Why Designer Handbags Tend to Cost More Than Ordinary Handbags
In
any store that deals with handbags, you will tend to find two
categories of the bags. The first category has those that are termed as
being 'ordinary' handbags. The second category has those that are
termed as being designer handbags. The latter tend to cost
substantially more than the former. And while there are many people who
don't bother with the issue, and who will pay the higher prices
associated with designer bags just because 'that is the way things
are,' there are those who seek an explanation. Specifically, they seek
an explanation with respect to the justification for the higher pricing
associated with the designer bags. We are looking at a situation where
the average designer handbag costs as much as a hundred or two hundred
percent more than what the average 'ordinary' handbag costs. There are
people who, subsequently, show keenness on understanding the
justification for this pricing difference. And that is what we venture
to look at, as we explore the reasons as to why designer bags tend to
cost more than ordinary handbags.
As it turns out, one reason
for designer bags costing substantially more than ordinary handbags is
in the fact that the former are typically made from higher quality (and
hence more expensive) materials than the latter. The designer bags
are also typically made through higher manufacturing standards. It is
on account of the first fact - the fact that they are made from higher
quality materials - that the designer handbags tend to have greater
aesthetic appeal than ordinary handbags. It is also on account of the
second fact, the fact that they are sewn and otherwise made in
accordance with the highest manufacturing standards, that the designer
bags tend to outlast ordinary handbags.
But
the flipside is that, as we have seen, to get the higher quality
material for making designer handbags, the manufacturers have to part
with bigger sums of money. Also, for them to subscribe to the higher
manufacturing standards, the makers of designer bags have to part with
bigger sums of money. And the all these are costs ultimately footed by
the end-user of the products, hence the higher pricing of designer
handbags.
Another reason as to why the makers of designer bags
tend to price them substantially more than ordinary handbags is in the
fact that the designer handbags are meant to be prestige items. They
are meant to be exclusive products - the sort of product you carry
around knowing that not many people will be having it. It is only this
way that having a designer handbag can make you come across as being a
'person of means' - which is the image many of us want to portray, by
buying designer 'products.' The challenge, of course, is in the fact
that the designer bags would lose their prestige, if everyone had them.
To retain their prestige, ownership of them has to be the preserve of a
few. And to make ownership of them the preserve of a few, they have to
be priced in such a way that only a certain 'caliber' of people can
afford them. It is for this reason that the makers of designer bags
will tend to price them somewhat highly - in order to make them
exclusive - and preserve the 'prestige factor' which many people yearn
for, as they go shopping for the designer bags.
