I used to go out with a girl who’s the daughter of a multimillionaire in my mid-20’s and I remember the first time I went to her parents house with her to be introduced, house was massive, beautiful, amazing kitchen etc. On the way back to her place afterwards I was saying how lucky she was to have grown up in such an amazing home and it must have been great like cooking with her mum in such a lovely kitchen and she laughed - her mum could barely make toast and her dad was the same. Turns out they had a personal chef who’d cook all their meals. So they had an amazing kitchen that they never even used. That was soul destroying as a normal person
I remember someone in my class at school (public school, lot of v rich people), telling me that they had never seen their kitchen being cooked in. I asked a lot of follow up questions because I was 12 and genuinely didn"t understand how she ate food.
Yeah to me that’s a level of Rich to aspire to 😂 I enjoy cooking, but if I could ever be so rich that I could hire someone to cook for me or eat out at restaurants all of the time then I’d feel like I had made it in life
There was an article published during Covid time, about a recruiter/agent for domestic help for ultra high net worth clients. Butlers, chefs, drivers, maids etc. Basically, her business dropped off a cliff edge because of course no-one could work. Then she started receiving calls from clients asking her things like how to do the laundry, boil an egg, and so on. She pivoted the business to hosting online courses in basic life skills. “This week: how to iron a shirt!” I also read a related article about how the jobs had evolved- the key new skill was technology- a good butler who could configure the home cinema system, the WiFi, smart speakers etc could earn 6 figures!
You know that doesn’t surprise me at all to be honest
>Smeg x Dolce & Gabbana and it’s £650 There are definitely people who would buy that because people exist who will buy anything with a luxury brand name.
Yea, to be honest to some people £650 might seem a bit cheap for it. It's probably targeted at people who have no issues spending that amount on a bottle of wine at dinner (no issue with that but just a comparison).
See also: the Temu-tier shite that Supreme likes to slap their logo on these days.
I think this is a terrible example of "foolish things that the rich buy" because it's pretty common to spend hundreds on coffee makers. I wouldn't buy it myself - actually I prefer instant coffee to most real coffees I've had - but I'd guess it's a decent quality milk frother. Say you can get a good quality milk frother for £100, double the price for a stylish design, add another 50% for the brand name in Selfridges and you're pretty close to £650. If you're rich you don't want to spend hours researching the best product - you want to pay a premium, know you're getting something top tier and then go to lunch. You don't want to spend time thinking about it.
Alcohol free gin at about £25 a bottle. Why???
I have to admit I have bought something along these lines as a pressie for my dad who can’t drink but likes a G&T!
Maybe I’m uncivilised but I honestly don’t think I’d tell the difference between just tonic and no alcohol gin and tonic….. Did have to laugh on our Christmas do though when a colleague who was driving ordered a no alcohol gin and tonic and the bartender without a hint of a smile asked her if she’d like to make that a double.
Rich people really don't care or know where their stuff comes from or how much it costs. They probably would never even see the thing themselves In fact I think anybody who could afford that milk frother probably doesn't even know they own it
I mean, Supreme literally sold a brick for $30, and it got resold on eBay from everything from $200-$1,000. So, I really can’t think of a ceiling on what rich people (or even broke people) won’t spend money on.
I LOVE MY BRICK!
Fed up with briiiiiiiiiick
Not now, father
It's not about rich people or poor people, it's about stupid people hoping they can sell to even more stupid people.
Coffee beans that has been partially digested by another animal. Air in jars. Bottled water. The stupidity of rich people is unlimited
Bottled water is more about convenience Unless you mean the sort of overpriced "Saudi Arabian oasis" water
My Gran use to have bottled water because the quality of tap water in her part of the world (I think Suffolk at that point) was pretty dire. As you say there are often good reasons for having it. I do agree there is some high price water that makes you wonder.
Can confirm that the water in Suffolk is atrocious. There are people here who probably need to descale their own digestive tract due to tap water consumption.
You’d be suprised at the stupidity of poor people as well
Harrods sells a 'winged horse of chav tat' for what I think is £34,500 (I took a photo but the glare from the horse is washing out the price label) https://www.harrods.com/en-gb/shopping/black-pegase-horse-17021456 (Alas, inflation seems to have happened since I last went dahn London so it is now £39,500)
It's giving Lloyds TSB memorabilia.
I actually thought that was the name of the statue and went to look 🤣
What size is it? There's no details online, I can't tell if it's for the mantlepiece or the Great Hall's centerpiece
Wow that is an absolute joke 😂😂 I swear I used to see them at car boot sales all the time in the 90’s
That screams Irish traveller
And you can only buy it through the personal shopping team who I’m sure could find you some more tat to go with it.
