Fool's Gold: Bou-Cheeky Boutiques

Sorry about the terrible pun in the title. It's better phonetically, try saying it outloud and you'll understand why I had to go with it!

Being a native Wellingtonian, I do love a good quirky boutique. Buying locally made products and supporting small businesses is awesome, plus they're basically like Etsy IRL.

Every city has a shop almost identical to this.

Unfortunately, just like Etsy, I've noticed (credit to my friend Rose) a lot of products that have been bought for cheap, say $2, from a site like eBay or AliExpress and sold on for a huge mark-up. Businesses need to profit to survive and marking things up is common practice, but it seems unfair to put something that's been made in China under sweat shops conditions next to hand-made and thoughtfully designed products.

To price them the exact same amount and chuck some branding on the Made in China product is a bit cheeky. If I buy a $50 necklace from a Cuba Street boutique, I expect it to have been made in San Francisco by a girl wearing vegan-friendly Doc Martens (in my mind, her boyfriend has a matching pair, a fine moustache and makes novelty fridge magnets...). That is what I'm paying for.

It is possible, of course, the boutique owners have been duped into buying these el cheapo goods, but I think they sell them to support the low profit margins their other products have.

In Wellington, there's a boutique called Matchbox (pictured above) who are a perfect example of a Boutique Gone Bad. I have nothing against them and actually quite like a lot of their inventory, but in the interest of the everyday consumer, I feel I have to point this stuff out.

Here are some examples of products you can get for MUCH cheaper online (all in $NZ):


And I haven't even calculated for bulk buying, which would lower the AliExpress prices significantly.

What you're paying extra for is being able to physically examine the item before purchase, plus the convenience and experience of a local store. However, this is more of a quality issue than anything else. A $5 necklace is simply not a quality item! It's going to break or wear out pretty fast, and by slapping a $30 price tag on it, you're promising a higher quality than the necklace can fulfil. Plus the store is implying these goods are something they are not by re-branding them.

Matchbox, I like you, but I am certifying you Bou-cheeky!