Description
Are you caught in the luxury trap? It’s easy to get swept up in the allure of expensive items, but what if there’s a better way to live? Join us as we explore the insidious nature of the luxury trap and discover how you can break free from its grip. From designer clothes to flashy cars, we’ll delve into why we’re drawn to these status symbols and how they can ultimately leave us feeling empty.
Tune in for practical tips and insights on how to redefine luxury on your own terms and find true fulfillment without breaking the bank. Don’t let the luxury trap dictate your life ā it’s time to take control and prioritize what truly matters. Hit play now and embark on a journey toward a more meaningful and satisfying lifestyle.
Success Story
Friends, first of all just look at this article. Apple had sold more than 1 crore iPhones in India in the year 2023 and when it comes to luxury and ultra premium smartphones, India is their fastest growing market in which iPhone share is 70 percent. Now the interesting thing is that according to this post of LinkedIn, 70 percent of these are taken on iPhone MI. That means most people do not have money to buy premium smartphones.
Despite this, they fall into the trap of debt just to show their high social status, gain social media fame and impress girls. And today the result is that according to the official report of RBI, people have credit dues of more than Rs 2,00,000 crore. The internet is full of news articles where Chinese loan apps lured a person into a death trap and ultimately he became so helpless that he committed suicide. A 17-year-old boy from UP committed theft of ā¹ 1 lakh in his own house to buy an iPhone and then when this news reached his father.
Out of fear he gave up his life. Now if you think that this bug of buying luxury items is limited to India only, then just see this article also. A Chinese boy sold one of his kidneys to buy an iPhone and iPad, and in America, which is counted among the most developed and educated countries in the world, the credit card usage there has crossed one trillion dollars. Has done, a major part of which is spent in buying luxury items.
Now friends, in today’s time, if people want a smartphone then they prefer to buy iPhone only, clothes should be of Gucci and Armani, watches should have the tag of Rolex and Titan and in case of shoes, they should be under Nike and Adidas. Then it won’t work. The desire to buy these expensive luxury items has trapped us in a trap where we are bent on ruining ourselves completely. But friends, they say that not everything that glitters is gold. Now, if we want to understand the real meaning of this idiom in today’s modern era, then we will have to look into the pages of history.
It is said that when the Spanish people reached South America and tried to make friends with the people of the Aztec civilization living there, they failed in their efforts. But then the Spanish people started gifting them things like clothes, hats and marbles which these tribal people had never seen. The people of this civilization considered these shiny things as precious and extended a hand of friendship to the Spanish people and then the result was that the Spanish people captured their land, misused their resources and then in the end their civilization itself.
Finished it and kept it aside. In today’s time, we too are trapped in a similar luxury trap where we sacrifice our mental health and financial life for some flashy and show-off things. Kind of ruining it. Now friends, just look at these advertisement posters of Jio Phone here. Reliance has used photos of village people to promote its phone. Now just think whether Apple will ever use village people as models for its iPhone or Rolex for its watches.
Is there any chance that a person from a village wearing simple clothes can be featured in the advertisement of a luxury brand? This is never going to happen, because all these luxury brands, with the help of their advertisements, want to fit in your mind that their products are only for rich and modern people, who have achieved a lot in their life. Now, although the target audience of JioPhone is only rural people, but if you are thinking that the target audience of iPhone is only rich and successful people, then it is not so at all.
Seeing these attractive advertisements, a middle class person who has not achieved anything in his life becomes a victim of these luxury brands in order to show himself as a successful and high social status person. Now if you are a commerce student then you must have read about Law of Demand. This fundamental principle of economics says that when the price of something increases, its demand automatically decreases.
But friends, these luxury brands have reversed this principle of economics and in business language it is called wavelength effect. Actual Wavelength Effect It is called that abnormal behavior of the market, where the law of demand fails and despite the high price of something, its demand keeps increasing among the people. Even if the same product is available in the market under some other brand name or a product of equivalent quality is available at a much lower price, people still do not like to buy it.
Because on hearing the name of luxury brands, the first thing that comes to their mind is high quality products, which is a big myth. Almost the same features that are available in an iPhone worth Rs 1.5 lakh are also available in an Android phone worth Rs 30 thousand. Now there is no doubt that manufacturing excellence is clearly visible in Rolex watches. But waiting for years and spending lakhs to get a Rolex watch cannot be justified at all for a middle class person. And if we talk about luxury clothing brands like Gucci, Armani, then the manufacturers from whom they buy clothes do white labeling.
