How do shop girls afford all that stuff?

I finally did it.

I used a 25% coupon at m0851 and purchased my dream leather jacket — the Perfecto for $678, taxes included.

The original price was $830 before taxes, and I’ve been eying this baby since… I saw it about 3 years ago.

Then I tried to hunt down alternatives for cheaper, and kept coming back to this jacket because of its simplicity, perfect fit, cut and buttery soft leather.

I asked for them to make it for me in a brown (they only had black or ink blue, but neither one appealed to me), but until I get the jacket, I won’t be able to take pictures of it, so you’ll have to settle for this photo for now:

The more you wear it, the better it looks, and it’s SUPER LIGHT for a leather jacket.

Anyway, enough about my jacket. Let’s get to the point of this post.

HOW DO SHOP ATTENDANTS AFFORD SUPER EXPENSIVE STUFF ON THEIR SALARY?

I know I wrote shop GIRLS, but I wrote it thinking of that movie with Claire Danes and Steve Martin named ‘Shopgirl’…However I am well aware there are spendaholic shop GUYS too 🙂

As I was in the store, I was hemming and hawing over the DISCOUNTED price of the jacket, and I finally said: Okay. Well. It’s the only leather jacket I’ll probably ever buy or own, so it might as well be amazing since I’ll be wearing it to death.

This (college-age?) girl looks at me and says: REALLY? I own 3 Perfecto leather jackets from M0851 in various colours — one for spring, autumn and winter..

Me: .. uh… *brain explodes doing the math*….

$830 x 3 jackets = $2490 (before taxes)

Let’s assume they are super generous and give a 50% discount to employees.

That is STILL $1245 BEFORE TAXES!!!!

I was dying over the price of $678 in total for ONE jacket that was 25% off, and here she was, owning 3 Perfecto jackets.

It wouldn’t be so shocking, if she wasn’t working for what I am assuming is minimum wage.

Let’s face it, employees in stores make about $20,000 – $30,000 depending on their level (guessing here)….. which works out to be about $1552 a month.

They would have spent a whole month’s worth of a net paycheck on jackets. 0_O

..or two, if they don’t get a generous 50% employee discount.

Broke my PF mind, to be honest.

It makes me think of all those other people working in luxury retailers wearing luxury clothes on not-so-luxurious salaries — HOW!?

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Update: So apparently “NYC’s Manhattan has the highest geographic concentration of household’s whose lifestyles are heavily supported by Other People’s Money.” (Read: Thomas J. Stanley).

There you go. Answered.