If buying that oen handbag means you will not buy any others for the next few years, then ok. But even then you probably need to factor in how much you spend on purses per year in order to see how long it will take for that purchase to go from splurge ---> breaking even ---> investment.

You mean when you pay $1000 for a diamond at some jewelery store in the mall - the diamond is really worth like $300?? You mean those official looking "appraisals" that seem to indicate that you are buying the diamond for far less than it is actually worth are BS? But the appraisals are laminated - anything that is laminated must be legit...right??

The only way that buying jewelery from a jewelery store can turn out to be an investment that yeilds a profit is if you finance the purchase, don't ever pay for it, and sell their overpriced junk for what it is really worth (about 30% of their "lowest" price)

@DrGirlfriend: I have a friend who says its an investment, but buys a new luxury purse once every six months or so.

I hate it when people use the term investment willy-nilly. A friend of mine was interested in buying a car a few years ago and kept saying "invest in a car" over and over when describing what he was doing. It drove me nuts.

@DrGirlfriend: Yes. This is how I justify spending ~200 on one bag. That I carry for a year or two.

Mutual funds are investments. Savings bonds are investments. Houses are investments (sometimes). Leather handbags are NOT investments.

A small part of me dies every time I hear anyone use the word "investment" with depreciating consumer goods. Cars, clothes, computers, phones.... advertisers love associating the word "investment" with these purchases because it creates a sense of "building worth" rather than "running up the credit card". It works too. Go to any computer/iPhone/car forum and they're chock full of people asking for advice on how to "protect their investment" or "which computer should I invest in next".

It's still not na investment. It's a PURCHASE.

Lots of people think a purse or jewelry are investments.

In a completley unrelated story, lots of people are idiots.

Just because you may be able to use it for a few years does not mean it's an investment. A purse that you can sell for $500 after you bought it for $1000 two years ago is not an invesetment.

@DrGirlfriend: I'm down with a $200 purse as an "investment" since it'll last you through a couple/few years of daily use instead of repeatedly buying new $25-$50 purses that last one season.

However. At $1600, that's almost definitionally NOT a classic style that will wear well through multiple seasons ... $1600 purses are about name brand and trend.

It's an investment when you're a MORON. Luxury goods like this have a miserable "resale" value because the people buying them only want the latest and greatest, and also they want it NEW. So once it's used and a half-season past release, it's worthless.

@nakedscience:

Exactly. The purpose of an investment is to be able to sell your asset for more money than you initially bought it for. Name one person who sells a used purse for a profit.

The worst is having to grit my teeth and STFU when one of my friends talks about a cocktail dress or a silk blouse as an "investment piece". Um, no. If it loses half its value when you metaphorically "drive it off the lot", it's not a frakking investment. It's a rationalization.

Not that there's anything wrong with buying cocktail dresses and silk blouses, but don't pretend it's something it's not.

Buying a Piano or Art work or a collectable is an investment. Buying a purse that will be used...but more importantly worn (meaning showing wear and tear) is for suckers. If the purse will be a collectible, then leave it in the box and do not bring it out of the closet.

@Eyebrows McGee (on Twitter: LPetelle): Basically this!

@wgrune: Eyebrows McGee upthread made a good point that a $200 or so purse can maybe be considered an "investement" of sorts, because you can get some dang good use out of them for a long period of time, and they last much longer than a $20 Target purse. So if you use a $200 purse for two or three years, you've done good.

But a $1600 purse is about the name brand and cost spent, and nothing more.

@TWSS: I can see buying a nice, $200 dress as an investement if you're going to wear it more than once -- I mean, it's bound to last longer than a similar $20 dress at Target. But that's about it, really.

How about taking the money they're going to "invest" in a gaudy orange handbag- and dropping it onto the credit card they were going to use to purchase the gaudy orange handbag in the FIRST PLACE?

ohmaigawd, what a CONCEPT.

And you know, if you want to buy it and have the money to spend on it, I don't really care if that purse cost $10,000. But don't call it an investement.

I used to spend a ton of money on crappy handbags, when I realized I'd rather spend more money on one bag I like enough to use longer than two weeks. That being said I in no way shape or form think of it as an investment. I also save all my loose change, I never spend it and that's what I use to pay for my 1-2 handbags a year.(I am nice enough to take to the bank first and cash it out :-p) And when I get sick of them I just give them to my niece who's 10 and doesn't care if it's used or old she's just stoked to have a new "fancy" bag to use.

@DrGirlfriend: But even then you probably need to factor in how much you spend on purses per year..

Purses per year??? Sinces purses are absolutely necessary for survival... right. They should certainly be part of any budget.

