The Tiffani's Scam

A friend of mine’s wife loves Tiffani’s. I asked him one time to explain how someone can love a store so much. “Well, he said, the jewelry has Tiffani’s stamped on it and it comes in a very unusual blue box.”

Here’s the scam. The jewelry is no different than any other jewelry (except the box). There’s an enormous mark-up on the jewelry because of the “Tiffani’s” name. The company has done an extraordinarily great job of marketing itself to average Americans (lower-middle-class).

You could go to an independent jeweler and have a stone and setting made for less. Of course it’s not the money. It’s the name. Name brand stuff always fetches more money.

The moral of the story is to understand ‘name brand’ does not mean anything at all. There are lots of alternatives to name brand. And, when you really think about it; what are you saying when you wear designer stuff?

I’m better than you? I have more status than you?

Did you know most folks that are really well to do generally don’t buy name brand stuff? They’re more likely to shop at Sam’s Club.

The point is to do without for a while until you’ve paid down all of your debt, than, with cash, purchase what you can afford. If you can pay cash you can afford it, if you have to use credit you can’t.

To debt free living!

David…