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What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

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Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#631

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lie by omission is still a lie, in my world. You may inhabit one in which it is not, however

Now you've called me a liar. Would you like to try to substantiate that presumptive libel? Or do you simply mistake for virtue the inability you have cultivated to entertain a thought with which you don't agree?

I'd ask if you were new to the Internet, but no one would believe the answer of a liar.

Of the 261 words in your comment (archived at https://archive.is/Vfx9Z#selection-161.6-184.0), none of them mention that you see it as "grotesquely flagrant consumption", so reads like the meme about the temporarily embarrassed millionaire.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#632

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Automation is for less wealthy rich people - so the company can serve more users. When you are rich, you get a real person who speaks your language well and has the authority/power to get things done. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-net-worth_individual

Even wealthy in the US tend to have much less servants than they would have in the past. Labor is too expensive, and the large middle class has made automation just as good and sometimes better. Sure I could hire someone to turn on my lights - but the switch on the wall works well and isn't much effort (compare to the lamp lighter of the past which did work that would be annoying).

Note, I and, I assume, the parent commenter weren't talking about home automation.

"Virtual personal assistant" to me meant a computer program that could understand speech and carry out a limited set of actions based on that speech - the computer equivalent of a human personal assistant/secretary.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#633

The referenced reply is dull. It's very pretentious but just reiterates common knowledge, it doesn't convey any useful information. For example I wish someone told me about the existence of Miele kitchen equipment before I accidentally rented an apartment of a well-to-do woman. She renovated it for herself but then rented out when circumstances changed. Similarly it took me a long time to realize just how much better…

The only Miele you want is the vacuum cleaner.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#634

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now you've called me a liar. Would you like to try to substantiate that presumptive libel? Or do you simply mistake for virtue the inability you have cultivated to entertain a thought with which you don't agree?

I'd ask if you were new to the Internet, but no one would believe the answer of a liar. Of the 261 words in your comment (archived at https://archive.is/Vfx9Z#selection-161.6-184.0 ), none of them mention that you see it as "grotesquely flagrant consumption", so reads like the meme about the temporarily embarrassed millionaire.

Why bother archiving a comment whose edit window has closed? What on Earth do you imagine to be going on here? Your account is twice the age of mine. Do you not know how this website works?

I will say, this no longer appears to me to qualify for the name I suggested a few minutes ago. Oh, the statement remains false, only I now no longer believe you competent to defame. Have you had a meal today?

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#635

This was the most demonstrative part for me: PERSPECTIVE. The wealthiest person I have spent time with makes about $400mm/year. i couldn't get my mind around that until I did this: OK--let's compare it with someone who makes $40,000/year. It is 10,000x more. Now let's look at prices the way he might. A new Lambo--$235,000 becaome $23.50. First class ticket internationally? $10,000 becomes $1. A full time executive le…

Products that are produced by employee-owned, co-ops, or non profit businesses. Even then, however, those organizations will have operating expenses - for instance renting a building. The only meaningful way to get the money circulating back through the economy is taxation. Or, if that doesn't happen enough and the disparity becomes too great, war and/or collapse of society will chaotically and capriciously redistrib…

> The only meaningful way to get the money circulating back through the economy is taxation.

Scrooge McDuck is a fictional character. Rich people don't have all their money hoarded in a pool of gold coins - excess money is invested back into the economy.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#636

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh hey I'm uniquely positioned to answer this; though I'm in tech (and at this point frankly speaking well-compensated) my family have been bootmakers for decades. I'm sitting at a tech office right now wearing a pair of boots that my father made for me in 2015 - regardless, they're absolutely spotless and I'd wear them to a formal event without hesitation. Every 6 months or so when I'm by his store I shine them up a…

https://franksboots.com/ Are you these guys? One techbro recommended these to me and my cofounder and I've never looked back. Your boots are going places, literally! Edit:- Changed link to direct.

Any objective comparisons to Whites, Nicks, Thursday boots?

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#637
post #522

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if its weird. This seems to me using money to reduce hassle. At my even lower level of existence I do similar thing in sense I keep one pair toothbrush and paste in upstairs bathroom and another pair at main level just to avoid whatever inconvenience I've thought of in my mind. Same with multiple pair of glasses at different location I work from. I have not done these things when I had less money and now…

We'd somehow have to poll a large randomized demographic as to whether having two bathrooms in which you brush your teeth is weird to begin with though.

We could talk about the lingering effects of redlining and the post-WWII housing crisis and how those manifest differently in different parts of the country. Or we could keep up with the weird conspiracy theory stuff. Your call, and I don't mind either way; this look inside your head that you don't realize you are giving has not yet ceased to fascinate.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#638
post #561

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably $200 for a good pair of boots

$200 is enough to get you a pair of Keen boots, which will last a year or two. Truly "good" in the boot world is hand welted hand made leather boots, which are a rarity these days. There are functionally only a few bootmakers that still manufacture this way these days, and about half of them are all in the same Washington State region :) Expect ~$400, and it's easy to spend $600 without much effort. That said, look a…

You can get goodyear welted boots which are decent and will likely last on the order of 10 years for 200$ if you're willing to let the person hand stitching it for you be brown and overseas (i.e. buy from Thursday who will make them in Mexico or Portugal)

Hell, Schott will sell you a pair of made in the USA goodyear welted boots for 300$.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#639
post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are all Miele at home and for the next renewal, I will go to Bosch/Siemens. Too many small failures here and there (less than 8 year old). I was sincerely surprised because 20 years ago, Miele was the gold standard (at least in Germany). So, I agree with you.

What about gaggenau?

I compared Miele, Thermador, gaggenau, and regular Bosch 800 fridge side-by-side in a appliance store.

There is nothing on those higher end versions which make them worth anything close to the markup on the Bosch 800 fridge.

If I'm going to spend almost 2X, you better give me at a minimum fully metal and glass construction (almost no plastic). I get slightly more metal and slightly (very slightly) stronger plastics. That's about it.

What a scam. Don't buy Miele or gaggenau. If you want a truly high end fridge, you'll need a built in made by someone like subzero or its competitors.

Re: What do wealthy people buy, that ordinary people know nothing about? (2015)

#640
post #579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a cleaning person and lawn guy should be more like $3500-$5k per year.

The given range was the assumed incorrect price, which made them not contract for the service.

2 people x the entire weekend = 32 hours labor, which was the quoted time for how much upkeep the household required.

Including business overhead, licensing, insurance, etc you're at 35-50k for a year of 32 hours of labor a week with the upper end a w2 employee and the lower end an illegal.

Original value looks correct.

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