This post is based on the video – Low Vs High-Quality Bags
Gentlemen, Antonio here. Let’s talk about the difference between $100 and $1000 leather bag.
I know many of you guys are out there in the market for something like this, maybe you’re just graduating law school, maybe you’ve been in the industry for thirty years and you’re looking to upgrade your bag.
Guys, I want to make sure you get the most bag for your money and the three factors the three pricing issues I’m going to talk about today.
These really can drive up the price, they can help you find a great deal or they can warn you that if you don’t see any of these things I’m talking about here, you probably need to stay away from that bag even if it looks like a great deal. At the end of the day, gents, I want you to make a smart purchasing decision.
Now, to illustrate the point, I’ve got a bag right here from Oppermann of London, a very cool company and what I really like about them is they hit the sweet spot in a lot of areas. I feel they’re a great value. You can go check them out right here.
And to make this really sweet for you, guys, I had a wallet that they sent me and I’m going to give it away, all I need for you to do is go check out the website and write down in the comments which of the wallets you guess it is and many of you guys are saying, “Well, Antonio why don’t you give me the bag?” Well, I’m actually giving this bag to one of my styles scholars in the Personal Image System, so there you go.
All right, guys. Let’s talk about how to get a sweet deal. What you want to understand is $100 to $1,000 and to in some cases I didn’t even put this in the title, but $10,000 for bags. I would say the difference between a $1,000 and $10,000 is actually very minute. We’re talking the Law of Diminishing Returns here. But, from $100 to $1,000, you can see some very big differences in quality.
Now, I’m going to get into leather and build quality here in a second as the other factors, but I do want to stress if you are willing to compromise a little bit on status symbol, maybe with the company who hasn’t been around for a long time, you can find some great deals. Again, Oppermann to me that’s why they fit into that sweet spot. They’ve only been around for awhile, however they’ve already built a very strong reputation and bags like these you’re going to find fit into that sweet spot of you being able to get a great deal.
#1 Brand
So, pricing factor number one. Brand. And, let me illustrate this. So, you have two bags made in the same factory, different floors, everything pretty much is the same except whenever they’re going out to the market, one gets a stamp of a very high status brand, the other one, of a not so high status brand. Guess what the price difference is? Ten times difference. The high status brand is going to charge a lot more simply because of the reputation the brand has built up and everything that goes with it.
So, when I’m talking brand, guys, I’m talking reputation, I’m talking service, I’m talking status, and I’m talking availability. So, reputation is something a brand builds up over time. There are many companies out there that you can get a great deal, have a solid reputation, but oftentimes it’s going to be something that in my opinion where you can find a great deal is a brand that hasn’t been around for a while that maybe doesn’t have the reputation built up, but is putting out a great quality product.
Now, let’s talk about status. I alluded to this. This is where you want to be careful. Oftentimes, a company simply is going maybe got a deal with the celebrity.
They’ve got somebody famous, athlete or somebody who is using and wearing their stuff and because of that, they’re able to command a higher price. Oftentimes, tie with the status, you’ll have limited runs, so very different if the same bag is only made one hundred times versus a bag that’s made ten thousand or a hundred thousand times. Very different in terms of what the price are going to be able to command especially on secondary markets.
Now, with the brand also I brought in service. To me, this is one of the most important things. It goes with reputation, but I think service then being able to say, hey, we’re going to go back we’re going to take care of you if you have an issue with the bag if for some reason it has a defect, we will make sure to replace it to fix it. Those are the kind of things I look for when I’m looking at a company.
#2 Tanning Process
Pricing factor number two is going to be the tanning process. So, if they’re using a chromed tanning process that’s where they’re using chemicals, this is a process that’s actually very let’s just say not very good for the environment, but it’s very inexpensive. That right there is often going to be in lower priced products.
Now, when we see vegetable tanning, that’s going to be done in Italy, it takes a longer process. Oftentimes, you’re going to see it at tanneries that have been doing this for generations and generations. They have unique processes and that is going to drive up the cost of the leather hence the price of the bag.
#3 Quality Of Build
The third and final pricing factor I’m going to discuss is the quality of the build. So, let’s talk about the process, let’s talk about the hardware, and let’s talk about the threat. Okay. So, the process, you’re going to see hand and you’re going to see machine. I think that actually seeing a combination of them is best and I’m not saying that handwork is better than machine-work, they’re just simply being able to bring it together.
But, you will see oftentimes the more handwork that goes into something, something that is advertised is actually being hand-sewn, handmade, the price can start to creep up, but machine-sewn, it doesn’t mean it’s worse quality, but it does mean that, you know, certain — if it’s a hundred percent machine-made that maybe they were going to be more defects that maybe they weren’t able to do the small details which only you can do with your hands. Or, if you value artisan work, then you’re going to want to make sure that there was a good amount of handwork put into it.
Now, let’s talk about the hard work. The key things you want to look out. First off, look at the zipper. Look how it moves, cross. Is it smooth? Does it get caught? What’s the size of the zipper? Does everything look like it’s well put together?
Then, you want to look at the other pieces of hardware. Look at the metal. What types of metal do they use? Does it look like it’s actually, you know, can you see the details? Are they using rivets in key points where you’re actually going to have stress on the bag?
What you want is a bag that’s functional that’s going to last and a lot of companies, they’re going to try to cut prices by actually going with something cheap. If a company paid attention on the hardware, then most likely they put attention in the other parts of the build as well.
Finally, let’s look at stitching. So, you want to make sure that there are no missed stitches, you want to go up and down looking how tightly it’s put together. Look at the quality of the thread, make sure none of it is fraying or it’s coming off. Look at where they’ve put it together and just the small details. Are there any loose threads? Did they actually reinforce on ends? Small details like that are going to make the difference between a $100 and $1,000 bag.
Look at the quality of the thread, make sure none of it is fraying or it’s coming off. Look at where they’ve put it together and just the small details. Are there any loose threads? Did they actually reinforce on ends? Small details like that are going to make the difference between a $100 and $1,000 bag.
That’s it. Let me know what you think in the comments down below and make sure to go check out Oppermann. I’ve got this beautiful wallet I’d love to give away. All I need to know is what color, what style do you think it is, just let me know in the comments and I’ll be giving away here in the next couple of weeks.
That’s it, guys. I’ll see you in the next video. Take care.
This post is based on the video – Low Vs High-Quality Bags