I am a fan of vintage clothing.
As a fan, I have my choice of two great options to purchase things.
A trendy vintage clothing store in Virginia Highlands or … Goodwill.
What is interesting to me is that the prices in the trendy store are about 10 times the price I find in Goodwill. However, I have an aversion to wearing someone else’s clothes that I buy in Goodwill, while the price stops me from buying from the trendy place.
What is ironic is that I know full well that the buyer for the trendy store is simply going thought the racks at Goodwill, perhaps even the exact same one that I stop at.
Personally, my aversion to spending money is greater than my aversion to wearing used clothes, so I end up buying at Goodwill.
Let’s take a moment to reflect on why my brain differentiates between the two stores.
My gut is that it is due to exclusivity. When I go to Goodwill, most anyone can afford the shirt I am buying, but when I go to the trendy store, the price is a barrier to entry, to all but the middle-class and up.
We can learn from this that exclusivity creates value for an object.
It is the same premise that keeps the De Beers diamond empire running as they monopolize the diamond market and keep the price artificially high (and therefore exclusive) by stockpiling diamonds and controlling the supply.
This is also, why I predict that new artificially produced diamonds which are of superior quality but lower price will never be given to your honey as an engagement ring en mass.
Perhaps I should start charging for access to my blog… It might improve my readership. 🙂