This Reddit Thread About Hyped Products That Aren't Worth The Money Might Change The Way You Shop
Everyone always says you get what you pay for — but what what if you're actually paying way too much?
A viral thread on r/AskReddit asked which heavily hyped products are way overpriced for what you actually get and there were quite a few enlightening responses.
Here's a selection of our favorite replies from the post.
Edible Arrangements
Anything Marked Up As 'All-Natural'
Yeti
Doc Martens
Bought up by Permira, a London based private equity firm.
They suck as much as they possibly can without any concern for the long term health and reputation of their holdings.
How do I know? I used to work for one of their more profitable companies... and they never invested a nickel in the employees; either in paying or hiring them. — seal_raider
Starbucks
Starbucks. I live in India and the price of their coffee over a local coffee stall (especially in South India) is roughly 20x. No not joking, its fucking 20x the cost in a country where people have trouble affording the cheap one in the first place. What a fucking rip off. — mindovermatt3r_
Mr. Clean Magic Erasers
Mr Clean Magic Erasers. They are called melamine sponges and are cheap af. Don't waste your money of the name brand! — GassyMagee
Beats By Dre
Balenciaga
Ok, probably nobody will read this anyways but as someone interested in fashion, I will do my best to explain why Balenciaga is a thing. It's definitely not for everyone but maybe this can shed some light on the whole thing. Balenciaga is a heritage couture brand and before they started to take off again a few years ago they were basically broke. When fashion houses are having problems like this they often try to make some radical moves by appointing a new, young and interesting creative designer (Gucci, Saint Laurent, Dior, etc have all done this).
They guy they got to do this is named Demna Gvasilia, who grew up in war torn Georgia and fled I believe at 11 or 12. He is well known for emulating the style of poor, Eastern Bloc country citizens who basically have to wear whatever clothing they come into possession of regardless of style, fit, etc. He started a brand named Vetements in 2014 that is basically a massive meme and a big "fuck you" to the fashion industry. Vetements was well known for comically overpriced, demented but normal looking clothes. He famously sold shirts the DHL delivery drivers would wear for something like $400 (I cant remember the price but it was insane at that time). I would recommend looking up Vetements, its an extremely interesting brand and also pretty funny overall. Unfortunately, after Demna was appointed at Balenciaga he was heading both brands and Vetements kind of fell to the wayside and is dying out.
Balenciaga as I see it is kind of a continuation of Vetements but with less creative freedom because it's still part of this massive heritage brand. Style-wise, it is supposed to look goofy, ill fitting and generally…..unfashionable because the styles are inspired by average everyday people who don't really care too much about fashion. The genius of Demna is that he can take this very ironic look and still make many of the looks/clothes extremely elegant. It's very difficult to explain and has to be seen to understand. He often takes everyday office/casual clothes and makes them into warped and distorted couture versions. A comparison I can think of is avant garde music that is tough to listen to initially but if you listen to a ton of music you start to get bored of traditionally beautiful music and start to turn to weirder and more interesting stuff. I'm sure Demna could design tradition, beautiful dresses that everyone thinks looks amazing but the thing is that this has been done for decades and there are enough people doing that already, it's not interesting anymore and its not moving fashion forwards.
Clothes like this are really not made to enter the main stream like they do because of social media today (this sounds so douchy I hate it but it's the truth). Basically, to keep a fashion brand running, they rely on selling a lot of some more basic shittier designed items (think basic logo tees and hoodies). "Influencers", rich kids, etc, buy this stuff and this ends up being what is seen on mainstream media so it looks like shit and appears to be nothing but an expensive brand name. Balenciaga has tons of amazing, interesting and funny clothes. Some of my favourite items are the bomber jackets with massive padded shoulders and the shirts and jackets that have a clear dry cleaning bag over them (as if you didn't know you were supposed to remove that). If you're interested in seeing real Balenciaga look up the runway shows on Vogue. If I remember correctly, FW2017 was a standout for me.
If you actually read this, thanks. I love fashion and it sucks to see it get constantly shit on. Maybe someone will actually look up Balenciaga and discover something that they find interesting, which would be awesome to me. — OOO000OOOO000
Supreme
It's Helvetica italicized in a red rectangle. It could be made in Paint
Did you guys know it's actually Futura? — _________FU_________
Monster Cables
Old Navy (!)
La Mer
Alienware
Lululemon
Reddit Gold
Hah! for real though, I got it once and there's literally no benefit. Blows my mind that people spend real-world money on it. Edit: For God's sake, people. At least donate to a charity instead. Your gold does nothing for me! lol
[Read more about the most overpriced products you can buy on r/AskReddit]
