'Veblen goods' - individual failings or a symptom of our general current fuckupedness?

[bimble]

Veblen goods= Things that are valued because they are expensive and not for any other use of or enjoyment derived from the thing in itself.
Just recently learnt the word but always been interested in the phenomenon- Objects whose high price is their whole point, the more expensive the better, the attraction being the knowledge that other people, most people, could not afford the product that you're wearing / driving, so these things don't follow the supply & demand rules of ordinary economics- if the product goes down in price it sells less.
Veblen good - Wikipedia

In Switzerland (was there last week) are many watch shops packed with people buying small mechanical objects which tell the time but are really efficient devices for signalling wealth / power. Same with handbags that cost thousands and function as a mechanism for announcing to everybody how much money and how little imagination you have.

Veblen-

was in America & writing at the end of the 1800s, around when brands and advertising began (i think thats true?) .
He thought before we all moved to cities it was enough to signal your status by conspicuous leisure activities but urbanisation led to the need to display objects to announce your superiority to passersby.

Is the existence of such things just a personal failing of the people who buy them?
I’m massively judgemental when I see a personalised number plate. If I notice that a woman has a handbag that (because of its little brass logo) cost the same as a car, am liable to judge her to be an idiot. Which I know is wrong. Are people more likely to value those sort of things if they have known proper poverty in a way i havent ?
Like what about kids who badly want nike trainers instead of asda ones - or does that not really meet the definition?

 

[8ball]

They have been around in one form or other for a very long time.

So not “current” fuckedupness.

 

[Marty1]

Veblen goods= Things that are valued because they are expensive and not for any other use of or enjoyment derived from the thing in itself.
Just recently learnt the word but always been interested in the phenomenon- Objects whose high price is their whole point, the more expensive the better, the attraction being the knowledge that other people, most people, could not afford the product that you're wearing / driving, so these things don't follow the supply & demand rules of ordinary economics- if the product goes down in price it sells less.
Veblen good - Wikipedia

In Switzerland (was there last week) are many watch shops packed with people buying small mechanical objects which tell the time but are really efficient devices for signalling wealth / power. Same with handbags that cost thousands and function as a mechanism for announcing to everybody how much money and how little imagination you have.

Veblen-View attachment 191039

was in America & writing at the end of the 1800s, around when brands and advertising began (i think thats true?) .
He thought before we all moved to cities it was enough to signal your status by conspicuous leisure activities but urbanisation led to the need to display objects to announce your superiority to passersby.

Is the existence of such things just a personal failing of the people who buy them?
I’m massively judgemental when I see a personalised number plate. If I notice that a woman has a handbag that (because of its little brass logo) cost the same as a car, am liable to judge her to be an idiot. Which I know is wrong. Are people more likely to value those sort of things if they have known proper poverty in a way i havent ?
Like what about kids who badly want nike trainers instead of asda ones - or does that not really meet the definition?

My girlfriend has a personalised number plate.

She was getting into her car the other day in Tesco’s car park after shopping, it was dark and some random bloke asked her if she was interested in selling her plate. She got a shock as he came out of nowhere so just replied with a stern ‘no’.

 

[bimble]

I see. Why do you think your girlfriend has a personalised numberplate?

 

[Marty1]

I see. Why do you think your girlfriend has a personalised numberplate?

I’ll ask her.

Edit: she like her private plate as it kind of spells her surname.

My dad has always wanted a private plate but my mum won’t let him (lol) as she thinks it’s a waste of money. Only reason my dad wants one tho is because it hides the year of manufacture of his Audi (2016) - so he wants people to think it’s newer

 

[souljacker]

Personalised plates are for wankers. No exceptions.

 

[8ball]

Personalised plates are for wankers. No exceptions.

I can see why you might want the plate to say something but they are obv a vanity product (I’ve no idea how much they cost).

An ex gf of mine used to name her cars based on the number plate.

S674 UZY was “Suzy” etc.

 

[bimble]

Personalised plates are for wankers. No exceptions.

Are they to be held responsible for their own wankerdom though. I mean Marty's gf maybe an exception.

 

[8ball]

Are they to be held responsible for their own wankerdom though. I mean Marty's gf maybe an exception.

Some have wankery thrust upon them.

 

[Marty1]

Are they to be held responsible for their own wankerdom though. I mean Marty's gf maybe an exception.

I personally think private plates are a complete waste of money (tho girlfriend claims hers has gone up in price - meh).

Don’t think it’s a status thing but more novelty thing for her.

 

[mx wcfc]

My girlfriend has a personalised number plate.

She was getting into her car the other day in Tesco’s car park after shopping, it was dark and some random bloke asked her if she was interested in selling her plate. She got a shock as he came out of nowhere so just replied with a stern ‘no’.

I knew a bloke who had "RS 2000" as his plate , which i believe is a fancy car. He had it cos his initials were RS and 2000 was a nice number (and he was rich). An "RS 2000" car fan offered him £50k for it in the end. He took at and got "REX 1" for the same money (Rex being his first name). Fucking cunt. Why?

