There is a regular guest on Howard Stern called King of All Blacks. He is the most self-centered superficial person in the world. He is a garbage man (now street sweeper) in NJ who wears $10k watches and drives $70k cars - in part due to his rich father.
The title of this thread is based on a now famous line he said during an argument on air once. He was trying to argue how rich and good his tastes in fine things are, and he said "My faucets is Moen!" as if the brand of faucets he uses in his house makes him a superior person.
I constantly hear the term "keeping up with the Joneses" - trying to one-up your neighbors and usually going into debt in the process.
What are your thoughts on this? Is it necessary for the economy for people to spend money on expensive things they dont really need? If everyone saved money instead, then deflation would kick in. Surely there's markets out there employing people to sell overpriced things to people who don't need it.
It's understood in business that there's two ways to make money. High profit and low volume or High volume and low profit. When it comes to the Moen Faucets and Rolex watches of the world, there is low volume by definition. This means there must be high profits involved per unit. Profits are a metric of value creation by the business.
Where does the value come from? It comes from the image of the item being exclusive and valuable. This value could take the form of a guy getting more female companionship because they see his wealthy status symbols and think he will be a good provider for them. The value could come from getting more business contracts because clients think you must be successful to have nice things. This value could simply be internalized and a feeling of intrinsic success. Clearly this value is real, otherwise people would not be willing to exchange large sums of cash for status symbols. The large profits are thus justified in the businesses creating these items.
How can we profit from this? Find out what the real status symbols are and where the real value lies. It may be the case that a $5k watch is actually worth $5k because it's a better watch. It may be the case that the $60k car drives better than the $20k car. Its up to you to figure out:
1) What items are purely status symbols and which are high-end quality?
2) How can you replace status symbols and still obtain the same life results - it could be that you have such a successful track record in business that you dont need the Rolex to impress a potential client. Or you did an additional internship, or took a class on influence or public speaking and this aura around you impresses the clients. Perhaps you learn something like The Mystery Method to help pick up girls, instead of relying on a fancy car or watch. There are ways to achieve the same goals that status symbols provide without using them directly.
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Not sure what mine are. But people DO buy things to impress other people; and to make others jealous. As Madonna says, we are living in a material world. How true it is.
tripleB said:It's understood in business that there's two ways to make money. High profit and low volume or High volume and low profit. When it comes to the Moen Faucets and Rolex watches of the world, there is low volume by definition. This means there must be high profits involved per unit. Profits are a metric of value creation by the business.Lol. What about medium volume and medium profit margin? There are a lot of different ways to make money...
I think we should have a thread on why so many americans are totally full of crap.
With some things you get what you pay for. You buy stuff from a dollar store and you sometimes will be buying it again and again. You spend more money on something (which usually means a "name brand") and you expect quality to be better. It's give and take. You live and learn about what's worth paying the extra money for and what isn't.
The Luxury Institute rates Grohe as the top in bath fixtures, followed closely by Kohler and Hansgrohe. Moen didn't make the top five.
Having said that, all bath fixture manufacturers have their modest, less expensive lines and their ultra-pricey luxury lines. When you look at the exceptionally luxurious products, Moen doesn't even come close to fitting in.
I have an urban co-worker, both myself and him make the same salary, (low 30s) yet he constantly waves wads of money around ($1-2k) like someone is supposed to be impressed.
Literally, he does this often and he'll even brag about it saying to people "i bet you dunt gut 2 gees on yu", he just looks and sounds like an idiot.
I don't know why these poor people try to pretend they have money. I always tell him he looks like an idiot and needs to get a bank account, he is too ghetto and doesn't understand.
NewToFatWalletUser said:I have an African-American co-worker, both myself and him make the same salary, (low 30s) yet he constantly waves wads of money around ($1-2k) like someone is supposed to be impressed.
Literally, he does this often and he'll even brag about it saying to people "i bet you dunt gut 2 gees on yu", he just looks and sounds like an African-American.
I don't know why these African-American people try to pretend they have money. I always tell him he looks like an African-American and needs to get a bank account, he is too ghetto and doesn't understand.
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