Prices of Luxury Labels Unlikely to Drop
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Han Ji-na regrets not buying the Louis Vuitton Monogram Speedy bag in the spring of last year. After months of contemplating over the luxury item, she returned to the shop recently only to find that her dream bag inched further out of reach.
"I thought I saved just enough money for the splurge, but it was frustrating to see that the price went up again," said the 27-year-old office worker, who was prepared to pay only 800,000 won for the now 970,000-won bag.
Louis Vuitton raised prices four times last year and once this year, mainly citing the sliding value of the Korean won against the euro and dollar.
And the French label didn't do so alone, as other leading imported brands, including Chanel, Cartier, Gucci and Prada, aggressively fixed up their prices by 20 to 40 percent on average for the same reason.
But some shoppers wonder why the price increase is so steep compared to the actual fall in the won's value.
The local currency shed about 15 percent against the euro over the past year. On Monday, the won stood at 1,745.64 to the euro.
"It seems like imported labels always find an excuse to hike up prices," wrote a blogger, identified as Jezibel on a local Web forum with interests in luxury brands.
Dozens of other users wrote similar messages, expressing skepticism that the recently gaining won probably won't drive down prices again.
They seem to be right, as industry insiders say that shoppers shouldn't expect luxury goods to become any cheaper.
"Don't count on seeing prices of imports marked down," said a spokeswoman of a top European label, who didn't want to be named. "The price usually changes toward only one direction."
She said other areas in Asia have seen moderate markdowns recently, but the South Korean market seems to be an exception.
An official of another luxury brand stressed that currency alone cannot determine prices, as other key factors such as logistics costs and oil prices collectively play an important role.