Can't Buy It? Rent to Impress
Today's Washington Post offers this story about retailers and less conventional outlets that allow consumers to rent, rather than buy, luxury items from "diamonds to exotic cars and vintage handbags." You now have "affordable" access to "coveted brand names": $4800 to rent a vintage Hermes crocodile Birkin bag for one month; $203 to rent a Vera Wang diamond flower pendant for one week; or $7,500 per year to gain regular access to a stable of classic automobiles in Manhattan. As one luxury marketing executive observes, these options are "really more for the people who can't afford it but want to give the illusion of affording it."
These new consumption options not only appeal to our vanity, they allow us to indulge at a lower cost. And as you lower the price of something, Economics 101 tells us that demand increases. Do we really need or want this type of encouragement?