Thoughts on e-bay seller?

The ties seem authentic. However, seller is being rather disingenuous about the retail prices of her items. For example, she claims that a Zegna tie retailed for $225, whereas they actually max out at around $175 for the pure cashmere ones. And Marzotto Lab suits retail for about $700-800, not over $1200. I am nearly certain that she is quoting the price in Canadian dollars. Of course, you're paying in American dollars. The ties are not a great deal, in any case.

I saw a guy selling a used Chaps Ralph Lauren suit on ebay (looked to be early 80's), and he claimed the retail price was $1700. Also, I've seen an ebay seller saying that a powder blue Bijan suit sold for $10,000. Can Bijan really be that expensive?

With the Bijan, I believe it.

Wow, I had no idea Bijan actually cost that much. Is there any justification to the price (materials, construction, are the suits hand-sewn with platinum thread by hot female runway models)?

Regarding Villa Bolgheri ties -- I just got back from Filene's Basement here in Washington, DC. They had 100+ Villa Bolgheri ties, many of them in beautiful designs, for $29.95 each. Thus, $40 doesn't appear to be a "bargain" esp. when you factor in shipping costs on EBay.

They are expensive, but not that expensive. I emailed that seller and told him that they cost more like 6k-7k, not 10k-12k. Also that the suits he had were not Kiton, as he had claimed. He didn't seem interested. I was set to list a Bijan/Brioni suit myself, and didn't want to condemn him publicly if I didn't have to... No, they are actually fairly standard, D'Avenza, Isaia and Brioni suits for the most part.

Is Bijan a designer in the sense that he actually designs clothes?

I checked out the website, and it looks as though he does the design work. The men's collection seems rather small. Nothing stood out as particularily nice, however, I've seen a few dress shirts on ebay that seemed cool (not worth the full retail price though). A. Harris, Wow, if those suits are on par with the labels you mentioned, there is NO way that they are worth the retail price.

They aren't on par, they actually ARE D'Avenza, Isaia and Brioni suits bearing the Bijan private label. The extra 3-4K buys you the Bijan label. And that's worth it to some. I think the guy is a genius. He sells suits for 7K because, well, they cost 7K. Not a bad idea..

So those three brands you mentioned do the manufacturing, and Bijan does the designing? Or do the aforementioned labels do the manufacturing/design, and Bijan just slaps on the label and jacks up the price two fold?

Well, he designs them in the sense that he selects the model, fabric, buttons, lining and other details.

This is a horrid idea.. $7,000 price minus $7,000 cost equals $0 profit. He'll be out of business next month. Certainly, you meant something different I hope...

I'll rephrase - People buy his suits for 7K because, well, they cost 7K. What I meant was, I think people buy his suits because they are the most expensive, and therefore, in their minds, better.