John Lewis clothes

[k333]

I've just got an email from JL which I get from time to time, and the first two items are a £95 rugby shirt from Gant and a £100 long sleeved thick casual shirt from Thomas Pink. Can anyone explain why someone would buy items like this, when the asking price is several times what I would normally expect to pay?

Let's face it, for a premium price like this with electrical goods, you get a Miele and change left over.

- K

[midnightcatprowl]

Because people are buying the label and a particular shopping experience rather than the item itself. I ran a retail business until recently and I can tell you that the reasons people buy things are varied and complex and the particular set of reasons which make one person buy may not be readily understood by someone who operates from a different set of reasons/motivations what have you.

Oddly enough the extreme 'luxury' buyer is often no more demented than the extreme bargain buyer. Some people are so obsessed by 'cheap' and 'bargains' that they buy things merely because they are cheap or 'bargains' and not because they want or need them. Thus people will buy three packets of salad for the price of two, even though they won't eat the contents of three, have no intention of giving the excess to friends, family or neighbours and wouldn't dream, or don't understand how to, or will never get around to, cooking the excess into a soup and don't even compost the unused excess. They are happier to get the 'bargain' and throw the excess away than they would be to buy just one packet which though not a bargain is actually cheaper if you are only going to consume one packet.

Of course there are also issues of quality in all things. Some sweatshirts for example will be a size smaller after the first time you wash them, no matter how carefully, and will be prone to shedding buttons, splitting seams, etc. Some will cost more in the first place but are better made from better fabric and will have a much longer life and in particular a much longer life while still looking halfway decent, so paying more for some things may be a better bargain as long as you are the sort of person who doesn't tire of things merely on the grounds that you've had them a month or a year or that X celebrity is no longer wearing that colour.

[GeoffF100]

I buy rugby shirts for wearing in the gym. Horizontal stripes are good if you are skinny. The Asda shirts at about £10 each are good quality and last in my experience.

[UncleEbenezer]

Can anyone explain why someone would buy items like this,
- K

Because John Lewis targets customers with more money than sense?

[ketherinjonsson]

I don't have such shopping experience about Rugby t-shirts but i think its not more than £ 50

[toofast2live]

I thought my Northampton Saints replica kit was expensive! It's a flippin' bargain compared to Gant at JL.

Lots of Gant in TKMaxx - and lots cheaper than £90 odd quid.

[bungeejumper]

I don't mind paying a bit extra for good (or special occasion) shirts - they tend to last longer because they seem to have a closer weave and don't seem to go floppy after a few washes like my 'normal' ones. So they look better with a tie. But £100 for a Thomas Pink is a bit unnecessary, because they're regularly on half-price offers.

Even so, it takes a lot to get me to pay more than twenty quid for a shirt. I'm even worse when it comes to jeans or casual trousers, where the difference between £55 Levis and £9 Chinese cheapos from The Factory Shop is unnoticeable (on my scruffy legs, anyway**) - and assuming, of course, that one of their standard ranges happens to fit you well. Every so often I get pangs of conscience about favouring the Chinese products instead of the real McCoy - but then I go and find something else to do with the £46 I've saved and the feeling goes away.

BJ

** Quote from Warren Buffet: "I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me."

[didds]

Every so often I get pangs of conscience about favouring the Chinese products instead of the real McCoy

genuine question - where are the real mccoy actually made and for what unit cost?

didds

[tsr2]

I've just got an email from JL which I get from time to time, and the first two items are a £95 rugby shirt from Gant and a £100 long sleeved thick casual shirt from Thomas Pink. Can anyone explain why someone would buy items like this, when the asking price is several times what I would normally expect to pay?

I don't know about Thomas Pink, but the few Gant polos I have last several times longer than my cheap polos. Maybe not long enough to justify £95, but then again I'm sure I didn't pay £95 for them.

[tsr2]

I'm even worse when it comes to jeans or casual trousers, where the difference between £55 Levis and £9 Chinese cheapos from The Factory Shop is unnoticeable (on my scruffy legs, anyway**) - and assuming, of course, that one of their standard ranges happens to fit you well. Every so often I get pangs of conscience about favouring the Chinese products instead of the real McCoy - but then I go and find something else to do with the £46 I've saved and the feeling goes away.

I've recently swapped from cheapish (~£20) jeans to £55ish Levis, after finding I was replacing the cheapish jeans rather too often. The Levis are definitely wearing much better than the cheapish jeans and I wouldn't swap back at this stage in the experiment, but equally I wouldn't pay the alleged full price of around £100. I couldn't compare to £9 Factory Shop jeans.

[didds]

My current pair of 501s cost me £7 from Oxfam.

everything comes to those who wait.

but am now waiting a long time for a mustard jacket to accompany my country shirt (£4) red cords (£5) and brown all leather brogues (£10)


didds

[panamagold]

but am now waiting a long time for a mustard jacket to accompany my country shirt (£4) red cords (£5) and brown all leather brogues (£10)

Ah, you must be with the UK branch of Cirque du Soleil then.

[funduffer]

I had not been to a John Lewis for years until one opened up in our city.

The designer stuff is very expensive, but the JL branded shirts are well made and not too badly priced.

I bought a couple for less than £30 each, and am happy with them.

FD