Overpriced Aggregators

[Russell Street]

There is a certain flavor of shop that has really good stuff, often the best. But the prices seem obscene no matter how divine the item may be. They often do not hide who or where the premium products are made. But when you follow up on this, since they gave you the clue, you find out that that the manufacturer, and maybe even other vendors, sell the exact same item (or one nearly identical) at a substantially lower price.

This came to me thanks to Thruth and Rambo's discussion on BestMadeCo.com over in the bargain thread, where I cite an example of a sweater marked up ~66% because of a minor fit tweak and cutesy color cange on the pocket trim.

15% off at Best Made Company or 25% off if you post a pic showing one if their products in action. Interesting collection of things on this site.
http://www.bestmadeco.com/

Jesus. With prices like those they need to be giving 50% off.

They have a good angle on sourcing timeless designs. Their shawl next wool cardigan is made by Dehen who've been making them since maybe the 30's.

Yes, this seems to be one of those stores that you use to find good stuff, but ignore their markup and buy it elsewhere. For $237 instead of $398, I can live without the slight fit tweaks and red pocket lining.
Bookmarked nonetheless.

J. Crew is pretty bad about this with Alden and Timex and all. Who else?

 

[Thruth]

There is a certain flavor of shop that has really good stuff, often the best. But the prices seem obscene no matter how divine the item may be. They often do not hide who or where the premium products are made. But when you follow up on this, since they gave you the clue, you find out that that the manufacturer, and maybe even other vendors, sell the exact same item (or one nearly identical) at a substantially lower price.

This came to me thanks to Thruth and Rambo's discussion on BestMadeCo.com over in the bargain thread, where I cite an example of a sweater marked up ~66% because of a minor fit tweak and cutesy color cange on the pocket trim.

​

J. Crew is pretty bad about this with Alden and Timex and all. Who else?

JL Powell

 

[OfficePants]

Basically all sunglass and eyeglass from every luxury brand. That shit is all made at the exact same factory in Italy by Luxottica and Safilo Group. They basically cost 15-20x what they cost to make.

Luxottica basically owns everything. Lenscrafters, Oakley, Ray Ban. You name it. And everything they don't own comes to them. Luxottica also owns an eyecare insurance company.

Its a massive ripoff and illusion of choice.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/sticker-shock-why-are-glasses-so-expensive-50132676

 

[OfficePants]

^ if you can't make a buck marking up 15x mfg cost, you're doing it wrong.

At the retail end you certainly have more headwind, but imagine if you owned the entire process end to end? Luxottica does.

 

[Russell Street]

JL Powell

Surprisingly they are not guilty here. They are clearly lying about this being a JLP exclusive though.
$248 JLP Acqua X Titanium watch is a $240 Bertucci.

 

[Russell Street]

Luxottica basically owns everything

True, but they are an evil virtual monopoly with vertical integration.
Zenni Optical does not sell Ray Bans at $30, they just sell frames every bit as good and similarly styled. It's a minor difference admittedly.

its akin to paying for a pint of beer in a popular club vs. a divebar vs. buying the same beer in costco.

Yes and no. Some exclusive run or limited edition will cost more. Being sold in a store, you get to bump up a bit over factory direct. But there are cases where one is paying way too much for a pretty photo shoot and hyperbole-dense prose that adds little for the savvy consumer.

One of the first times I got burned was by the folksy Vermont Country Store. It might have been Mrs. Stewart's Bluing. They waxed about this old great product that you just couldn't find anymore and acted like they'd found some limited supply of the rare item. Then I notice that the local supermarket is carrying it at a lower price, and with no shipping. Admittedly, this is not clothing, but that's what I'm going for here.

What catalog do you use to learn of great stuff... to buy cheaper elsewhere?

 

[Allen Smithee]

Wouldn't this be true for all brands that don't actually make their shoes? Brooks, J Crew, Barney's etc?

 

[OfficePants]

Wouldn't this be true for all brands that don't actually make their shoes? Brooks, J Crew, Barney's etc?

Aren't they just marking things up as much as the mgf would?

 

[Russell Street]

I'm looking for absolute cases of what economics calls price discrimination: vastly differing prices for essentially identical goods.

It's proving more difficult than I thought, as most of these Ben Silver and hipster line things really are sold at about the same unconscionable price regardless where one finds them.

 

[Pauly Chase]

Oliver Peoples went to shit after the owners sold it to Luxottica and started Barton Perreira.

 

[OfficePants]

Oliver Peoples went to shit after the owners sold it to Luxottica and started Barton Perreira.

Is there anything Luxottica doesn't own? FFS.

 

[Pauly Chase]

In terms of frames, there are some obscure Japanese makers. IIRC Jil Sander used source her frames from one of them.

Out of the popular brands, I don't think Tom Ford gets his frames from Luxottica

 

[OfficePants]

In terms of frames, there are some obscure Japanese makers. IIRC Jil Sander used source her frames from one of them.

Out of the popular brands, I don't think Tom Ford gets his frames from Luxottica

Th problem with luxottica is that their near monopoly enables everyone to overprice.