are people with money really that stupid?

[GQgeek]

I ordered a bunch of Mauviel stuff from E. Dehillerin in Paris and I'm waiting back on them for a quote with shipping. I figure duty and taxes should probably amount to about 30% and those prices still come in under those of William-Sonoma or any other stateside cutlery place.

I was feeling a bit impulsive because I've started to go through my new cookbooks but still have ****** thin SS pans so I told myself, "what the hell, if it costs an extra hundred bucks or so to have them now, why not?" So I found this store in Montreal that carries Mauviel & Le Creuset. It's actually a place that I walk right past all the time and I was a little puzzled how I hadn't noticed a high-end cookware store before. I thought that surely they'd have pretty copper pots hanging in the window to attract people's attention. Of course, they did not. It looked more like an overstuffed camping store from the outside because it was mostly outdoor-type equipment on display. It's not surprising that I never went in.

So I entered the store and headed straight for the copper. I'd withdrawn enough cash to cover my purchases and was gonna try and get them to forget the taxes (on a thousand dollar easy sale a lot of small places will). I saw a price dangling from a copper pan and it was only 90 bucks, then I looked at a pot and it was $450. It was at this point that I started to scratch my head. The pricing was obviously way out of whack. Upon closer inspection though one was obviously just plated, and not real Mauviel, while the other ones at $450-$675 were the real deal. Of course they all sat together on the same rack under a sign that said "Mauviel 25% off". It's actually the 25% off that got me in to the store, but it was still a rip off. I'd looked at W-S prices and the european prices, and these prices were almost double those of W-S.

Is anyone really so stupid that they'd pay $750 for 6qt pot with lid after taxes? I didn't even try to bargain with them cause they were WAYYYYYYYYY out of the ball-park. So I bought a lodge 11" cast iron pan for my steaks and left. Interestingly, the Le Creuset items weren't anywhere near as highly marked-up as Mauviel and the Lodge pan cost me 65 bucks which was on the expensive side but not enough to bother ordering online cause I'm cooking steak tonight.

 

[EL72]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

I'd withdrawn enough cash to cover my purchases and was gonna try and get them to forget the taxes...

Ah, I miss Montreal...

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Is anyone really so stupid that they'd pay $750 for 6qt pot with lid after taxes?


Short answer, yes.

 

[horton]

Real copper pots are a pain in the rear. Maintenance, re-tinning etc. My favorite cookwear at any price is Allclad (and fortunately it's reasonble). I have pans I've used (abusively, e.g., in an out of 500 degree ovens) for 17 years and they're still going strong.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by horton

Real copper pots are a pain in the rear. Maintenance, re-tinning etc. My favorite cookwear at any price is Allclad (and fortunately it's reasonble). I have pans I've used (abusively, e.g., in an out of 500 degree ovens) for 17 years and they're still going strong.

You can get stainless clad copper which is what I've ordered. It doesn't require re-tinning and can go in the oven at any temp. I'm just waiting on the shipping quote but I think that no matter what I'm gonna save by importing it myself vs. buying off a US site, with the possible exception of Falk.

 

[esquire.]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Is anyone really so stupid that they'd pay $750 for 6qt pot with lid after taxes? I didn't even try to bargain with them cause they were WAYYYYYYYYY out of the ball-park. So I bought a lodge 11" cast iron pan for my steaks and left. Interestingly, the Le Creuset items weren't anywhere near as highly marked-up as Mauviel and the Lodge pan cost me 65 bucks which was on the expensive side but not enough to bother ordering online cause I'm cooking steak tonight.

That's a very arrogant statement to make.

Some people probably think you were stupid to pay hundreds of dollars for your cookware when they bought theirs for a much lower price.

Different strokes for different folks.

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by esquire.

That's a very arrogant statement to make.

Some people probably think you were stupid to pay hundreds of dollars for your cookware when they bought theirs for a much lower price.

Different strokes for different folks.

I don't see it as arrogant. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of not researching what you buy, whether for clothing, cars, watches, cookware, or computers. Even a tiny little bit of research would tip you off very quickly that those prices are absurd. Full-price at WS is considerably less than the prices of the store I visited. I was thinking about it after my post and it wasn't even a 6qt pot, making it even more outlandish. Especially with the internet, it makes no sense to go in to any purchases blind. No matter how much money I one day acquire, I'll always perform my due diligence before purchasing. Now maybe if you've got a high six or seven figure income it's not a big deal, but i'm guessing that the majority of people purchasing don't fall in to that category.

I do agree that a lot of people will think I'm stupid. My sister gave me **** last night claiming that if I had too much money I should just give it to her instead of wasting it on pots and pans

Seriously though, I enjoy fine dining. If I can do it myself instead of spending 300 on a restaurant for 2, or even 150 for what is usually a mediocre meal, these pots and pans will be saving me a lot of money, and that's not even considering the fact that I probably won't have to replace them for a good 20 years.

 

[alflauren]

For someone with a more modest income, they are generally more willing to research high-dollar value items because for them, those items represent a larger portion of their income. For a wealthier person, the money is less of an issue, as if they're unhappy with the item, no harm done. They go and try the next item, and the next, and maybe learn something along the way.

Some people are wealthy enough to do that with cookware, cars, etc. I'm wealthy enough to do that with socks.

 

[pinchi22]

For a wealthier person, the money is less of an issue

One trait of millionaires is that they DO tend to be careful about budgeting their money (source: The Millionaire Next Door). Of course, they also tend to buys their clothes at JC Penney