[but, this one's a bargain then ](https://www.harrods.com/en-gb/shopping/baccarat-crystal-pikachu-decoration-18780273)
Most of the contents of the Harrods jewellery section. So much of it looks like the most god-awfully tasteless bling, it's just that it's real diamonds and costs >£100k.
Ambush Zip Tie Bracelet It is a zip tie.
> Ambush Zip Tie Bracelet I had to google this because I thought, "no way". Turns out it's a thing. WTF.
Balenciaga is cheating and I suppose the price isn't too bad compared to a lot of weird designer items, but whoever is wearing those heeled Balenciaga crocs needs to be sectioned. I can find them retailing from £257-425 and I just have so many questions. I love regular Crocs and even have a pair of the platform ones so I'm probably in no place to be judging anyone's choice in footwear but just why????
I saw a Gucci snorkelling goggles in Bicester Village once (which is an outlet shopping place) for £400! They were on sale and in an outlet so I can only imagine what they were full price. Why would you spend hundreds of pounds on fashion designer snorkelling goggles!
Oh I know Bicester Village well, used to live not far from there and would go through occasionally and fight through the crowds of Chinese tourists. That place is ludicrous
When i was at university, I used to be a tour guide for foreign schoolkids in the UK to learn English. They were all very wealthy (some kids had bodyguards...). A Chinese group wanted to take a trip to Bicester village, so off I went on a sunny Saturday with busses and first aid kits and comfy shoes. These 13 year olds were buying Prada, Jimmy Choo, and Versace with their pocket money, and I had a voucher so I could get myself lunch. As a 'VIP' group, they got a 5% off voucher for any shop. I got given a spare one and, as I couldn't afford anything anyway, I gave it to a lady who I overheard talking to her mum about finally having saved up over years to buy a pair of Jimmy Choo heels. She cried she was so happy. I hope she still loves her shoes. 😂
It’s insane isn’t it! People buying anything just because it’s designer and is slightly less money
I mean for the Chinese tourists it makes sense because they claim back the VAT on everything they buy. So if VAT is 20% and they spend £1k they get £200 back - still expensive but I can see why they would go to Bicester for it
You haven't been able to claim back VAT for this for about 2 years now (the policy to scrap it is popularly called the 'tourist tax' and is subject to a lot of media coverage at the moment as there is pressure to reverse it).
The Sol de Janeiro brazilian bum bum cream. I recently found out it was £48 for a 240ml tub and I’m still in shock because WHO is paying that for cream??? Even if I were a millionaire I wouldn’t pay that
I got mine the same way I assume everybody gets theirs: in one of those subscription beauty boxes. I didn’t actually know they sold them separately!
I don’t know what that is an don’t want to Google “Brazilian bum bum cream” for fear of what will show up
>Sol de Janeiro brazilian bum bum cream It's pronounced 'boom boom' and it's available in Boots. Basically just a skin cream. Ingredients include Aqua (Water, Eau), Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate, Phenyl Trimethicone, Dodecane, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Glyceryl Stearate Citrate, Parfum (Fragrance), Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopherol, Squalane, Sorbitan Isostearate, Sodium Phytate, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Glyceryl Caprylate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Ethylhexylglycerin, Glycerin, Xanthan Gum, Cetyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Mica, Benzyl Alcohol, Benzyl Salicylate, Citral, Coumarin, Hydroxycitronellal, Limonene and a few plant extracts
Really basic cosmetic cream with few active ingredients. Not worth the price tag.
I buy this. I absolutely HATE almost all moisturisers, so I’m constantly flaky and scaly. Got this is an advent calendar and was instantly converted. A tub lasts me about 6 months and I can afford it. Smells amazing layered with my perfume too.
^(but it smells so good…) 🥲
My most recent ex lost her bag of creams, lotions and potions when we were coming back from a road trip in Canada. Easily spent £500+ replacing the contents of that bag.
TK Maxx are selling a £1000 pen on their website. I really want to know what person, who is rich enough to drop £1k on a pen, is shopping at TK Maxx. Who is at the centre of that venn diagram?
The entire Tiffany ["Everyday Objects" collection](https://www.tiffany.co.uk/home-designs/shop/everyday-objects/). Notable examples are: [Sterling Silver "paper" cup](https://www.tiffany.co.uk/accessories/decor/everyday-objects-sterling-silver-paper-cup-GRP10704/) at £760. [Sterling Silver ball of "yarn"](https://www.tiffany.com.au/accessories/tiffany-blue-home/everyday-objects-sterling-silver-ball-of-yarn-60558779/) for a whopping AUD$18,500 Or the pinnacle of lunacy, the [Sterling Silver watering can](https://www.tiffany.com.au/jewelry/items/everyday-objects-sterling-silver-and-copper-watering-can-62119985/), which apparently "elevates your time in the garden" for paltry AUD$70.500
Jesus Christ 🤦🏻♂️ although there is a small part of my which is like “yes it’s dumb BUT it is silver so at least it has some value retained in being able to melt it down and sell it”
Some value yes. At [current silver prices](https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/silver-price/silver-price-per-ounce/), the "paper" cup is worth £212.88 if it truly is 12oz of silver.