You can get their name with single click on the internet. Will meet you here only. Now friends, if you do not know white labeling, then let me tell you that most of the luxury brands do not make their own clothes, rather they make deals with some manufacturers where they buy clothes from them, do their branding and sell them at expensive prices only on the basis of marketing. I focus on selling. In fact. According to a report by Counterpoint Research, this iPhone Fifteen Pro Max would have been sold for more than Rs 1.5 lakh.
Is. Its production cost is only about 41 thousand rupees. One can of Red Bull, which costs around ā¹ 120 and which people consider a luxury and premium energy drink, does not cost even ā¹ 10 to make. This means that the only difference between this drink and Red Bull, which comes in ā¹ 20, is the marketing which makes one a normal brand and the other a luxury brand. Friends, it was only last year when Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan started his own clothing brand where jackets were priced at Rs 2 lakh, normal t-shirts were priced at Rs 24 thousand and hoodies were priced at more than Rs 45 thousand. But despite this the entire stock got exhausted in just one day.
Now people could get the same clothes in the market at 10 to 20 times lower prices. But if the brand does not have the stamp of luxury then how will people show their high status in nature and socially. People think that if they have an iPhone, they will become superior in their friend circle and people will consider them rich and successful, which will ultimately increase their respect.
Now see friends, if we look at the mentality of today’s society, then to some extent this is absolutely true because if a person has luxury products, then our respect for him definitely increases a little for example. Suppose if a friend of yours, who may have a job worth Rs 15,000 per month, buys an iPhone worth Rs 1.5 lakh, then somewhere in your mind you too will have the fire to become superior to him., And then to calm this fire, you will also try to get more upper models of iPhone. Not only do you fall into the luxury trap, you also trap the people around you.
But friends, now the question arises that how can we avoid this luxury trip? Now for this, first of all you should understand that having a luxury product does not at all mean that you are rich and successful. Warren Buffet, the world’s greatest investor and having a wealth of more than 100 billion dollars, has an iPhone and that too he did not buy it himself but got it as a gift. And before this he used to use a very old Samsung flip phone, which cost only 20 dollars. And friends, interestingly, this is the same person who owns 6% shares of Apple Company.
You must not have seen rich people like Mukesh Ambani and Ratan Tata ji wearing clothes of Gucci and Armani and you want to buy an iPhone with a salary of 15-20 thousand, want to wear branded clothes so that you look rich. Could. A rich and successful person is one who is rich not by his lifestyle but by his mindset. You can definitely show off your fake business among four people, but at the end of the day you have to manage your financial life yourself.
Experts related to finance believe that we should spend 30 percent of our monthly income on our needs. 30 percent bonds But the remaining 20% āāshould be saved and invested. Meaning that if your salary is Rs 20 thousand, then you should not even think of spending more than Rs 6 thousand on your desires. But still you will definitely find some people who will say that you have to meet life only once.
If you keep saving for old age, then how will you be able to live comfortably today? And friends, these are the people who themselves get trapped in the death trap and trap you too. Friends, there is only one way to escape from the death trap and that is to learn to stick to your budget. If you want to buy an iPhone, then don’t even think of buying an iPhone unless you have money in your pocket to buy at least three iPhones.
Whenever you buy a luxury product, consider its after sales cost also. Well, it is possible that you may have bought the phone on EMI but if its screen gets cracked by mistake, then you will have to start another EMI to get it repaired. So friends, if I put it in simple words, whenever you are going to buy a luxury product, you must consider whether it is your need or want. In most of the cases, this is your want and if so, then you should also understand the concept of depreciation very well.
As soon as you open the box of a brand new iPhone, the price of your iPhone falls by 20 percent and if you sell it after two to three months, If you try it then it will be sold at fifty to sixty percent of its original price. A luxury car will be considered old as soon as it leaves the showroom and its value will also keep falling with time.
Atlist, I would like to tell you that stop buying luxury products from today itself to show off to the society and on social media. Two words of praise spoken by someone else will not, in most cases, buy you even two meals a day. Have you become a victim of the luxury trap and what precautions do you take to avoid it? Please tell us your opinion by commenting.
Anyway, see you again with the powerful explanation of the Success Story.
