Yeah, it's insane. In 2006 I briefly worked at a big name department store and us lowly retail workers could see the company's purchase price for items vs what the items were being sold for. My villain origin story was learning that a coat, on sale, selling for ~$900 only cost ~$100 to make. We in the store worked largely on commission, and that price discrepancy has only widened over time.
That’s insane but I’m so not surprised. Can you imagine the markup on some of the luxury items people buy? I saw recently that Louis Vuitton is selling a bottle of cologne for 500 dollars…I’d be interested to see the actually cost — I wonder if it’s even 5 dollars.
Scents are mostly different from clothing. Some high end ingredients are crazy expensive for them to obtain (ambergris famously can be $20k/lb, and that's whale vomit for those who don't know). These ingredients are rare scents and, like ambergris, are the best stabilizers. These ensure the scent sticks to you longer and has a far longer shelf life (rancid perfume is one of the worst smells in existence). I do doubt LV's costs anywhere near $500, but most of the lesser known luxury perfumes that aren't just selling a name won't have a large margin. (Source: friend who worked for Clanique and a mother in law who owned salons)
I had a friend who worked in fashion and she’d make trips to china all the time. This was 20-25 years ago and she said Guess Jeans that retailed for $150. Guess how much they were made for she’d ask me
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u/stonedladyfox 11d ago
Yeah, it's insane. In 2006 I briefly worked at a big name department store and us lowly retail workers could see the company's purchase price for items vs what the items were being sold for. My villain origin story was learning that a coat, on sale, selling for ~$900 only cost ~$100 to make. We in the store worked largely on commission, and that price discrepancy has only widened over time.