Mastodawn

BroadBend issues

My hot take this morning is that the price of anything is largely illusory. Take aftershave for example. A mix of denatured alcohol and fragrance oils in a glass container. The constituent elements of which cost less than £10 for approximately 5 units (assuming you have access to a label printer). A bottle of Creed Aventus costs £220. That is a 10,900% markup. I understand that with food and fuel it's directly linked to demand (and also artificial inflation and profit points), but I just don't see how I'm likely to ever buy 'high end premium' products again. I fear I have hit a point in my life where nothing will ever be good again and I'm just angry all the time.

Anyway - morning!

May Likes Toronto 2d ago

@TheBreadmonkey Stinky if you do, stinky if you don't.

@TheBreadmonkey

Brut is about £7.50 for 100ml.

I smell like Henry Cooper every day.

(Henry died in 2011 so this can either mean I smell of cheap aftershave or a decomposing boxing champion, or both)

BroadBend issues 2d ago

@TwoClownsEating

One for the kids there

@TheBreadmonkey

You know me, I'm down with the streets fam.

Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK 1d ago

@TwoClownsEating @TheBreadmonkey

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ziz3yUeqENk

Henry Cooper - Knock Me Down With A Feather

YouTube

@vfrmedia @TheBreadmonkey

I feel like I've been punched in the head by Muhammad Ali after listening to that.

Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK 1d ago

@TwoClownsEating @TheBreadmonkey he made an entire album of 1970s era Cockney knees up tunes after he became too old for boxing 😁

@vfrmedia @TheBreadmonkey

Can't believe this isn't in my collection.

Also, retired Henry Cooper the pop star could be a good candidate for an all Cockney match up, in my occasional series of pop star fights.

Henry Cooper Vs Chas and Dave. Tight one to call, but Coopers out of shape and Chas was a bit of a unit so I'm going with C&D for the win.

https://beige.party/@TwoClownsEating/115900546252894416

Mat B (@[email protected])

Current earworm. Joy Division, Love will Tear Us Apart, but instead of "love" it's "Suggs", lead singer from Madness. 🎶 Suggs, Suggs will tear us apart, again 🎶 No idea why but here we are. Not sure if there was any beef between Madness and Joy Division in the 80s. Can't imagine so. Still, if there was, Madness would definitely win in a fight. Firstly there were nearly twice as many of them, secondly I reckon Peter Hook would run away, leaving the others to take a kicking* *I have zero evidence that Peter Hook is a coward or that he wouldn't defend his mates in a brawl with a load of Ska Pop Cockneys

beige.party

BroadBend issues 1d ago

@vfrmedia @TwoClownsEating

Incredible to think these times existed

blueorangeblue 2d ago

@TwoClownsEating @TheBreadmonkey you guys splashing out on expensive scents. I make all of my own smells.

spanghero 1d ago

@TwoClownsEating @TheBreadmonkey do you splash it all over?

@spanghero @TheBreadmonkey

Almost everywhere, but it does sting a bit

David Cohen 1d ago

@TwoClownsEating @TheBreadmonkey For Easter can you get ‘Brut by Faberge Egg’?

Normally quite expensive, but you can get it knocked down after the Bank Holiday.

@davidbcohen @TheBreadmonkey

Broke a tooth on one of those eggs, wouldn't recommend.

@TwoClownsEating @TheBreadmonkey Good lordt! That’s a dig around in the old ‘70s box.

Steve Williams 2d ago

@TheBreadmonkey
Shopping advice from Viz -Save money *and* energy:
Eat all your food while queuing at the checkout. Also applies to aftershave & deodorant, but spray considerately.

Shivviness 2d ago

@TheBreadmonkey

All of these luxury products are priced ridiculously, be it fragrances or wristwatches.

It's all advertising, for the most part.

They're invariably not what they even purport to be, e.g. high end handbags which are labelled as "Made in Italy" but actually made in China.

A fun fact is that Creed still use ambergris in their fragrances, i.e. whale vomit, unlike most fragrances which use a synthetic alternative.

Daveybot 2d ago

@Shivviness @TheBreadmonkey 'Precious hamburgers?'

Shivviness 2d ago

@daveybot @TheBreadmonkey

Fresh from Mushu, "the educated whale who thinks he's better than you", per this clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbpjPRoSvLY

Futurama: Whale Biologist

YouTube

Daveybot 1d ago

@Shivviness Heavens above but I love that episode. Rewatch asap, methinks.

Alex the Naught 2d ago

@TheBreadmonkey Wait, people are putting denatured alcohol and fragrance on their skin? And after shaving? 😱

I hope the price of that rubbish goes up because that's not going to be good for anyone's skin! OK, I need to calm the fuck down and finish reading the toot now.

mahadevank 2d ago

@TheBreadmonkey all garbage, just branding - nothing in the product. I've been buying from farmers, artisans and craftsmen directly.

