Can someone explain to me the appeal of conspicuous consumption?

Some people have so much money, they just don't give a fuck. There are many more people who feel obligated to own ridiculous designer things because there's a whole culture built up around revering them, or to prove that they're not poor.

>>1555253

Well, as you said yourself, you like 'nice things'. The whole point of branding is attributing value or a certain standard to objects. Companies such as Louis Vuitton are esteemed for having high quality luxury products, even though most of their shit may be made of plastic. Why? Simply because a lot of people use it. Psychologically speaking, when we see a lot of people wearing the same object or 'brand', we automatically assume it's high quality, or nice. My point is: you answered your own fucking question. You want nice things? Well so do other people, and that's why they buy wallets like pic related.

Now, do you really think rich people actually care about the difference between a 5$ wallet and a 500$ wallet? Those figures mean nothing to them.

Now get off this board and come back when you can tie your shoelaces

>>1555268
So essentially what you are saying is that people want nice things but those who have a ton of money and no time just go after what is popularly known as nice, assuming that it will actually be nice. Companies like Lois Vuitton exploit that niche.

It must be a pain in the ass to be rich and have to wade through high price-tag shit to find actual nice things. Like imagine if you want to get into really good wine, nice cars, or something similar, but don't know anything about it. You are either extremely careful, or you frequently get assed and feel like a tool.

And I think truly rich people do care when they waste 500 on something. I don't spend four dollars on a bottle of water at the airport even though four dollars is nothing to me. The feeling of being assed hurts far more than any monetary loss, and I think I would feel the same even if I was a millionaire.

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>>1555253
Women.

Conspicuous consumption can be thought of as a mating behavior, outwardly signifying social status and access to resources.

Like the peacocks tail, it shows this male can afford this extravagant expense of energy, and so likely has good genes.

I don't know about any of you, but when I see people with small things that are 'designer', I automatically think they're poor.

If they have larger luxury items, like sports cars, I think they're dumb.

>>1555253
I was spending $20 on wallets every half a year until I realised that a $50 wallet is much more well made and durable. My current wallet (first $50 wallet I bought) has lasted over a year and half, and is still going strong. Same thing goes for my $100 China made Foxguider watch which broke after 1 year, and my current $450 protrek 6000 with carbon Fibre strap.
Of course, if you told me you bought a wallet/watch for ten times more, then there better be a good practical reason or I'll think you are a fool.

>>1555397
Agree with you on the first part, shit gives nigg vibes.

Second part depends on if they bought it to enjoy, invest with, or impress people.

>>1555253

Studies show that people who drive expensive cars are more likely to have others yield to them in traffic, suffer fewer instances of aggressive driving, etc.

Same thing with dress, people are more likely to move out of the way on a crowded sidewalk, perform favors, generally act nicer around those who dress well.

And then there's the women aspect: >>1555310

People do this for a reason, OP, whether they know it or not. The important thing here is to keep quality in mind as well, and look for less expensive ways to achieve the same effect.

>>1555416

I worked at a silicon valley sw company that went to the moon and before long the sports cars started showing up.

All I felt was pity, and I got a sick sinking feeling for them. Here they are, with maybe a once in a lifetime cash out, and they burn it. Yikes

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>>1555415
Yeah dude, nothing wrong with spending a lot of money (perhaps even an idiotic amount) on something because you like it, or because you want a quality one. I like Ferraris, for example. Wallets handle a lot of abuse, and the idea of something that holds your identity, money, and credit card coming apart on you and possibly losing one of those things is enough to make it worth buying a good one. The thing is though, getting a good one, not a pointlessly expensive one.

Expensive watches are really really really pretty. I'd never get a Rollex or whatever, but I understand why someone would be willing to drop a lot on one, or even collect large numbers of them and put them in one of those absurdly expensive watchwinders.

