Reasonable price for a NWT Orazio Luciano Cashmere overcoat?

[barryzhang27]

Hi everyone

I’m close to pulling the trigger on a NWT Orazio Luciano pure cashmere overcoat. Before I buy, just want to get some opinions on what you guys think a reasonable price is for such an item. I’m mainly curious to see if my sense value lines up with other opinions out there.

Thanks

 

[TheShetlandSweater]

Hi everyone

I’m close to pulling the trigger on a NWT Orazio Luciano pure cashmere overcoat. Before I buy, just want to get some opinions on what you guys think a reasonable price is for such an item. I’m mainly curious to see if my sense value lines up with other opinions out there.

Thanks

Several things to keep in mind.

1) It depends where you are buying from. I assume you are not buying from a normal retail store based on your use of "NWT". For this reason, you should not be paying the price that an Orazio jacket would retail for. If you are buying from and established seller of NOS, used, and vintage items like Drop93, the price should be higher than if you were to buy from an ebay seller. This is partly because an established seller curates better than ebay and is more reliable and trustworthy.

2) A lot of NWT garments are much cheaper than they would be retail. When you buy from ebay, it is easy to think that you are getting a good deal a lot of the time because things are just so much cheaper. But it is also the case that you rarely buy things you actually like that much (unless you are a seasoned vintage shopper who is looking for very particular vintage things). This is very important to keep in mind. Many of the things people buy on ebay aren't things that people would buy at full price, even if they could easily afford to buy at full price. The things that end up NWT are often things that nobody wanted or things that weren't able to sell for one reason or another. Some NWT stuff is still very nice. I mentioned drop93 earlier and they have a lot of cool stuff, but that is partly just because the Armoury doesn't ever have sales (at least they used to not) and Drop93 gets all the stuff that doesn't sell there. An Orazio garment on ebay didn't sell at full retail and didn't sell on sale. It is only after all this happens that it ends up on ebay. Consequently, NWT stuff on ebay is often a bit strange. This is one reason why it can actually be better to buy used or NWOT: that is stuff that people actually wanted. And you can find plenty great used overcoats on ebay. I found some there years ago for under $100 and they are nicer than the ones I have bought from retail stores.

3) An Orazio coat would normally sell for something like 3k at full retail and 2k on sale. You can find them at places like Gentlemen's Footwear, Michael Jondral, Pauw, and Orazio's own website. Cashmere would definitely be more expensive than that, but I am not sure how much more expensive. You should definitely check out these stores because--if you are looking at the coat I think you are looking at--these places have nicer coats for around the same price, maybe a bit more, albeit not in cashmere perhaps.

4) It is worth whatever you are willing to pay for it. If you are questioning whether it is worth it, it probably isn't. It is probably the case that you are trying to think of whether you would be getting a good deal, but that isn't what you should be paying attention to. That being said, it is much harder to say what things should cost on ebay or whatever than what they should cost at full retail. However, if you are paying more thank 1k (or even close to that) I'd probably just buy something from a retail store even if the quality isn't as high. This way you aren't going to talk yourself into buying something you don't like as much as you think you do. You'll end up with something you like more in the long run. I think this is something many people wished that they would have learned earlier. Don't buy things because you are getting a deal. Buy things because you like them, even if the quality isn't as good. Sometimes people on ebay focus too much on getting quality at a good price, and not enough on getting aesthetics at a good price.

I think I've found the coat you're looking at, and I certainly wouldn't get it at that price (~2k). I also think it's an ugly style (black single-breasted topcoat probably ending a little bit above the knees), but we discussed this already in a different thread. You can get really good coats from retail stores at that price and the selection will be much nicer and broader and you won't talk yourself into getting something simply because it is a good deal.