'Here have this $700 sterling silver bracelet': The luxury brands that hide poor quality with high prices and good marketing

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Aug 30, 2025 10:00 PM EDT

Nobody likes to feel like they got got. We all like to feel like we're smart consumers who know what we're putting our money towards. We'd like to think we can sniff out bad quality and avoid it with our smarts and know-how. But sometimes marketing gets to even the best of us. Not everyone is above a sleek package. 

Think about perfume. Have you ever not considered the shape and the look of the bottle when choosing a perfume? I certainly haven't. It's all about branding. Same with bottled water. Maybe you choose the cheapest one at the store when you're in a bind and you forgot your refillable water bottle. But odds are you're being at least a little bit swayed by branding-- is it alkaline? Does it have a nice spout to drink out of? It's not our fault for falling prey to all the little tricks of marketing. Companies spend millions of dollars trying to make their products look better than they might actually be. But it's still on us as consumers to find out which ones are worth our money. 

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  • Plus, this can change over time. Sometimes a brand will develop a good reputation with good quality, and then once you've gotten used to it, slowly chip away at their quality to save a few bucks. But luckily, we've got a few answers here to let you know which products are worth it and which ones are just smoke and mirrors. 

  • Which luxury brand is basically just overpriced junk with good marketing?

    QueenOfCaffeine842 12h ago • "Chocolate" diamonds. Sir, that is not chocolate. It's a crappy diamond with the clarity of mud.
    via u/QueenOfCaffeine842
  • Cogito 16h ago . Most high end sunglasses.
    via u/C0git0
  • Silent_but_diddly · 16h ago Maserati used to be legitimate, now they're made with many of the same parts from a Dodge Dart (by Chrysler)
    via u/Silent_but_diddly
  • ItsMRslash • 14h ago Balenciaga snow gear. joke
    via u/ItsMRslash
  • • Anonymous8411 · 16h ago Alo Polyblend material made in china/vietnam garbage. Slap three letters on the clothes, jack up the prices and do a bunch of yoga pics. Boooooom, you're a luxury brand. This brand is garbage.
    via u/Anonymous8411
  • cainhurstcat · 10h ago - • Balenciaga is literally selling regular everyday crop like a roll of tape as bracelet for $1190.
    via u/cainhurstcat
  • kunzaz • 13h ago . Tiffany- Here have this $700 sterling silver bracelet
    via u/kunzaz
  • shotsallover • 12h ago Wow. Monster Cable isn't even mentioned anywhere yet. Sad that they've fallen off that far.
    via u/shotsallover
  • brahdz 13h ago . Grey goose, Clase Azul, and many other well branded spirits.
    via u/brahdz
  • c4cbs 12h ago . De Beers or the entire diamond industry
    via u/c4cbs
  • wire67 16h ago Most "luxury" brand skincare. Soooooo many better options from Korea and a few American dermatologists that are way better for so much less.
    via u/wire67
  • LR-Tahoe 13h ago • Restoration Hardware, beautifully branded. The quality just isn't there. My Italian leather stools = made in China.
    via u/LR-Tahoe
  • LePetit Joufflu • 7h ago Beats by Dre is my choice... Overpriced, bad quality, but great marketing
    via u/LePetitJoufflu
  • Neat... 16h ago Edited 15m ago . . Dr Dre's Beats. I'm not sure if you can call them "luxury" but they charge a comparative fortune for the crappiest headphones ever conceived by humanity. They allegedly put weights in them to make them feel more premium (though this is highly disputed, the original
    via u/Neat_Issue8569
  • claim appeared to be from a teardown of a counterfeit pair, which the author admitted, however the author then went on to teardown a genuine pair, where it was determined they were almost identical and were still using rather unnecessarily large metal components presumably to make them feel
    via u/Neat_Issue8569
  • more premium). The driver diaphragms look like they were ripped from a Happy Meal digital toy. It's all just wet and no treble. A $5 pair of bass Betrons would honestly be better than any Beats headset.
    via u/Neat_Issue8569
  • EllieLivvy 13h ago . Crate and Barrel's in house brand, also called Crate and Barrel. Everything I got off my registry that is the Crate and Barrel brand has fallen apart in a matter of 3 years. It's all junk disguised as high-end.
    via u/EllieLivvy
  • Largerie 15h ago • Supreme They just put the "Supreme" logo on anything and it's insta +100 usd. band-aid Supreme... Just why?
    via u/Largerie
  • Cigarrauuul 11h ago • Watches that are branded with a fashion label. These are run of the mill cheap watches with a label on it. If you wear an Armani watch for hundreds of dollars, you are not right in the head.
    via u/Cigarrauuul
  • BakedMitten • 12h ago "Most of them" seems to be the consensus
    via u/BakedMitten
  • Zealousideal-Law-513 13h ago Hublot watches Most entry level luxury purses.
    via u/Zealousideal-Law-513
  • greenisthesky • 11h ago Chanel. Quality has gone down and prices up (like insanely up). Not worth it.
    via u/greenisthesky
  • Being_Stoopit_Is_Fun 15h ago . Thermador, high end luxury appliance. We're not rich but splurged on these. Our range was DOA and they couldn't fix it and couldn't get a replacement. We had to get a slightly different one. The microwave seems like rebranded crop and the fake chrome peeled off. The fridge and washer seem OK but nothing special.
    via u/Being_Stoopit_Is_Fun
  • Word2DWise • 13h ago · All high end fashion. I'm not saying that it's all junk, given than some of very high quality, but never high enough to justify the price.
    via u/Word2DWise
  • . Ava_Strange · 6h ago Not sure if Fjällräven should be considered luxury, but growing up in Sweden in the 80's, a Kånken backpack was the lamest thing you could have. You'd get borderline bu ied for having one. Fast forward to early 2000s and the hipsters make them ultra desirable, the marketing goes through the roof
    via u/Ava_Strange
  • and now everybody and their mother is using basic Kånken with uncomfortable unpadded straps that dig into your shoulders and you can buy any number of counterfeit Kånken in any street market.
    via u/Ava_Strange
  • dacrazyredhead 13h ago louis vuitton. most of those bag are essentially plastic. and anything that has a logo all over it
    via u/dacrazyredhead

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