Why do rich people prefer replica goods?

We’ve all heard the story of The Necklace.

The young and beautiful but not rich heroine borrowed a diamond necklace from a rich friend to attend a dinner party, but lost it when she was leaving.

In order to hide the loss of the necklace, the hostess went bankrupt the next day and took out a loan to buy one and send it back, and then she and her husband worked for ten years to pay off the debt.

Ten years later, the heroine ran into a rich friend on the street by chance. During the chat, a friend was very surprised to tell her that the diamond necklace she borrowed back then was actually a high-end replica.

Maupassant was trying to tell people more than a hundred years ago, don’t think that rich people don’t buy imitation goods.

Because consumers who buy replica goods do not have the ability to buy genuine products, major luxury brands in the UK generally feel that the illegal behavior of the imitation goods market has little to do with them, so they are too lazy to take care of them.

But Davenport Lyons law firm in London warned bosses that they were being naive.

According to a survey by the long-term strategic partner of the legal affairs of major European luxury brands, the proportion of people who buy imitation products is basically the same as the overall social situation.

The proportion of high-income people in the UK is 19%, while the proportion of high-income people who buy replica products is 16%. That is to say, the buyers of counterfeit goods are not all made up of poor young people, as legend has it.

Those who bought imitations spent 42% more on clothing than those who had never bought imitations. People who have bought imitations are more likely to buy the original in the next two years.

Compared with the consumer group who only buys genuine products, although people who buy imitation products have lower clothing consumption, they spend the same on watches. Interestingly, spending on jewelry was even 11% higher.

In 2006, a similar survey was conducted in the Academy of Marketing Science Review, a top journal in the field of marketing.

The results show that many people who can buy genuine products also buy imitations.

There was such a news at the end of last year.

Dubai checked a batch of imitation goods worth 257 million US dollars, the number of which was nearly 30,000, and LV and Chanel accounted for the majority.

Can’t think of it? Dubai people also play replica. The legendary “goods room” is hidden in the downtown area of the city. A husband and wife team of adventure bloggers said. Through chatting with these stores, I learned that in addition to European and American tourists like them, there are also locals among consumers.

In the Middle East, it is not only Dubai, but Turkey on the other side of the Fertile Crescent is known as an imitation watch empire among European and American tourists.

Every year, thousands of European and American middle-class people will take their families to the other side of the Aegean Sea to experience the exotic customs at the beginning of spring. When parting, a $500 Rolex YachtMaster is definitely a must-buy souvenir treasure if you don’t buy it when you return home. Forbes magazine columnist, lawyer Marc Weber Tobias complained about it based on his own experience.

He said that in the Turkish port of Kusadasi (KUSADASI), the famous Byzantine tourist destination in Europe, there are countless and dizzying variety of goods on the streets. However, apart from the carpet, there is nothing to believe.

Tobias wrote that he had a chat with a boss who sold imitation Rolex watches. The other party was a member of the local chamber of commerce. He had 200 employees and could produce more than 1 million replica watches every year.

The other party said that he only sells real fakes, those that cost at least $100, use precious metals, and are handcrafted by retired cadres from the original factory. When it comes to customer groups, the owner of imitation watches said that don’t think that imitation goods are worthless, and that a real guy for ten dollars is no problem. It is not white-collar workers in Europe and America or domestic Westernized people.

So why do rich people buy fakes too?

In fact, the rich people mentioned here refer to the middle class with certain assets, not the tycoons like Trump.

For this group of people, Haider Ali of the British Open University stated in an article on the BBC:

“Most of the wealth of this group of people comes from their own accumulation. They instinctively calculate the cost-effectiveness, are flexible in dealing with legal issues, and have their own set of business logic for the value of big brands.”

“They may be buying knockoffs because they think the price of the original is unfair. Savvy shoppers who think they can beat the system are also likely to buy knockoffs.”

Perhaps the American rapper is a good example of this point of view.

Whether it’s on Twitter, YouTube, or INS, the fakes worn by rappers are undoubtedly big business for European and American self-media.

It can be updated almost every week, and the content is more diligent than other people’s songs. It stands to reason that those rappers who have been skinned are somewhat famous.

You say the Empire State Building can’t be built, and buying a few bags isn’t a toy?

But the account cannot be calculated carefully. A few pieces of tens of thousands of things are okay, but at the speed of changing five outfits a day in the circle, only a boss like JAY-Z may be able to withstand it.

And rapper is really not as rich as everyone thinks.

Some time ago, 6IX9INE had an infighting with his agent, didn’t he say that he took a small million after working for a few years, which is not as good as a fraction of the brothers.

Speaking of 6IX9INE now is really pitiful.

From the much-anticipated red boy to the Jin Mao rat everyone shouts and beats, he has been attacked by the entire Internet in the United States since last year’s “whistleblower incident”.

Regarding the use of imitation goods, a group of anti-counterfeiting bloggers have also stepped up their efforts, and even the braces will be removed. Having said that, for those wealthy people who earn their own money, their understanding of price and value may be far deeper than we think.

During a tour of Thailand, Lady Gaga said on Twitter that after she is done, she must sweep a circle of high imitation Rolex in the local market. Thai officials later protested, saying that Lady Gaga’s public speaking of such topics greatly hurt the feelings of the Thai people.

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