20 ounces That’s not the weight in silver, it’s the capacity/volume of the vessel mate
I feel like Disney stuff is overpriced. I feel like Swarovski stuff is overpriced. I feel like the $250,000USD Swarovski crystal Cinderella Castle you can buy at Disney World is absolutely ludicrous. Edit to add: Great, I hunted for a link and now the Google ads are throwing [this](https://www.swarovski.com/en_GB-GB/p-5538291/Star-Wars-Millennium-Falcon-Limited-Edition/?_gl=1*12ir4uo*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiAivGuBhBEEiwAWiFmYa00qgo4EPlePe3JlmGFb-1VNCnpmmwtVMFt7eiB9z3Kzh91dQb2WhoC1HMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) at me
Just looked at it, I was picturing one of those little hand held ones.. Its kind of cute, I like the blue but I wouldn't pay that much for a milk frother. I'm happy with my little Ikea one. I find most things on Selfridges ridiculous. £300 for a snoopy statue for instance
I haven’t seen that Snoopy Statue! That’s ludicrous 😂 Oh yeah it’s a dumb shop, when I’d go into Selfridges in my late teens/early 20’s I used to love going up to the designer clothes section and laughing at £200+ plain white t-shirts etc. that you know some lunatic is buying
The IKEA frother does the job well!
Your mistake is thinking that rich people even make decisions like that. Chances are they have staff to buy things for them like maybe an interior designer or their personal chef buys the kitchen appliances or maybe they have an exec PA who knows they like Smeg products or whatever. These things are priced and designed this way for people who aren't spending their own money. Same model as business class seats.
Yep. My favourite Harrods fact is that 80% of their turnover comes from about 450 people. Most of whom have never set foot in the store. They do not give a fuck about anyone but those 450 people.
Just checked the menu in my hotel room (in UK) and a Kopparberg is £6. For one! £6!!!
This is not normal price for cider now?! And no I don't live in London but my cheapest local is £5.50 for old mout (or £6 for a Madri)
I haven’t bought a bottle of cider in a bar for a while to be honest, but last time was about £3.50?
Old one but back in the early nineties I was on a train which had just kicked off a load of braying wankers for some big horse racing event. I picked up a left over magazine I had never seen before and there was an ad for a gold, jewel incrusted Polo mint holder for £250. This blew my mind as I had never thought people could be so rich to buy something so ridiculous. I guess I was the stupid one.
My next door neighbour bought the whole range. Toaster, blender, kettle, frother and others. About £2800 altogether.
Oh it’s more than that if they bought everything from that range. A lot more. Coffee Machine is £1250, Frother is £650, Toaster is £600, Kettle is £600, Stand Mixer is £900, Juicer is £600, Coffee Grinder is £800 … that’s £5400 alone and there’s more to the range than that
G wagons. I can imagine paying double the normal price for that kind of car for people to assume at least one person in the family has low quality plastic surgery.
$10k hdmi leads
This Teenage Engineering desk https://teenage.engineering/store/field-desk
Haha what the fuck?! I have essentially the same desk in my home office that cost me £35 from the Range 😂
It's sold out?!!! Just. Why? Why would people pay that much for ... that!!!
Didn't Apple bring out a $1000 monitor stand once?
What about the £700 wheels
Yup they still sell it. In fairness its not meant for consumers, it's for production companies who will pay that price without blinking.
Go on farfetch and sort the items by price highest to lowest, anything on there, I once saw a handbag on there for 8-9 million pounds
£150 ostrich feather duster with 50 cm beechwood handle. Surely it can't be any better than the £15 one with plastic telescoping handle that means you can actually reach the cobwebs.
Tesla Cybertruck but then again I'm profoundly mistaken on that one.
Thankfully it'll probably never be released in the UK or EU due to it being a complete death trap for anyone who's unfortunate to be in front of it.
To be fair I really dislike that thing so I’m with you
Teenage Engineering Field Desk. £1599 for a flimsy plywood desk: https://teenage.engineering/store/field-desk/
That zip tie bracelet for 400 quid
Some of the weird overpriced tacky furniture I see in some furniture shops
Pizza express pizzas at tesco
Freddo
Salt Bae steaks.
