Zum Inhalt der Seite gehen


Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending Sunday 29 September 2024


Dieser Beitrag wurde bearbeitet. (8 Monate her)
Als Antwort auf blakestacey

From an article about a boutique brand that sells books to rich people:

Assouline has made its name publishing tomes that sell for $1,000 or more.


Oh, so they publish textbooks.

"They represent stealth wealth, intended to tell you what your hosts are about and to provide visual evidence: that the owners are people of wealth, education and taste."


🎶 Please allow me to introduce myself 🎶

Als Antwort auf blakestacey

So you're saying that they've got books worth at least a grand which their owners are literally using to flaunt their wealth?

I'm legally obligated to say stealing is legally and morally wrong buuuuuuuut

Als Antwort auf BlueMonday1984

Betcha the authors aren't getting paid industry-normal royalties (10-15% of net receipts) on those Veblen goods …

(A few of my novels have been sold as limited-run signed first editions. Typically for 50%-100% more than the normal hardcover price, so maybe 3-5% as much as this nonsense. Cost of goods for a leatherbound, gilt-trimmed luxury edition is maybe $5-10, plus 10% of the cover price for the author. So someone in the middle is making serious bank.)

Als Antwort auf froztbyte

Your term of art in economics to describe this shitbaggery is "Veblen goods": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_g…

"a type of luxury good… for which the demand increases as the price increases, in apparent contradiction of the law of demand, resulting in an upward-sloping demand curve. The higher prices of Veblen goods may make them desirable as a status symbol in the practices of conspicuous consumption and conspicuous leisure."