Crazy !

[Big J]

When I open the OP's link, it shows me the B-3 priced at 3,931.88 USD, which is 2,981.25 GBP today.

As Mich486 says, Japan retail price equates to 2,622 GBP, to which you must add 22.5% import taxes and VAT (589.95 GBP) for a total of 3,211.95 GBP.

That's only 230.70 GBP extra markup. Not a big deal if you don't want to spend a couple of grand flying out to Japan. Not a big deal if you don't want the hassle of dealing with a Japanese website and international shipping if you have to send it back coz it doesn't fit. And RMC has to cover the overhead of having English speaking staff who can handle all of this.
If you can afford a 3000 GBP jacket, 200 GBP is nothing, surely.
Next case.

 

[Big J]

Whoops!
My mistake!
The U.K. price is lower than buying from Japan and paying import taxes and VAT!
Store price; 2,981.25.
Japan price + import taxes/VAT; 3,211.95.

It's a saving of 230.70 GBP. RMC are losing money on this.
It's a bargain. If they had a size 48, I'd get one.

 

[Mich486]

Whoops!
My mistake!
The U.K. price is lower than buying from Japan and paying import taxes and VAT!
Store price; 2,981.25.
Japan price + import taxes/VAT; 3,211.95.

It's a saving of 230.70 GBP. RMC are losing money on this.
It's a bargain. If they had a size 48, I'd get one.

The price I see on www.realmccoyslondon.com is £3,495. Maybe people outside of UK see a price ex-VAT?


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[Big J]

That's not fair! They're just taking the p1ss now.

 

[Justhandguns]

To be honest, I think the RM London store is more like a showroom than anything else. We are 'seriously' not their targeted customers. Regarding the markups and UK retail pricing, it is not hard to imagine the rent and maintenance of a boutique in Covent Garden (especially while you are probably selling one jacket per day).

Anyway, back to the authenticity question, I think we all know that RM is not renowned for historical patterns. The only worrying thing to us is that, now that they have set the bar high for the rest to follow, let's hope it is not the case.

 

[Edward]

I wonder if the UK shop is profitable at these rates

I agree with JHG; it's more a showroom for the likes of us. There's a ceiling I'm prepared to spend on a jacket, and this is way above it. Good luck to them if they can find anyone who does want to spend that much. Course, London being London, there will always be the well-heeled tourist for whom that is nothing (think: the sort of people who buy designer catwalk type stuff and who might fancy this if they stumble across it).

I also thought it was clever to place themselves opposite Cabourn's; compared to what they charge for some hideous style-abominations, RMCs starts to look very reasonable very quickly.

I also wonder if the idea here is to increase desire in the target market by raising the price to a level which guarantees a certainly exclusivity of ownership.... It's certainly the standard designer-clothing approach, and one I am given to believe plays well in Japan too. Perhaps international branches like this give the home market a certain credibility boost? After all, RMC surely can't be selling internationally in the volumes it does in Japan?

 

[red devil]

I agree with JHG; it's more a showroom for the likes of us. There's a ceiling I'm prepared to spend on a jacket, and this is way above it. Good luck to them if they can find anyone who does want to spend that much. Course, London being London, there will always be the well-heeled tourist for whom that is nothing (think: the sort of people who buy designer catwalk type stuff and who might fancy this if they stumble across it).

I also thought it was clever to place themselves opposite Cabourn's; compared to what they charge for some hideous style-abominations, RMCs starts to look very reasonable very quickly.

I also wonder if the idea here is to increase desire in the target market by raising the price to a level which guarantees a certainly exclusivity of ownership.... It's certainly the standard designer-clothing approach, and one I am given to believe plays well in Japan too. Perhaps international branches like this give the home market a certain credibility boost? After all, RMC surely can't be selling internationally in the volumes it does in Japan?

I think they are targeting the fashion market, but this generally comes with completely different expectations, mainly the brand name. Not sure RMC has anywhere near this kind of recognition.
On the other hand, it is true that a shop in Covent Garden is the right way to build brand recognition, hence the comment about it being a showroom making a lot of sense.
So it would likely be a long term investment, wouldn't it?

 

[jacketjunkie]

I wouldn't buy a jacket for that kind of money, however that's exactly the same what most my friends would say if they knew what my jackets cost. With my jackets, I felt the price was justified and the people buying this RMC, they feel the same. I'm happy with mine, they are happy with theirs. Isn't it a good thing the market offers something for everyone? There's no right or wrong, just different tastes.

 

[red devil]

We are generally in an interesting position in this forum, we are ready to pay more for what we perceive as better quality, but at the same time we are not so fussed about brand recognition. I don't think any of us here is ready to pay the prices big fashion brands charge for their names.

