Beats by Dr. Dre - why?

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

The reasonable side of me thinks it's nuts as well for the Beats Solo (reg $179.99) but it's the #1 thing my DS wanted.

Being the "bargain shopper" that I am, I used my Cartwheel app on Thanksgiving night at Target for the light blue ones (the one he wanted thankfully) and saved 10% and they were on sale for $119 so not bad (LOL) for $100 total.

He loved the sound of them and has tried them out every time we have gone into Target.

Heather

 

[islandtimect]

DD12 has them on her xmas list. Buying the $ 179 pair fir $116 with my target discounts. Earbuds hurt her ears and shes tried many pairs. .

 

[JanaDee]

Thanks to people here (the budget board), I got my DD Beats Solo for $99.

 

[angierae]

My theory on presents is that if my kid wants something, and it is within the Christmas budget, they can have it. Now, if my Christmas budget is $400, and she wants $200 headphones, she'll be warned that that's half her Christmas budget. She can make the call.

But I was the kid whose mother always bought some cheaper item that was "as good as" what I wanted and it never was. Either I wanted it for the status (in my day it was Coca Cola sweatshirts) or because it _was_ a good quality product. And it hurt my feelings that even if I knew what I wanted was ALL I'd get, that's what I really wanted. My mother would do things like say the $75 item I wanted was too expensive (even if I said that was ALL I wanted) and then spend $150 on a bunch of little stuff I didn't want because she liked having "more stuff under the tree" with no thought to what *I* wanted. And I felt like she was wasting her money for some sort of idea of what Christmas morning should "look like" rather than spending her hard-earned money on something I would actually use and enjoy.

 

[Colleen27]

My theory on presents is that if my kid wants something, and it is within the Christmas budget, they can have it. Now, if my Christmas budget is $400, and she wants $200 headphones, she'll be warned that that's half her Christmas budget. She can make the call.

But I was the kid whose mother always bought some cheaper item that was "as good as" what I wanted and it never was. Either I wanted it for the status (in my day it was Coca Cola sweatshirts) or because it _was_ a good quality product. And it hurt my feelings that even if I knew what I wanted was ALL I'd get, that's what I really wanted. My mother would do things like say the $75 item I wanted was too expensive (even if I said that was ALL I wanted) and then spend $150 on a bunch of little stuff I didn't want because she liked having "more stuff under the tree" with no thought to what *I* wanted. And I felt like she was wasting her money for some sort of idea of what Christmas morning should "look like" rather than spending her hard-earned money on something I would actually use and enjoy.

For me it depends on what the item is. We don't have a fixed Christmas budget and I'm willing to splurge on items that I think are worth it or that really matter to the kids. I don't buy junk but I also don't encourage the kids to blindly buy into tween/teen status symbol trends. I want them to learn to think about what they really value because I believe not "keeping up with the Joneses" is a mindset that starts early.

So when my daughter wants a particular North Face jacket because of features X, Y, and Z I'm happy to buy it - yes, it is a status symbol but it is also very functional and meets a need. When my son says he wants Beats but really means any foldable noise-cancelling headphones with good sound, I'm not going to pay extra for the brand if I can get the same/better performance from another brand for less money - the Beats name is pure status at a premium price, while some of the less expensive alternatives provide superior function.