Most, if not all people, judge others by visuals. It doesn't matter what's real or not. Take for example, food, many restaurants serve similar things, but yet those with better presentation charges a premium for the visuals.
There are many people who buy a lot of stuff to make themselves feel better or to make others jealous of them, or to make people think that they are doing better than they really are.
In truth, you never really know anyone's financial position unless you know them very well. What you see is just what they want you to see and may or may not be the true depiction of where they are in life.
The people around me all pretty much know me as a frugal or stingy guy, depends on who, others may think I'm lazy and broke so... Whatever. It doesn't matter to me.
But every once in a while, I think of putting up a show to throw them off a bit.
So I think of decking myself and my wife out with some flashy stuff. For most guys, the items most noticed by others is, the belt, watch, wallet and shoes.
For females, people would notice the ring, bag, wallet, earrings, watch and shoes.
Buying the whole set for me would cost maybe
Watch - $10,000
Belt, wallet, shoes -$3,000
Total - $13,000
For my wife
Watch - $10,000
Bag - $3,000
Ring - $10,000
Earrings, shoes, wallet - $3,000
Total - $26,000
Around $40,000 for the both of us.
So I've considered getting a full set of 'replica' stuff.
Which would probably cost $5,000 or less for the both of us.
It would be pretty fun to see the reactions of the people who I encounter, like friends and in-laws who I know are still highly influenced by these material stuff.
Especially those folks who I know will feel compelled to compare and will be easily influenced to try to get something comparable to match off.
Now, I'm not someone who appreciates such stuff, so getting a replica doesn't affect me one bit. Some people don't buy replica stuff cos it doesn't make themselves feel good. Cos they know that it's not real so they don't feel proud to acquire such stuff. However, for me, I don't care, cos the whole objective for getting such stuff is pretty much to just prove a point and to make others jealous.
To me, getting a $3,000 item vs a $20 item is the same if they both provide the same function.
Then I think about the cost... $5,000 is still a lot of money. That's my full year's travel budget, I get all turned off by that quantum. $5,000 just to prove a point and make others jealous? No thanks. To me, it's just a little bit of fun, and yet, I know it's not worth it.
Maybe one day I'll be bored enough to splurge on 2 his & hers Rolex watches for $500 and post it on Facebook like what so many other people do.
Although this post is about making the folks around you 'jealous', I doubt anyone would be going to get a bunch of replica stuff. Cos the thing is, most people who care about their image will want to get the real stuff, it won't make them happy getting the fake stuff, and as for those who don't bother about such material stuff, like the good people who read this blog, since they care about such stuff, then they also won't care about buying the replicas to 'impress' others.
Basically, readers would probably feel the same way as me, and think that it is a waste of money anyway.
Although, I do realize, that actually, there are a lot of people who are already doing it.
So next time if you see someone showing off his 'stuff', hey, you never know they may be having the same idea as me and getting a bunch of replicas.
I once heard a 'rich' lady talking to the sales girl at Max Gordan, which is a diamond simulant shop. She said, "I always buy the real one, then keep it in a safe, then buy a simulant to wear."
Real or not, no one knows. Maybe she's just saying that to try to impress the salesgirl, so that she would not look cheapo by purchasing at a diamond simulant shop. But who knows. Maybe her story is real...
So next time you see someone who has some fancy stuff and you think "woah", think again. You never know how much the person really paid for the stuff. You also don't know how much the person has sacrificed to afford the stuff as well.
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