The $10,000 leather Gladstone bag

[vintage.vendeuse]

Link: Is it worth it?

 

[LizzieMaine]

If it contains $9500 in cash, it is. Otherwise it's just conspicuous consumption.

Seriously, though, I question how much of that 10G goes to the people who actually do the work and how much of it is his markup. Buyers of "luxury goods" can be real pigeons, and immense markups can be easily justified as "what the market will pay."

 

[vintage.vendeuse]

If it contains $9500 in cash, it is. Otherwise it's just conspicuous consumption.

Agreed.

 

[rocketeer]

If the Chinese could build the most sophisticated Olympic stadium yet designed and make the worlds fastest trains to such exacting standards, surly they could make this bag to the same standard as the American item but a lot lot cheaper. What lets a lot of Chinese products so inferior is a reputation for poor quality control. I recently purchased a new small refrigerator made in China, returned as it gave up after two weeks. Next I purchased a telephone computer connection that was poorly moulded so would not fit the socket. Two items in two months.
A friends mother recently died, passing on the microwave oven she bought in the 1980s, still working and made in Japan. Nothing wrong with it, it just looked outdated. Will a made in China product last that long or are they meant to be desposable
The question is would you buy the Chinese version of the bag even if it was made to the US version spec, using all top quality components and materials? Or would a little patriotism get to you and persuade you to pay over the odds even though the USA bag may have been sewn by a Chinese American?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'd just keep using the old grip I've got up in my attic.

 

[HudsonHawk]

It's worth what someone will pay for it. I wouldn't pay a nickel for a used sports coat on eBay, no matter how high the armholes were. Others might.

 

[herringbonekid]

i prefer this Foster & Sons Gladstone / kit bag which is £4200 cheaper (£2500 compared to £6700):

http://foster.co.uk/our-products/luggage-and-cases/suitcases-and-luggage/canvas-leather-suitcase-2/

 

[ChiTownScion]

It's worth what someone will pay for it. I wouldn't pay a nickel for a used sports coat on eBay, no matter how high the armholes were. Others might.

I don't have an eBay account, but I will confess that last year, I paid $2.85 for a tweed sports coat at Goodwill. After making the beeline in a sealed plastic bag to the dry cleaners, it became a valuable part of my wardrobe: perfect for those movie nights when, with a decent pair of khakis and dress shirt sans necktie, I want more than jeans & a polo shirt but less than a suit.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Link: Is it worth it?

Not for me. If I want a comparable bag made, I have a connection in Kentucky who can make me a comparable bag for less than $1500. Still too rich for my blood.. but arguably, a less extravagant extravagance ?

 

[HudsonHawk]

I don't have an eBay account, but I will confess that last year, I paid $2.85 for a tweed sports coat at Goodwill. After making the beeline in a sealed plastic bag to the dry cleaners, it became a valuable part of my wardrobe: perfect for those movie nights when, with a decent pair of khakis and dress shirt sans necktie, I want more than jeans & a polo shirt but less than a suit.

And that's perfectly fine. It's your money, spend it how you want. "Worth" is entirely subjective.

 

[Edward]

The only problem with Chinese manufacture, in terms of the quality of the end product, is that Western companies who outsource production there typically want it done as cheaply as possible. This inevitably leads to a quality drop. There is no logical reason why the Chinese, given equal budget could equal or perhaps even surpass the US equivalent. There's a lot to be said for buying local - supporting a local ecomony, easier to ensure that you know the conditions under which the workforce labour, lessening the environmental impact of shipping, and so on. The notion that simple geography, however, can remder a superior product is hooey of the worst kind.

The bag in the OP is lovely, but yes, I can't imagine paying that much for a bag, however lovely it is. It sure seems excessive compared to the likes of Saddleback leather (which I doubt it can beat for quality). I'd be very surprised if there isn't either a considerable mark-up, or this is a one-man, labour-intensive process which pushes labour costs well beyond any sensible limit. Still.... for the sort of people prepared to spend that sort of money in the belief that that means it must be worth that sort of money, at least it's not being produced by children paid pennies and denied toilet breaks. The luxury goods industry hasn't always been one that can lay claim to being especially ethical.

