I have to start by saying, looking into the luxury goods industry was like the perfect assignment for me! I am one of those girls who tends to enjoy some of the finer things in life, whether it be flicking through a copy of vogue, getting my mitts on something in a shop, or actually being lucky to own something.
I’m sure there are many of you out there, who like me enjoy these things too, and have a little penchant for something in particular, for me, it seems to be jewels, sunglasses, handbags, shoes, you name it, I’m sure I like it, but it can also be music devices, cars, technology, even a nice wine.
But when I thought about the luxury goods industry for my ethics project, it actually dawned on me, can a luxury brand ever really be ethical? I mean you can look at this question from a number of different angles: do luxury brands use ethical sourcing at all? Do they give back to any communities? It is really ethical to charge huge amounts of money for some goods that may be deceptive in price?
Take this holdall suitcase you see to the left, its made by Louis Vuitton, a world renowned malletier, or luggage makers to you and I, well to purchase this soft sided holdall, it will set you back a nice £835. Bargain? I think not considering the monogramed areas of the bag are just made of canvas brushed with plastic, its only the strapping that is leather, so now think about it this way £835 for a plastic suitcase, doesnt sound so appealing does it?But then we do have to look at the other side of the industry, where your money may be going to a worth wile cause. De Beers are well known diamond specialists, and yes, we all know diamonds are expensive little gems anyway, but at De Beers you will pay that little bit more, but it may just be worth the money. See De Beers work alongside the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), which works to certify un cut diamonds, and prevent diamonds. The president of De Beers, Andrew Coxon is actually a founding member of the World Diamond Council and spearheaded this initiative on behalf of the diamond industry. Each diamond you buy from De Beers comes with its own De Beers diamond passport, which in their own words “clearly states our stringent conflict diamond policy and confirms that every single piece of De Beers jewellery is ethically produced and 100% conflict-free.”
So now I’ve given you these two examples of pricing within the luxury goods industry I’m asking for your input, when do you think it is acceptable to charge such large amounts of money for luxury goods and when do you not?
Have you ever thought about where all the profit is going once you’ve purchased it, from Louis Vuitton who profit everything, to De Beers who use their money to help stop conflict diamonds?
Georgina x
Hi Georgina,
ReplyDeleteI'm the same as you - a total magpie, ifs it’s shiny or sparkly, I HAVE it!
Whether its clothes, accessories, technological goods, food or whatever else, I always prefer to have the better quality, high end, expensive stuff. But, and it’s a significant but, no one likes to feel like they are being ripped off. As you said with the LV bag - what are you really paying the extra dollar for? A leather strap? For £800 quid?
I think, especially with these designer products, people (with enough money) will buy these kinds of produce because they are worn by aspiration characters and celebrities. But they could get a really nice, all leather, good quality bag from Topshop or another high street retailer. This would also relieve them of the embarrassing moment when they spot a chav wearing an almost identical fake copy version they bought down the market!
We all like to have nice things, but I think the money people waste on material things could go to a much better use. Or, if they did fancy being really extravagant, at least splash out on a product you know cost somewhere near the figure you are paying for it.
Diamonds are an interesting example as that industry always seems a bit corrupt to me (blood diamonds, etc.), but with De Beers, if you are paying the maximum you'd expect it to be ethically sourced and conflict free! That goes without saying, although it's good that they are stating this information.
To summarise the above, my opinion is, it is perfectly reasonable to pay extra for a product of extra quality, if you have the means to do so, but when you pay large sums of money for a product that is of no special value, you'd be a fool not to wonder where your money is going.
We all love to splash out (when we can) on our favourite things, in my case I'm a sucker for heels, cheap or expensive, if it's easy on the eye then its got me hooked.
ReplyDeleteWhen I thought about this issue and my view on expensive things I don't think I would ever have the urge to buy something so expensive unless i was really well off!! I'm now used to the LV design but I remember when I was about 15 and my best friend's nan had given her an LV purse and she would not stop going on about it...well that was the first time I had even heard of the brand and I thought it was the ugliest thing EVER because it was BROWN lol! Anyway getting back to the point, it is called a luxury item for a reason, because only rich people can afford it. A lot of people buy it because of the brand name and if luxury products were to become cheaper then they would lose their appeal and brand significance!
I dont think it's right to say that it's unethical to charge people that much money for a bag because rich people can afford it and they choose to buy them, no one's stopping them from going down the high street and buying a bag!
With the diamonds case, it's easy to turn a blind eye to unethical issues when the organisation in question has a fat manual on how ethical they are. At the end of the day I don't think there is a way possible to own non currupt diamonds. If you look at where diamonds come from, they are all third world countries, so how are they still so poor if the diamonds industry makes trillions of pounds!! You can blame their Government for stealing the money they make, but if diamond selling retailers no that these Countries' government are corrupt, then carrying on the business is encouraging the corruption to continue.
All in all i see luxury brands as quite unethical when they are less generous in giving their money for chariteable causes. After all, companies which are far smaller in profits can afford to make a hell of a difference so why shouldn't they do it too?
I definatly agree with you there Ines, I think if people can afford these goods, then we can't truely call it unethical pricing, as someone is always willing to pay way over the realistic price, and after all, this is why they are luxury goods.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, the point should be that all these companies who are making billions of pounds in profit should be doing something worthwhile, like you said, if the smaller companies can do it, why can't the large ones!
People buy into the brand name, not the actual quality of the product. It's probably not even a consideration of if it's ethically made or even well-made! But people would surely kick up a fuss if their £835 bag soon fell apart!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think about where the money is going?! Because if it is costing little more than a Primark product to make, then where is the excessive mark-up profit going? In the pockets of the company..
I guess the idea of things being a luxury good, mean they are something that not everyone else can have. So it's the old business studies supply and demand thing. In order to make the item special, rare and in demand, the price must be high. I think that's right anyway! Things available at high-street prices have a broader appeal therefore supply is higher.
I'm not really sure when it is acceptable to charge these prices. I do love pretty things, but my moral compass tells me not to part with so much money for designer labels (mainly because I don't HAVE the money). But once in a while, for something special, jewellery for instance, it is worth paying more. Just for the exclusive factor, or the admiration from other people.
I would like to think it is okay to buy cheaper, 'unethical' clothes, since at least I'm not being ripped off even if the people that make it are. Whereas if the same thing is occurring with highly priced luxury goods, then neither person is winning? Apart from the brand. But it's up to each person to decide what they are willing to pay for each item. If people have the money, then they won't think anything of spending £835 on a poorly made bag. Louis V is their Primark.