What makes shoes so expensive

The "in" thing, of course. Prestige plays a big part in what makes any designer item worth the price. Being the first to wear a hideously expensive but beguiling shoe gives the wearer bragging rights and makes her the center of attention.

Is it worth it? When the cost of admission to a select group of rich and powerful people is what you happen to be wearing, driving or drinking, sure it is. Promotion - Those shoes you see studded with diamonds for a price tag in the millions of dollars are more a marketing tool than a product. Do people buy them?

Maybe, but they're a one-of-a-kind item with an extremely limited, possibly nonexistent, market. If your favorite shoes pinch your delicate feet, stretch them with potatoes. Stuff a large, peeled, whole potato into each shoe and leave it in place overnight. Once the shoes dry out completely, they should be slightly larger and a better fit. It's carb-free potato magic. Someone has to envision, construct and distribute the shoes that eventually grace your feet.

These factors play a part in the price of your shoes:. Quality workmanship - Handmade products that have a long history of quality workmanship can command top dollar. If the retail chain is large enough, they can probably negotiate something slightly better, like free or discounted freight for the delivery of the sneakers. Not as much as you think, although since sneaker companies sell approximately a gazillion pairs of shoes a year, it obviously adds up.

Shipping from China to L. When it reaches an American port, the shoes must be legally imported. The import duty is 8. Labor, overhead and profit: 27 percent. Leather: 16 percent. Outsole where the rubber literally meets the road : 14 percent. The latter only fuels rising sneaker costs, with some looking to buy sneakers as an investment rather than a style choice. Will it ever end? There is a fair number of people who will think that the good or service is underpriced because they would have still been willing to buy it at a higher price, though their exact limit will see considerable differences from person to person.

Similarly, there is a fair number of people who will think that the good or service is overpriced because they are the ones who have been priced out of the market by the equilibrium price. Moving on, sneakers are a very popular offshoot of a very old tree.

For those who are curious, the earliest known example of shoes would be a pair of sandals made out of sagebrush bark from about 7, or 8, BC. However, this pretty much guarantees that shoes came into existence at some point before that based on some pretty basic reasoning. In fact, there is evidence that shoes might have been invented as far back as 26, to 40, years ago. As a result, it is striking that the fossil record shows shorter, thinner toes becoming more and more common in that approximate time period, though their shoes were likely to have been nothing more than leather-made bags for the feet.

Over time, shoes became more and more sophisticated. By Roman times, cobblers had become a notable profession in their own right, which is perhaps unsurprising considering the sheer amount of marching that was expected of Roman soldiers. However, while cobblers could turn out huge numbers of shoes when conditions were right, the Industrial Revolution transformed the field of shoemaking in the same way that it transformed the making of a wide range of other goods.

As such, the production of shoes was almost completely mechanized by the end of the 19th century, which in turn, made them more available to more people than ever before. Rubber-soled shoes meant to boost athletic performance came into existence in the early 19th century. Initially, these were rare. This is important because this has contributed a great deal to one pair of sneakers not being the same as another pair of sneakers.

Something that contributes to their price differences. Having said that, it is worth mentioning that China has been seeing rising labor costs in more recent times, so it is possible that this figure has risen. Thanks to that, we know that some sneaker companies have made moves to keep their costs under control by relocating to countries with even lower labor costs such as Vietnam and Thailand. Similarly, a lot of sneaker companies have been investing in robots as well, which have been useful for keeping costs under control as well.