ANYONE who has a networth below $1M and spends $1600 on a purse is a total retard. ANYONE who goes into debt to buy a purse is a total retard.

90% of the people walking around with $1,600 purses have negative net worth, but they think they are rich because they have a $1,600 purse and a lease on a Mercedes C class.

If Angelina Jolie decides to buy a $1,600 purse she has spent less (percentage wise) of her net worth than most people would if they bought a $10 purse at target. The fact is that Angelina probably got it for free, because the company who makes the purses knows that as soon as some one snaps a pic of Angelina carrying their junk every hairdresser and stewaredess in the country is going to take out their credit cards.

@1234tu: "Purses per year??? Sinces purses are absolutely necessary for survival... right. They should certainly be part of any budget."

Uh, they are a necessity for me, and were even more of a necessity when I took the bus. I carry my wallet in there, and my book (or, rather, books...) and a brush, and lotion (it's dryyyy in Arizona). This is stuff I use on a daily basis and I certainly don't want to carry it around.

So, yes, a purse is on the yearly budget. I generally buy one a year from Target for about $20.

@pixiegirl1: That's totally reasonable. If I were in any way, shape, or form into purses, I'd do the same. But I'm more into geeky shit like books and electronics and movies.

But you're still not spending $1600 on one bag, you know? A couple hundred for a good bag that'll last it reasonable. $1600 is for name brand and trend only.

Or, if you' like a piece for just a little while, you can always go through bag, borrow or steal - where $1000 handbag runs you $85/mo -

[www.bagborroworsteal.com]

They do jewlery, sunglasses and watches. And they do sell the things in the outlet for about 35-85% off. Of course, that doesn't help with the investment part, does it?

Right now I have a whole pile of "investments" sitting on my living room floor in a garbage bag waiting to be taken to goodwill and the salvation army. While $1600 for one purse is extreme (at least for someone in my income bracket), spending a couple hundred on a quality classic purse that can be worn for numerous years seems reasonable to me. I feel the same way about buying winter coats. I usually try and go for quality items that will never go out of style and will not fall apart aftera couple of wears.

@1234tu:
"90% of the people walking around with $1,600 purses have negative net worth, but they think they are rich because they have a $1,600 purse and a lease on a Mercedes C class."

Where did you get that data? While I'd never spend that much on a purse, I'd never begrudge someone else's desire to do so. Who made you the shopping police?

If you don't mind having a bag/clothing a season or two late, it is easy enough to find sales where they're a good 70+% off.

@wgrune: People who buy used purses at lower prices!

@nakedscience: Oh god don't even get me started on books. I'm horrible I always say I'm not going to buy any more books and I always end up buying them lol. I do hit up goodwill for books all the time, I swear it's the best place to find stuff. You'd be amazed by how many new titles they have for $1-2, half the time they weren't even read!

@nakedscience: This is a good example of the fashion of working to make words mean something different to the common meaning.

Investment per the dictionary is : the investing of money or capital in order to gain profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value.

Did that $200 dress really have potential to give profit, or interest ? Did it really have any hope of appreciating in value ? No. Of course not.

@1234tu: Jebus, I was just addressing how perhaps a handbag could be an investment. Save that indignation for weightier matters! ;)

I'm all for the "nice $200 dress" as an investment, and I do think it's an investment (in you) to dress well. Of course, I know my size in various designers and makes and I buy the $200 dress for $30 on eBay. Even better, most recently, I bought designer jeans for a $1 at the AIDS thrift store, and a cashmere sweater for $3. Lucky me, somebody else invested the $250 to buy them at Saks or wherever the first time around.

@nakedscience: I would guess that the folks who are vain enough to spend $1600 on a purse are the same folks who are vain enough to need another one in a few months, when the first purse goes "out of style." Theoretically it should last awhile, but I doubt most people would even keep it for that long before wanting another one.

@Amy Alkon: I totally love the suckers who buy expensive clothing (especially the people who buy expensive brand names then donate them to a local church bag sale after wearing them once which means I get them for pennies on the dollar), video games and other things only to sell them for a fraction of the cost a few months down the road, it means cheaper prices for me!

My purses usually come from the flea market but for Christmas my sister bought me a Kathy Van Zeeland bag. I love it because it's huge and I can put a bunch of stuff in it.

But the seam near the zipper has separated a bit, and I was really bummed that it didn't last longer than the Mossimo Black Target purse I bought at the flea market for $3!

@tbax929: It sounds like that data came from Suze Orman - just a guess on my part.