Far cheaper and far better quality.

Even got a shirt stitched by a local tailor. Here in India, we need thin cotton because of the weather and brands sell the same spandex mixed polyester garbage here. I have to say the shirt feels so light and good, and my wife tells me that a tailor's double stitch is far more durable than the brands out there.

KanaMauna 2d ago

@TheBreadmonkey

It is hilarious/terrifying how much cologne/perfume people are wearing nowadays. It’s almost as if we had a disease that wiped out people’s sense of smell. Oh wait, we did.

Em & future cats 🇺🇦🐈🏳️‍🌈1d ago

@KanaMauna @TheBreadmonkey 🤣🤣🤣🤣

moomin_hattifatteners

@TheBreadmonkey I would only buy niche scent anyway (or make my own). The big manufacturers who can afford to buy in bulk are raking it in, I suspect, although I suppose they have to pay their perfumiers a wage, and it's an incredibly skilled job. The chemical note fragrance oils are relatively cheap, but if you're going to use proper essential oils and extracts? That gets expensive.

Morning!

Drew 🇵🇭 ♾️1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey There are plenty of good things around - just not the things with 10000% markup. Just run away from anything where the brand is what is being sold to you.

Heather 👻1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey I swear i bookmarked a post from someone on the same server as me that came up with the idea of Bullshit Economy - where things are artificially inflated in price for the sake of "luxury" for rich people. Like, there's no way a faux celery bag actually costs $5,000 for example.

Of course, I cannot find this toot so i feel a bit like I'm stealing the concept but it certainly is A Thing.

BroadBend issues 1d ago

I fully agree with this. My wife gets cross with me because to prove a point I've listed things on Vinted at £40 that are exactly the same as someone else's item for sale at £4 but my item sells. It's just perceived value and is stupid. A person feels they're getting a better deal with a higher price because it must be worth more.

@TheBreadmonkey @Akki I just got a denim jacket for £1.75. I’m sooooooooooo happy about it. 52 and this is my first denim jacket lol. 😆

Remember tho: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🪙🤏😅

Heather 👻1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey Oh yes that's kind of a slightly different thing. I had long discussions with one of my photographer friends about the pricing of work.
He always had a small amount of breath-holding when he raised his prices but soon found his market for the higher price. Every time.

And as someone who sells handmade things, my heart breaks when I see crocheted plushies being sold for less than £10 - there's no way time+materials are factored in fairly. And people will perceive it as cheap.

Heather 👻1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey Sometimes you actually *do* need to be fair to yourself and price things fairly *to you*.

I don't see how anyone can sell something for £4 - the time invested in listing (photoing etc) and arranging meeting/posting is WAY more than that.

(also older clothes tend to be better quality so you should sell them at a better price than plastic-crap-from-china)

metalfabs 1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey Veblen goods: luxury goods where demand increases the more expensive the product is. Because what you tell everyone by buying it is that you can afford to buy it. They also come in "extremely loud" and "if you know, you know" varieties. The latter also signals taste (social class, not being gaudy nouveau-riche).

C++ Wage Slave 1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey

Just to be serious and boring for a moment:

The unrealistic price is part of the product. It makes you feel as if you've gained access to an exclusive club. More than that, it makes you feel that others will think you've gained access to an exclusive club.

(Actually, if I found out you'd spaffed two hundred quid on perfume when you had a wife and kids to look after, I'd just think you were a wastrel who didn't know the value of money, no matter who the main breadwinner happens to be.)

@TheBreadmonkey I recently decided that if I am going to buy anything at a premium it will be either protein bars or fish.

@kimlockhartga @TheBreadmonkey
Chocolate for me.

@sollat @TheBreadmonkey excellent plan

Elizabeth 1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey It's true that luxury clothing brands are overpriced. However as a pro sewist, I can verify that many luxury brands use better quality fabrics, better tailoring, and classic styling. I have luxury silk jackets that I'm still wearing after 10 years. But, I never buy retail - always consigned or pre-loved and then I resell. Amazing what you can find on eBay!

Em & future cats 🇺🇦🐈🏳️‍🌈1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey You can always go into the art and craft of making your own aftershave 😹 Think of going out into the forest to collect pieces of witch hazel or lemon balm and then coming home and setting up your own bottles filled with alcohol and spirits. (Maybe even getting a still going!) I used to make my own herbal oils by putting jars (with different oils like olive and grape seed oil) in a sunny window to bring out the properties of the herbs. Did this with alcohol too.

Em & future cats 🇺🇦🐈🏳️‍🌈1d ago

@TheBreadmonkey this is also another reason why it’s not so fun going shopping with me 😹. I see all this “stuff” and say to myself, “I can make that” and don’t really buy anything 😹.