Dr H
Call Me a Cab
- Messages
- 2,006
- Location
- Somerset, UK
Ha, me neither. I don't have a car at all, and I live on the second cheapest square in the monopoly board!
Is that 'Go To Gaol/Jail' or Community Chest now...?
Ha, me neither. I don't have a car at all, and I live on the second cheapest square in the monopoly board!
Even before you posted your response, the first thing I thought of was that I perceive you and I both buy luxury goods we don't really need primarily for quality and pride of ownership, and that applies for leather jackets, watches, or any luxury item.Thank you for the psuedo-psychology. Why would you assume that, because I am an acknowledged addict, I therefore am motivated by hype and price rather than quality. My addiction is equally likely to be motivated by quality. .
Is that 'Go To Gaol/Jail' or Community Chest now...?
What really surprises me is that used brands like Himel, The Real McCoys, Hellers, Cafe, Freewheelers, Buzz Rickson, Jelado, Cushman, etc don't command high prices on Ebay compared to their original prices. I think it must be due to their niche market and very few people knowing their existance but meanwhile Mister Freedom prices are out of this world for resale.I can't really afford a $2500 jacket either. I mean, I could pay for one, but I'd be too afraid to wear it anywhere. Whether it got damaged somehow, or just stolen, or I got mugged. I''ve seen them go under $1k on ebay, never in my size, but I'd consider one at that kind of price point. If Himel can sell them for what they charge for them, I can't find fault with the fundamentals of their business model.
Absolutely. In 2001 I bought a mint condition Bates, two flag highwayman for $75. That same jacket would've sold for $600 in 2012 and probably $450-500 now at best and likely $250 in reality. So hopefully the suede, Sherpa lined trucker made by JC Penny that I just bought for $50 will be worth $500 in a couple years. But probably not. LOL.I think the market is currently distorted, hence the high prices.
It started when hipsters started paying crazy money on eBay for vintage jackets a few years back. The 'true' hipsters have all moved on, but the hipster thing has gone mainstream since then, and jacket manufacturers are just cashing in on people's willingness to hand over wads of cash for jackets as part of a broader trend in the fashion industry maybe.
It won't last. It's just a matter of time until paper books, leather jackets and gasoline engines become about as acceptable as clubbing baby seals due to ecological factors (that and the fact that the middle classes will soon be negligible in size and spending power).
Things are only worth what people are prepared to pay, hence the bargain basement prices of Japanese jackets on the used market in Japan.
If people didn't do the marketing work of manufacturers themselves by justifying and rationalizing crazy prices, but instead said 'No, it's a $1000 jacket', the market would correct itself and prices would come down.
This increase in prices isn't driven by some imaginary increase in quality or workmanship hither to unknown in human history of saddlery until the last few years, nor by a sudden increase in vintage enthusiasts increasing demand, but instead by an increase in middle class customers with disposable incomes getting caught up in the end of the mainstreaming of hipster style IMHO.
What are the cool-hunters paying over the odds for used on eBay now? In five years there will be high quality repros of that selling for double reasonable high prices.
Popcorn please, I'm waiting for the bottom to fall out of the market and (as another poster says above) some good bargains.