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>>1555437
I feel that way every time I see a friend who doesn't care one shit about cars drop a tremendous amount of money on a brand new "appliance" car. You can buy a comfortable, nice looking, endlessly reliable 10 year old genericmobile for $8,000, but for some reason literally everyone I know buys a brand new 20-30k genericmobile. These are people with normal incomes. These are not people who like cars, these are not people who care about impressing others. These are people who buy a new car in the same way they buy a new refrigerator, and yet for some reason they are perfectly okay dumping 12-20k extra depreciation money in the trash just so it can be new.

And when you do that on a $100k Mercedes or Maserati that will be worth $20k a week from Tuesday, it's nothing short of a tragedy.

That said...cars are literally my favorite thing. I've been working my whole life to get to the point that I have my shit together and can start buying and caring for old Ferraris and Alfa Romeos and whatever the hell else I've always wanted to own. As soon as I own my own house, half of my income will go to classic cars, which I will preserve and drive and never sell even if they suddenly explode in value. You can bet your ass that if I suddenly received a 200k or whatever payout from my job, I would arrive on Monday with some sort of sports car.

If any of your co-workers feels the same way, I genuinely feel happy for them. For the rest of them, I really hope they have the sense to hold on to their car until it stops depreciating and starts becoming valuable again. The 40k used Lamborghinis child me used to think he would own one day are now all 100-150k. A friend of mine used to drive a Ferrari 275 in the 70s. He bought it for 6k and sold it for 60k. Ten years later they were worth a million.

>>1555253
It's a signal of social status.

Buying quality goods is usually expensive. Hand-made stuff, custom tailored clothes or shoes, etc all fall under this category and are usually decent to good investments.

Then there is personal gratification. People like stuff for irrational reasons and maybe growing up they develop certain dreams. Just because you don't share them, doesn't mean you should judge them. I don't get flashy sports cars, but apparently they mean a lot emotionally to many people. Not every spending decision is rational. Maybe a guy grew up poor, bought into the whole media and advertising bullshit and now really actually desires an LV wallet.

Then there is signalling. Maybe you want to show off your wealth? Maybe you want to attract a mate? More often than not it happens surprisingly organically. If you rise you adapt. You start out with a 30k salary and wear cheap shirts and ties. Once you've climbed the ladder to 80k you find yourself in a new environment and start wearing quality shirts and suits. 150k, new title, custom-fit shirts, silk ties. 250k and in come the golden cuff links and the 8k watch. You spend about the same percentage of your income on your appearance. That's priced into the raises you receive and the profits you generate. If your clients pay 800 bucks an hour for their hot-shot lawyer or consultant they expect a certain level of dress and don't think they got their money's worth if a guy in a cheap comfy suit shows up. It's silly, because the guy gives the same advice regardless of how he's dressed, but that's how humans work.

Finally, there are people who have so much money they just spend mindlessly. If they seek a wallet they don't go to the shady dealer at a flea market where you can buy them for 10 bucks. They go to the designer store they frequent anyway and just pick one up. To them it's not worth the time and though to go out of their way.

>>1555253
Aim to make so much that you can brag about impulse buying a rolls royce. You dont need a RR, you may even hate it, but the fact you can do so makes people feel inferior to you and worship you for simply spending 6 figures on a whim.

This is an extreme end of the same thought process.

Fools brag about their wealth, idiots wear their wealth, and the """smart""" people sit in a minimalist studio appartment at 2am watching their numbers go up until they die.

>>1557358
>idiots wear their wealth
so i should dress like shit?

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>>1555474
I feel the same way, new sports cars are really terrible value and there are very few people who will appreciate seeing a brand new Ferrari on the road, most will just think you're a jerk.

Classic cars are entirely different, I have a small collection of cars that I personally find very charming and everybody loves it.

Sometimes I meet up with a few friends who drive Porsche and Ferrari and when I roll up with pic related I'm definitely the crowd pleaser.

>>1558289
Nice strawman

>>1555253

> Why do people want nice things.

Jesus christ OP.

Or you buy nice things so you can do certain things. Collectible cars, horological grade watches, etc. and it commands respect. You walk into places like Tiffany's and LV here in NYC, p tier service.

And yeah, some people could afford it, spending 220k on an ALange & Sohne watch is a fraction of their yearly income, so why not buy the best.