 

[Big J]

The price isn't so different from what you'd pay in Japan, and they don't have any trouble selling out here every winter. London is full of millionaires and oligarchs (according to the news I read), so I guess they'll be selling these like hot cakes to people who can easily afford it.
I think what's shocking some people is that they've been priced out of the market. I'm assuming some of the shock and denial is because people thought they had good salaries until they saw this and realized that there is a market for 3k GBP jackets.

 

[Jejupe]

I quote something I heard from a rich friend: ”to the poor that might seem expensive”.

 

[GHT]

I quote something I heard from a rich friend: ”to the poor that might seem expensive”.

That reminds me of another quote: "A fool and his money, are soon parted."

 

[Jejupe]

That reminds me of another quote: "A fool and his money, are soon parted."

My friend would probably say that is something that the bitter poor people keep repeating! [emoji3] (he is an a**hole, I know)

 

[Big J]

'A fool and his money, etc', yes that's interesting isn't it?
Since the vast majority of rich people don't go bankrupt immediately, I can only deduce that they aren't fools.
When you've got a million dollar sports car, private jet, several holiday homes, and still in the black, a 3k GBP jacket is chump change.
I've often wondered if...
A) 'A fool and his money' was invented by poor people as a panacea to explain why they aren't high-rollers. Or...
B) a lie propagated by the rich to stop the resent of the poor from boiling over?
Either way, if your response is 'A fool and his money', then you are poor and not likely to have to worry about the burden of affluence. Lucky you.
3 grand is nothing to rich people.

 

[Justhandguns]

The price isn't so different from what you'd pay in Japan, and they don't have any trouble selling out here every winter. London is full of millionaires and oligarchs (according to the news I read), so I guess they'll be selling these like hot cakes to people who can easily afford it.
I think what's shocking some people is that they've been priced out of the market. I'm assuming some of the shock and denial is because people thought they had good salaries until they saw this and realized that there is a market for 3k GBP jackets.

3 grand is nothing to rich people.

Yes and no. If the number of zeros on the price tag do not bother me at all, I probably wouldn't go for the RM. I would probably go straight to YSL, Prada or Gucci. Big J, you might have overestimated the kind of fashion taste that those rich Londoners have .

 

[Edward]

'A fool and his money, etc', yes that's interesting isn't it?
Since the vast majority of rich people don't go bankrupt immediately, I can only deduce that they aren't fools.
When you've got a million dollar sports car, private jet, several holiday homes, and still in the black, a 3k GBP jacket is chump change.
I've often wondered if...
A) 'A fool and his money' was invented by poor people as a panacea to explain why they aren't high-rollers. Or...
B) a lie propagated by the rich to stop the resent of the poor from boiling over?
Either way, if your response is 'A fool and his money', then you are poor and not likely to have to worry about the burden of affluence. Lucky you.
3 grand is nothing to rich people.

I don't think it's necessarily either of those. There are both clever and foolish rich people; there are also foolish people who are so ridiculously rich that they can afford to get taken for a ride many times over without feeling a hit. And, of course, there are poor fools who can easily be duped out of what they have too. The worst case scenario seems to be people who win a couple of million on the lottery and think that they can live the Beckham lifestyle on that forever. Michael Jackson was another one: millionaire income, billionaire spending habits; that's why we hear the Beatles on TV adverts nowadays.

 

[Mich486]

Whoever is buying Real McCoy’s is doing well financially, surely well above the national average. Most of these stores selling expensive repro clothing are in big affluent cities. It’s plenty of well paid office jobs in London. The theory of these places being mainly showrooms makes a lot of sense.

The price of this jacket sure is crazy and I don’t get how it can cost three times the Eastman counterpart. Clutch Cafe sells a couple of Buzz B3 at £3,150. Not that different from RMC. So yeah the prices will keep getting higher but it’s not like one needs these jackets to protect himself from the cold.... these are luxury items.




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[ton312]

The “foolishness” is thinking that the $4k or $3k price tag actually equates to any sort of value (in terms of quality). Although the concept of value might be a poor mans ideal.
TBH I don’t see RMC as being all that different from Prada, Armani etc. they know their niche. They will exploit it to their benefit. Simple supply/demand.

 

[Monitor]

I just wish super rich people would just stick with their shiny suits or whatever, instead of paying tens of thousands for overpriced poor peoples clothes.

 

[ton312]

I just wish super rich people would just stick with their shiny suits or whatever, instead of paying tens of thousands for overpriced poor peoples clothes.

That’s just it isn’t it!?? The irony of the upper class modern man paying out huge sums of money to wear a reproduction of a poor mans piece of clothing. The soft handed man in his rugged clothing. LOL. It’s a costume party. I’m guilty of it too. Maybe we all are but at a certain point it becomes plain silly.