Second-hand Designer handbags - investment or not?

[chestynuts]

Whether or not the bags have a resale value is completely irrelevant to the problem here. You aren't buying them to resell.

If you are buying handbags to make yourself feel good, there is a serious problem here and your mother is probably right.

You mention "monthly payments". Are you paying your credit card bill in full every month or are you carrying a balance? If you are going into debt to buy handbags, this is an even bigger problem.

What percentage of income are you saving for retirement?
How many months of expenses do you have parked in your emergency fund?

If all of your financial needs are in order and you are buying handbags because you enjoy them, that's great, but I'm sensing that isn't the situation here.

I'm so dense. No, I don't have a retirement plan but I have an investment insurance.
Emergency fund? Hmmmm.... I have a savings account wherein I take 5-10% of my salary each month since 2015. It's not much.

Oh no. I barely use my credit cards especially for shopping because I pay in cash and no, I don't pay monthly for my bags. I just like to have lots of them. You sound like my mom. :-(

[chestynuts]

So if you have cash to burn and it makes you happy, go ahead and do it. Consider it investing in yourself and not investing in purses. You probably won't make money off of it, but you might come out close to even. But if you are buying purses when you could be paying off your car or saving up for a home, I would rethink my savings goals if it was me.

It's not that I have lots of cash to burn but I don't have anything else to spend on except for myself. My car is paid up. I have my own apartment. I'm not rich but I can afford to splurge on myself a bit - just the second hand stuff though. authenticated.
but thanks for your opinion!

[chestynuts]

You mentioned monthly payments. Are you making monthly payments for handbag purchases?

no. not making monthly payments. i meant - my bills for the month

[chestynuts]

thank you all so much for your replies. i think i realized something here.

[disneysteve]

hi! there is no business plan because i don't intend on making it a business. i intend to make a collection out of designer bags.

thanks for this feedback! at this time, no - im not trying to sell it.

If you have no plan to sell them, whether or not they have resale value is of absolutely no importance. It sounds like you are just trying to rationalize your purchases.

[disneysteve]

I don't have a retirement plan but I have an investment insurance.

What do you mean by "investment insurance"? The only thing I can think that might refer to is whole life insurance. If so, you really want to reconsider that. Insurance is NOT an investment and shouldn't be used as one. There are a couple of good threads on this site that talk about that.

[msomnipotent]

I'm all about spending money on things you love. I'm probably the least conservative poster here. But even I don't spend money on myself unless I have a large emergency fund and the retirement funds are up to date. You can't depend on Social Security or a pension anymore. You have to fund your own retirement. Not sure how old you are, but when I had my own place I only had term life insurance to pay off my condo and bury me. If my sister didn't live with me, I probably wouldn't have even bothered with life insurance.

If it were me, I would start putting that 10% into a retirement account instead of a savings account while adding enough into your savings until you had 6 months worth of living expenses. Then I would buy whatever purse I wanted.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I kinda figure chestynuts was going to come back and post a link to some site she supposedly found where purses could be sold. That is her M.0. here on savingadvice. She tells a little story asking a question, then pretends she looked around on the internet and just happened to find a site that informs her decision. (I interpret that as spamming.)

As for the "insurance investment"--- well, she has told us she has an insurance company with her mother. But then she has also told us that working from home is too distracting, yet wonders how to get work via Odesk as she is a developer. At the same time, she has had a family restaurant for 5 year, has two kids, has just moved to Napa Valley, needs an investor for an app she has developed, and needs to finance a car for joint personal & business use.

Now, she always pays for these purses up front yet has to tell her kids they can't have a new game player nor eat out every week.

While chestynuts brings some interesting discussion that actually could be valuable to someone, somewhere, I don't think we need to use burn too much energy trying to help her figure out how to save. I don't think that is her main reason to be here.

(Sorry, but I've been reading here a long time. Sometimes this stuff just kinda floats to the top. Was unsure whether to simply share my conjectures with the moderators, or perhaps to entertain all with my surmises. I chose entertainment., even though it feesl like it might be bad manners. )

[disneysteve]

Thanks, Joan. I hadn't looked back at her previous posts so didn't realize the pattern.

[Gailete]

It's not that I have lots of cash to burn but I don't have anything else to spend on except for myself. My car is paid up. I have my own apartment. I'm not rich but I can afford to splurge on myself a bit - just the second hand stuff though. authenticated.
but thanks for your opinion!

As long as all your finances are in order and you make sure your have adequate ermegency savings as well as a retirement fund stratgey, then if buying purses is something that makes you happy, then I don't see why not. For years now I have traded up to a top of the line sewing machine and no I don't want to say how much it cost. It gives me real pleasure to use it and my latest one has a button in the front that saves me from having so much right shoulder pain that I can sew for an hour or more now instead of the 15-20 minutes I was down to. We don't have a lot of money, but I do have a sewing related business and my machines is part of that.

But where some would think it is so expensive, I think of it this way, I don't intend to get another one. As well as taking into account these spending categories that other woman have:

-I have never smoked.
-I don't drink alcoholic beverages and only drink water and the occasional cup of tea or cocoa at home.
-I don't buy or wear makeup - the last time I had any on was for my wedding almost 16 years ago.
-I don't get manicures, although I will buy the occasional bottle of polish when my nails are giving me problems to strengthen them due to my medication
-I don't get pedicures
-I haven't paid for a hair cut in at least 4 years. Hubby timmed it the other night
-other than underwear I haven't bought new clothes from any store but our local thrift store, where the highest price I have paid is $2. And not too often at that.
-I have a purse and a totebag what I carry, both of which I made myself. I also have a great bag to attach to my walker that I got for free to review for Amazon.
-I am not a shoe horse. I have bought 4 pairs of shoes in the last 16 years. only one worth wearing (3 were bought on line). It is really hard for me to find shoes that both fit and are comfortable. I have enough pain in my life to not want more.
-ETC...... In other words if most normal (not real frugal) woman added up what they spend in these categories over one years time, my sewing machine is a cheap substitute

However, if you are spending in all the above categories as well and can't afford many of them, then I wouldn't be buying those expensive purses as well. I don't see the attraction, but then it is none of my business. You see the attraction and that is the important thing.

[titlelo]

If you have no plan to sell them, whether or not they have resale value is of absolutely no importance. It sounds like you are just trying to rationalize your purchases.

chesynuts, if you're really trying to sell used designer handbags, then there is indeed a market for them. So much so that high-end pawn shops have begun accepting designer handbags as collateral for loans. If you don't believe me, Google it. You could make a killing selling used bags if you focus on getting the top three: Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel. If you can land these names at 50% off from Japan and they're authentic, then you'll have a pretty lucrative side hustle.

[tom_a]

it is probably a good option for additional earnings

[bernod]

I have a friend who is selling some preloved designer bags and she's quite good at that.

[chestynuts]

I'm not addicted into a second-hand designer bags but I also have one or two only and that's enough for me. In terms of investments, in a way, it could be since you can easily sell preloved items these days and got money in return.