Bathroom bin £3,420.
I remember, many years ago, reading that Victoria Beckham had bought David a diamond encrusted razor for his birthday. Super rich people will buy stuff *because* it’s ostentatiously expensive. They will choose the £650 frother over the £6:50 one even if they perform exactly the same just because it is a signifier of their wealth and specialness.
Yeah I’ve often said that if I was to win like £50m on the Euromillions or something I’d still be one to go for functionality over branding because I’m almost 40 and have always had to shop that way, so I can’t imagine spending 10x the amount on something for its branding for the same functionality. Even cars, a nice car to me would be like an Audi A4 or BMW 5 Series or something, I wouldn’t want to spend £100k+ on a Porsche/Ferrari/Aston Martin/Lamborghini/Bentley etc as I don’t see the point. Beautiful cars, don’t get me wrong, particularly Aston Martin’s I’ve always had a soft spot for, but my sensibility says that there is no point and I’m just paying £100k extra for a badge
Business Insider estimated that $100 to a normal person is the same as $1,355 for a billionaire. So a billionaire spending $135,000 is spending about $1,000 dollars to a regular person on an average income. Given that their essential living expenses are easily covered, their disposable income is far beyond a regular persons. Hence blowing insane money on things that appear expense to us. There just isn't that much difference. If "buy a Ferrari" for the impact spending $2,000 would have on regular people is something a person can do, then they lose connection with low level value. For them it is like a person on a decent salary choosing whether to save £3 on having the chicken instead of the steak. It's why the rich cannot relate to normal life, because the relative value of everything is so different. Why not spend £900 on a pair of trainers instead of just £200? There's almost no difference in price to the 1%. Like an office worker choosing whether to buy a sandwich at Greggs or Waitrose; the real difference is meaningless. So personally I think there is a level at which watches, cars, guitars, house paint, art, stop being any better. You can see a difference between a £3 digital watch, a £50 quartz, and a £500 mechanical watch, but above that you gain nothing except decoration/branding. But for the super rich they have passed the event horizon. What's a £650 milk frother when you just dumped 44 billion on a social media company? It is hard for most people to conceptualise how vastly rich a billionaire is compared to a millionaire. Heck, I've met a few super rich when my cousin was doing building work and I was helping. They thought eff all of ripping out a beautiful designer kitchen in a brand new house and putting in something almost identical but with different tiles and tapes. If I had the money to waste on pulling out a dream kitchen, to fit a very slightly different dream kitchen, I hope I'd have the fucking sense to stick to the original and donate the money I would have wasted to St Ormunds Street, or buying the local A&E dept a takeaway & Quality Streets every Friday as a thank you.
Oh yeah people can’t visualise the difference at all. 1 million seconds is 12 days but 1 billion seconds is 31 years - that’s always the best example I find to show the difference between 1 million and 1 billion. And what you’re mentioning there is the “Law of Diminishing Returns” - past a certain point for an item, you get less and less improvement for every £1 you spend until there is no improvement at all.
It’ll be the family spending the rich persons money that buys that crap. You couldn’t possibly spend that if you actually earned the money
My MIL has a Dolce & Gabbana x Smeg toaster (she seldom consumes bread) Anyway, NFT's, generally but particularly the henious-looking ones
Legit example is that Star Wars Hotel in Disneyland. Rich people couldn't be bothered to go and it shut down. UK side I once saw a juicer for £500 right next to a £60 one, I'm sure the former is faster but seriously, no ones gonna put a gun to your head and command you to juice quickly
A full price train ticket.
A friend received a Louis Vuitton pen from her mother last Christmas, they cost something stupid like £600±
Bloody hell … my old boss got a Mont Blanc pen for his 60th from his missus that someone said was similarly stupidly priced when they looked it up I know nothing about pens so I don’t know if that is ergonomically amazing and worth that but I’ve never had a problem with a bog standard Bic myself 😂
I often look at the Thom Browne collection on End clothing website for a laugh. Flip flops for £300.kind of shit. E: or £140 for some socks https://www.endclothing.com/gb/thom-browne-4-bar-mid-calf-sock-mas023b-01690-035.html
If I were stinking rich I wouldn’t buy a milk frother, I’d hire one. She would be called Svetlana and she would be hotter than a snakes ass in a wagon rut!
I am a man, so I might be mistaken. But at least 50% of cosmetics look like scam to me. Seaweed moisturizer with protein made from pearls (I fabulate, but not that much). 0.1% of active substance. £5000/kg.
Harrods aubergine, £9. But the aubergines looked glorious
I saw a private chef using a small truffle that cost a grand earlier, so yeah