Are we all suckers? Marked up gear and overpriced "lifestyle" items.

[Pizdek]

Almost pulled the trigger on this one...

https://jitsshop.com/collections/bags/products/canvas-drum-bag-jiujitsu-bjj

for $79

then found this after 1 minute search...

http://www.bagsher.com/p2639/fashio...-women-luggage-duffle-bag-ae-32701977519.html

for $42

and dug deeper...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Uni...pacity-Men-Women-Luggage/32701977519.html?s=p

for $29

There is other stuff too, unbranded gi's made for $20 resold for $179, rashgards that cost 5 to make sold for 50 and my favourite... t-shirts that cost $2 to be made being sold for $40

 

[makedansure]

the cost of mass manufacturing. yes, we are all suckers.

 

[Minowafanatic]

welcome to capitalism

 

[reveler]

never seen an uglier backpack

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

yes, the vast majority of people in the developed world are vain, materialistic suckers

 

[shincheckin]

cause its gotta say "nike" on it!

 

[hangulmalmotayo]

yes, the vast majority of people in the developed world are vain, materialistic suckers

But what lies at the root of our insatiable quest for material goods? From whence comes the all-consuming darkness that is the root of our vanity, greed, and destruction? Will we ever be satisfied? Surely, the Canvas backpack that I compulsively ordered just now was necessary in some way...

Or perhaps the temporary sense of relief that arises from saving money by buying something I do not need for less than what I might have bought it for is a way of coping with my own mortality? But I would not have bought it at full price. Is this just a way for me to distract myself from death, inevitable and impending--a debt owed to the very principle of existence that cannot be avoided through deals found on eBay or Alibaba? I digress.

"If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you."

*sits pensively, caught completely unprepared for the existential crisis provoked by this Sherdog thread*

 

[Benry]

Almost pulled the trigger on this one...

https://jitsshop.com/collections/bags/products/canvas-drum-bag-jiujitsu-bjj

for $79

then found this after 1 minute search...

http://www.bagsher.com/p2639/fashio...-women-luggage-duffle-bag-ae-32701977519.html

for $42

and dug deeper...

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Uni...pacity-Men-Women-Luggage/32701977519.html?s=p

for $29

There is other stuff too, unbranded gi's made for $20 resold for $179, rashgards that cost 5 to make sold for 50 and my favourite... t-shirts that cost $2 to be made being sold for $40

Aliexpress goes straight from the factory and skips the middle man, so that's a large reason why their stuff is cheap.

Additionally, product pictures can be misleading. For all you know, they're taking stock photos and using them for a subpar product. I've seen $30 Everlast gloves (already overpriced) for sale for over $100 on Amazon because some idiot in China/Afghanistan/Africa/Taiwan/whatever didn't look too hard at their product/price labeling.

But yeah, we as humans like to feel special, so when we hear a product is special and that we'll be special for buying/wearing/using it, we want to have it so we can get that sweet, sweet endorphin release.