@HogwartsAlum: God, I love purse shopping at Target. It's like a sickness. And the only cure is... more handbags.

my wife bought an alligator Ralph Lauren handbag last christmas, $26k list price and I think she paid $10k for it on sale. Next year she will sell it for 1/2 of what she paid, it's no investment... luxury goods are a depreciating asset that only under the rarest of circumstances will you make money on. Personally, I think you are better off buying the knock off but then again I'd spend $10k on 3 piece forged wheels for my car... so I guess it's just a matter of priorities.

"which has a perceived inherent value-meaning, you believe that if you needed to sell that diamond in a pinch, you'd get around the same amount of money that you spent on it initially."

Incidentally, I've been getting great jewelry from a local jeweler who buys estate jewelry cheap, resets it in awesome settings, and sells it, and it's STILL cheaper than buying the stuff new. So, yeah, I have no faith in jewelry "retaining value." You buy it for the sparklies, not for the "investment value."

Now and then he has an antique piece with actual value attached, but mostly it's just pretty and old.

@HogwartsAlum: My sister worked trade shows one summer and ended up working the purse show where she bought me a booth-sample Gucci whose zipper-pull had broken off -- FOR TWELVE DOLLARS. I replaced the broken pull with a cute charm and used that purse daily for two years before swapping to a different one ... and it's still almost like new and my favorite winter purse. Definitely outlasted my Target purses. :)

I was almost sad she finished college and got a real job because the trade shows really worked out so great for me!

@Outrun1986: Why are they suckers any more than you are, though? The goods are frivolous inessentials for both of you, and both of you could have used the money on something that appreciated instead. But you both decided that it was a life extra that was worth the cost to you.

I'm not trashing the expenditure on pleasures rather than necessities. I just think that those of us who do spend on pleasures are pretty much in the same practice, and that people who feel they got their money's worth aren't suckers just for spending more than you.

@1234tu: "ou mean when you pay $1000 for a diamond at some jewelery store in the mall - the diamond is really worth like $300?? You mean those official looking "appraisals" that seem to indicate that you are buying the diamond for far less than it is actually worth are BS? But the appraisals are laminated - anything that is laminated must be legit...right??"

Many of these stores delude the buyer even more by offering to give back 100% of the purchase price back any time in the future .... [TINY PRINT]_applied towards the purchase of a more expensive jewelry item at the same store._

@nakedscience: " Eyebrows McGee upthread made a good point that a $200 or so purse can maybe be considered an "investement" of sorts, because you can get some dang good use out of them for a long period of time, and they last much longer than a $20 Target purse. So if you use a $200 purse for two or three years, you've done good.

"But a $1600 purse is about the name brand and cost spent, and nothing more."

The $200 purse can be a smart purchase because buying quality is often cheaper in the long run. I can almost accept the phrase "invest in quality" in that you get more value for the money, however,that concept gets misused by marketers.

@LegoMan322: Most art work (esp reproductions) and collectibles will depreciate as much as the purse. You may buy them if you enjoy them, but don't think you'll get your money back.

@BritBoy: Maybe not monetarily speaking. But the cocktail dress that my wife wore when we first met eventually led to her getting lucky, getting married, and getting pregnant. I think that amounts to a "profit".

@nakedscience: But it's all relative. I wouldn't imagine someone worth millions to think rationally about such a purchase as from the article, but if one were to think like the above poster then it wouldn't be so bad as someone who makes $500 a month buying the same expensive purse.

I recently purchased an older model laptop and upgraded it for a very good deal compared to it's original price. It was just the perfect time for me to get it and I know I would never have had this chance again to get the machine in new condition. Anyway, being on a tight budget it is a good short term investment. If I need the money for whatever reason (say an emergency until it is fully paid off) I can easily turn a profit within another couple months. That being said, I know it won't hold its value for any extended amount of time (say, when the next models come out in a few months, but by that time it will be fully paid off).

$1600 for a freaking PURSE??? Wow. Who the hell besides people with more money than brains would spend that much?

I have had the same purse for 3 years. And I MADE IT myself(I do custom medieval-esque leather work). Granted, I spent about $200 total on the leather & various accoutrements, but I've gotten more mileage out of that one purse than any other one, and it completely cured my purse-buying. And it's completely unique & badass! I finally decided to make said purse after buying bag after bag after bag only to tire of each one after mere weeks due to the fact that I could not find one perfect bag that met all my needs. They either had too few pockets, too many, too small, too large, awkward, straps too short or too long, etc. Now I have the perfect bag :)

I wouldn't use the word 'investment,' but I did spend a few hundred more dollars on a better bicycle because I did the research and when I went to sell the bike I'd be able to get a greater percentage of my money back out of it compared to the cheaper bike I was looking at. The same also seems to happen with my clothes. If I buy nice clothes, I have an easier time selling them later to get money to buy new clothes.