The ultra luxury market is going through a profound shift. It seems that rare wines, status watches, and private jets are losing their appeal. The best vacation spots, restaurants, and experiences are now the “in” thing.
Luxury goods sales have fallen globally since 2023, while ultra-luxury experiences are up nearly 90% since 2019. Tickets to the Met Gala (if you can get one) cost more than double what they did in 2019. Super Bowl tickets have doubled in just five years.
Why the change?
US Economist Thorstein Veblen explains:
Luxury goods sales have fallen globally since 2023, while ultra-luxury experiences are up nearly 90% since 2019. Tickets to the Met Gala (if you can get one) cost more than double what they did in 2019. Super Bowl tickets have doubled in just five years.
Why the change?
US Economist Thorstein Veblen explains:
“Luxury depends on scarcity and rivalrousness. One person’s consumption diminishes another person’s ability to have it.”
Ultra luxury goods can be purchased worldwide. Watches and cars can be resold. A lab-grown diamond is identical to the real thing. But you can’t re-sell the experience of sitting in center court at Wimbledon, and no one can share your table at a Michelin-starred restaurant for the three hours it’s occupied.
Reading this sank my soul.
Why does one person’s happiness need to come in a package at the exclusion of another person’s?
It also left me unexpectedly encouraged. Because experiences matter.
I love that people are finding more joy in events rather than stuff.
I don’t need a front seat at the Football World Cup Final to have fun – I can join friends at a home where we can share the experience without long beer lines. Hearing my kids tease each other and relive old memories gives me more delight than any Michelin-starred meal ever could. And if I’m building new memories, it doesn’t need to happen on a private island meant to keep others out.
Life is short. This year will pass just as quickly as the last. As you pencil out your New Year’s resolutions, I hope you’re making room for the memories and the experiences that matter most.
Here’s to a meaningful 2026!
Barbara
Dec 28, 2025
Source:
https://www.economist.com/video/CVan3v3n7ga/ec4UqKbC?f=%2F
https://la.utexas.edu/users/hcleaver/368/368VeblenConspicuoustable.pdf
https://la.utexas.edu/users/hcleaver/368/368VeblenConspicuoustable.pdf
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