>>1555253
Good luck explaining that to a chick you're fucking

>I only spent $200 on Xmas presents because material possessions don't matter baby.
>Babe, you there?

>>1558901
>nice
>a fucking ugly wallet
>nice

>>1559414
That's just a matter of vetting. If you go for a vapid shallow model don't be surprised if you have to spend big time to keep her around. That's basically the arrangement you signed up for.
But conversely you can definitely pick up fine chicks who don't care about expensive gifts. In fact there's a growing number of women who may take expensive one-sided gifts the wrong way since you're basically treating them like hookers, paying for affection.

If you both make about the same amount of money the discussion is moot anyway. If you both can buy whatever you desire you switch to gifting experiences and emotionally charged small things pretty quickly.

>>1559414
Being this shallow is why you will never make that kind of money.

Also your logic doesn't even add up, if women are only interested in you because of wealth, couldn't you just get a new one?

>>1559451
>>1559453
The fuck are you virgin cucks blathering about?

I never said get women by giving them nice gifts. Yes, I know consumerism is retarded. I would rather put every penny into my business.

I also enjoy having sex with attractive women. Sometimes they have impressive jobs sometimes not. I've never met a hot entrepreneur chick. But ALL women are consumerist whores it's science fact. Your not gonna convert them to /biz/ types
>inb4 some fags claim to be femanons
No

>>1558901

> What is subjectivity.

Social signalling. It's a normie thing. It isn't about being rich. Many poors get themselves into tens of ks of cc debt to buy shit like op pic. Men, women, old, young, doesn't matter. Normies are fucking retarded shitstains and I spend most of my day thinking of ways to screw them out of their money. "A fool and their money are easily parted."

>>1555397

The only stuff I have that is designer came from goodwill. Rich people toss amazing stuff. Ever do curb picking? The shit people throw away, man...

>>1555253
>spending large amounts of money on things that have no intrinsic value, in order to show off to others how rich you are.

It's like you've never met the Chinese before.

Superficial flaunting of wealth in the faces of the poor is what we do best.

How else are you going to feel special in a communist country where everyone is supposed to be "equally" poor and worthless?

>>1559512
>successful business
>thinking half of the population is basically retarded because of their gender

Choose one.

>>1555253
>no intrinsic value
This is where you failed. Wanting to belong is inherant to human nature. This need is, and always had, been expressed through artifacts and codified "language".

>>1559512
>cucks
Stopped reading there. Opinion discarded.

That specific wallet is hideous but there are a lot of beautiful $500+ wallets.

If the argument is regarding spending money on luxury goods then each to their own. If you want to hoard your wealth until "later when you really need it" then feel free. To many intelligent people, however, lavish spending indicates a level of confidence in future money making ability - especially in young people.

I'm not saying you should throw your money away. But if you're 32 years old and all you do is sit in the apartment counting your money and recoil in disgust at the idea of spending 3 bucks on a bottle of water when there's a fountain right there then you aren't doing it right either.

There is a happy medium when it comes to money. Be confident in your ability to bring it in and that will allow you to spend it liberally on whatever it is you value. If it makes you happy to wait until you're 55 to start spending it then feel free, just don't judge others for doing so.

>>1559536
In the past, you could have those "symbols" "artifacts" by passing a ritual "exam" (from childhood to manhood ie), and in general in those "exams" one had to proove his value to the community, the tribe. However, nowadays a valuable individual is compensated with money. So wearing an item that is percieved as expensive=i belong to a certain class of individuals that are financially compensated for their value.

>>1559532
>Virtue signalling this hard

Be sure to tag your gf or wife in your fb posts to make sure she sees them. That is, if you don't have a shared fb account

>>1559561
>To many intelligent people, however, lavish spending indicates a level of confidence in future money making ability - especially in young people.

I have experience quite the opposite, that in fact when you have money, a sense of modesty and being humble will gain you trust and confidence.

I myself have refused many business dealing with people on the grounds that I don't think they're being very reasonable with their new-found wealth.

There is definitely a reason why those stereotypes of the newly rich and trust fund kids exist.