 

[8ball]

I personally think private plates are a complete waste of money (tho girlfriend claims hers has gone up in price - meh).

Don’t think it’s a status thing but more novelty thing for her.

Was hers v expensive?

 

[8ball]

I knew a bloke who had "RS 2000" as his plate , which i believe is a fancy car. He had it cos his initials were RS and 2000 was a nice number (and he was rich). An "RS 2000" car fan offered him £50k for it in the end. He took at and got "REX 1" for the same money (Rex being his first name). Fucking cunt. Why?

Guess he didn’t really need that 50k.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Personalised plates are for wankers. No exceptions.

It's cheaper to change your own name to match your car's reg number. Just make sure it's a car without too many miles on the clock and with a reputation for longevity. Also be prepared to have several difficult phone conversations with people at the DVLA.

 

[8ball]

It's cheaper to change your own name to match your car's reg number.

Always out-thinking the capitalists.

 

[bimble]

I knew a bloke who had "RS 2000" as his plate , which i believe is a fancy car. He had it cos his initials were RS and 2000 was a nice number (and he was rich). An "RS 2000" car fan offered him £50k for it in the end. He took at and got "REX 1" for the same money (Rex being his first name). Fucking cunt. Why?

Well. Maybe being named 'Rex' though no fault of his own is a mitigating factor in this particular case. Very sad.

 

[Marty1]

Was hers v expensive?

Think she paid £500 or so.

 

[8ball]

Well. Maybe being named 'Rex' though no fault of his own is a mitigating factor in this particular case. Very sad.

Thing is, REX 1 will likely hold its value.
It’s beginning to look more like a canny investment than a Veblen good as such.

 

[8ball]

Think she paid £500 or so.

That’s 3 of my car, but hey, prob not that much for a personalised reg.

 

[mx wcfc]

Think she paid £500 or so.

My b-i-l has an unusual first name. I won't say what it is, obv, but he got his name on a plate for £250. He had to wait before he could buy a car new enough to put the plate on though!

 

[bimble]

Thing is, REX 1 will likely hold its value.
It’s beginning to look more like a canny investment than a Veblen good as such.

Only a canny investment because you can count on there being a supply of other idiots out there (and /or people named Rex) , still no other use than 'look at me i bought this thing'.

 

[8ball]

Only a canny investment because you can count on there being a supply of other idiots out there (and /or people named Rex) , still no other use than 'look at me i bought this thing'.

Not something I’d buy, but relatively harmless. Just printed words on a bit of plastic rather than meaningless digits.

 

[mx wcfc]

Only a canny investment because you can count on there being a supply of other idiots out there (and /or people named Rex) , still no other use than 'look at me i bought this thing'.

Oh indeed - some things are only worth what some other twerp will pay for them. After the revolution these things will only help us identify candidates for the boat to South Georgia.

 

[8ball]

Oh indeed - some things are only worth what some other twerp will pay for them. After the revolution these things will only help us identify candidates for the boat to South Georgia.

I’m less bothered about this than about those folks flying round on private jets, owning companies that are based on digging masses of resources out of the ground in the global South to create goods they can ship to the global North to have a brief life above ground before going into landfill, all at a massive environmental cost.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I’m massively judgemental when I see a personalised number plate. If I notice that a woman has a handbag that (because of its little brass logo) cost the same as a car, am liable to judge her to be an idiot.

I think that's pretty fair tbh

 

[Steel Icarus]

How far do you go with the judging, though? I could have only £4 polo shirts off the internet and no Fred Perrys, and a cheap kagoul rather than a smart Penguin windcheater

 

[Winot]

How far do you go with the judging, though? I could have only £4 polo shirts off the internet and no Fred Perrys, and a cheap kagoul rather than a smart Penguin windcheater

They are not Veblen goods though. From the Wikipedia link above:

Veblen goods are types of luxury goods for which the quantity demanded increases as the price increases, an apparent contradiction of the law of demand, resulting in an upward-sloping demand curve.

Most of the examples given on this thread are not Veblen goods either.

 

[mauvais]

I don't know about Veblen goods as such, but I've never really understood expensive watches in particular as a display of wealth. The only people really likely to identify exactly what you're sporting are the people who've got something more expensive themselves.

 

[Fez909]

Some have wankery thrust upon them.

I know two people with private plates and neither of them chose them. They were gifts from people with no imagination and a 'need' to buy something expensive.

The first was a mate and he was both horrified and gutted that his parents would waste so much cash on something so shit, and that he'd have to actually drive around in it and look like a wanker.

The second is my dad. His girlfriend bought him it, and he probably quite likes it, but would never have chosen it himself. It's definitely a vanity purchase though as she bought a plate with his and her own initials on

 

[Fez909]

I don't know about Veblen goods as such, but I've never really understood expensive watches in particular as a display of wealth. The only people really likely to identify exactly what you're sporting are the people who've got something more expensive themselves.

That's exactly why they're a signal of wealth. They signal to the right people.