 

[pawineguy]

It's interesting that the theme of the article is not, "wow, a $10K bag," but rather, a "$10K bag made in the U.S.!?" My local mall has plenty of French and Italian $10K women's bags, and no one is going to write articles about that, it's just accepted at this point. It's a shame because there is and has been a re-birth of artisanal, made in the USA products... companies like Shinola in Detroit for example.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't know a single woman who would pay $10 thousand for a bag, and I know some women who are genuine old-money rich. I dunno who's keeping those mall stores in business, but I suspect those customers are very very deep in debt.

 

[Burma Schave]

Who would pay? The elites of China, Russia, and oil-rich Arab states, though less so this year.

 

[Edward]

It's interesting that the theme of the article is not, "wow, a $10K bag," but rather, a "$10K bag made in the U.S.!?" My local mall has plenty of French and Italian $10K women's bags, and no one is going to write articles about that, it's just accepted at this point. It's a shame because there is and has been a re-birth of artisanal, made in the USA products... companies like Shinola in Detroit for example.

Presumably, though, those ladies' bags in the mall are the 'designer' type where people will pay big money for the branding. I think this is a bit different in that he's trying to sell it as a quality product rather than a designer label. Different market, I think. I'm not convinced by hat I read as the implication that this is what top-end goods have to cost if made in the US, though.

 

[pawineguy]

I don't know a single woman who would pay $10 thousand for a bag, and I know some women who are genuine old-money rich. I dunno who's keeping those mall stores in business, but I suspect those customers are very very deep in debt.

In the suburbs of a major city, you have plenty of executives, athletes and their wives, etc... who have very different spending habits than old money, and don't need to go into debt for a bag of this type. Wander into the Tiffany's of this mall around any major holiday and watch millions of dollars of diamonds and gold flying out the door. I've stood in line waiting for help to spend $400 - $500 on earrings while everyone in front of me, one after the other, is spending $10 - $25K.

 

[pawineguy]

Presumably, though, those ladies' bags in the mall are the 'designer' type where people will pay big money for the branding. I think this is a bit different in that he's trying to sell it as a quality product rather than a designer label. Different market, I think. I'm not convinced by hat I read as the implication that this is what top-end goods have to cost if made in the US, though.

Yes, you're certainly right about the branded goods. And I totally agree, the idea that American made goods need to be this expensive is utter nonsense.

 

[LizzieMaine]

In the suburbs of a major city, you have plenty of executives, athletes and their wives, etc... who have very different spending habits than old money, and don't need to go into debt for a bag of this type. Wander into the Tiffany's of this mall around any major holiday and watch millions of dollars of diamonds and gold flying out the door. I've stood in line waiting for help to spend $400 - $500 on earrings while everyone in front of me, one after the other, is spending $10 - $25K.

Ah, of course. Arrivistes with something to prove. Conspicuous consumption.

 

[vintage.vendeuse]

It's interesting that the theme of the article is not, "wow, a $10K bag," but rather, a "$10K bag made in the U.S.!?" My local mall has plenty of French and Italian $10K women's bags, and no one is going to write articles about that, it's just accepted at this point. It's a shame because there is and has been a re-birth of artisanal, made in the USA products... companies like Shinola in Detroit for example.

Kudos to Shinola! I live 3 miles from the Detroit border and I've been coveting a Shinola Runwell watch. Their watches are guaranteed for life (either yours or the company's, I suppose.) I wouldn't mind having one of their bikes, too.

 

[pawineguy]

Kudos to Shinola! I live 3 miles from the Detroit border and I've been coveting a Shinola Runwell watch. Their watches are guaranteed for life (either yours or the company's, I suppose.) I wouldn't mind having one of their bikes, too.

Have you seen the new Moonphase women's watches? They keep going from strength to strength with their designs. I haven't decided upon a model, but their watches are on my list. I am hoping they expand the moon phase into a men's model.

http://www.shinola.com/shop/moon-phase.html