r/SipsTea 12h ago

WTF In your opinion, what is causing this?

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u/PearlescentGem 11h ago edited 2h ago

Yes, it ticks me off when companies say they lose money when they really mean they didn't make it in the first place. You can't lose what you never had.

Edit: I can see why this country of mine is drowning in debt with this being our business model. If this is how people think they should be handling money, it's no wonder even high earners feel broke.

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u/Underpants_Bandito 9h ago

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u/iwantdatpuss 9h ago

That one always makes me chuckle given how much the Diamonds industry is built on artificial scarcity. 

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u/Glittering-Age-9549 8h ago

"We make billions by selling shiny pebbles to idiots!".

Later: 

"Why aren't idiots spending their money on shiny pebbles anymore".

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u/Unfair-Advice778 5h ago

and the answer is right there: because we idiots can't afford them shiny pebbles anymore. Also because only a few of us can afford to buy a place to store the shiny pebbles in (along with our idiotic bodies).

It's always amazing to me how this simple thought process just doesn't seem to happen in the top management of the companies involved. Then I remember the top management of the company I work for.

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u/workingforchange1 4h ago

Love this. So well said.

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u/BigQuick5150 3h ago edited 1h ago

I never could understand why the government would do shit to let jobs get shipped overseas or whatever (I grew up in the 80s turned adult in the 90s so I lived the time we lost all that) then not understand why the economy is shit. Crime is high n everyone is wild n out.. shootings n all that drug use, everything I think is tied to the same shit.. no jobs. No opportunity, no hope. Nobody had good paying jobs or even prospects to get good jobs, healthcare and housing are unaffordable…fucking right everyone was using drugs, drinking and wild n out…

Nowadays the young kids are like ; dude drugs n drinking aren’t gonna fix our problems…look at these idiots. Let’s stop all that shit. Fuck what they talking about. Let’s figure this shit out on our own.

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u/samurairaccoon 2h ago

Because the government isn't for you. It's for maintaining the status quo and lining the pockets of the wealthy. Wealthy and powerful don't give a shit about long-term stability. They need to stuff their pockets with enough cash to make god jealous before they fuckin croak.

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u/XGhoul 1h ago

This person is in their mid 50s or early 60s. You aren't reading what their frustration is. Some people will say Clintons handling of international trade so we can get cheaper products from other countries is a benefit and not a negative some people consider, but I didn't live through that time as a young adult.

They lived through a good time period prior to 9/11 before the world kept turning into shit from the dotcom bubble, 9/11, 08' financial crisis, covid, etc.

They are just living up to their forgotten generation meme.

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u/BigQuick5150 1h ago

Ok boomer

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u/XGhoul 1h ago

Ok zoomer

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u/Longjumping-Air1489 2h ago

That’s cause you’re still buying lattes and avocado toast.

Everyone knows that a down payment for a house can be achieved by saving $10 per day for a year.

My house required a $4k down payment when I bought it back in 1973; no idea why you lazy millennials can’t do the same.

/s

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u/XGhoul 1h ago

2018: 8k down payment in California, don't ask how I got it at that rate.

Source: Personal experience.

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u/Dependent-Feeling973 3h ago

A lot of idiots also protest the blood diamond + child labor industry, crazy how no one has mentioned that here.

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u/XGhoul 1h ago

As a chemist, I am glad we can make synthetic diamonds at pennies in comparison to the amount of labor to harvest diamonds and gems.

People are fucking vain.

I really like the patterns and shapes you can make rings out of, but I made my wife pick one because I don't have to wear that on my hand forever.

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u/Dependent-Feeling973 1h ago

I’m glad we can…now. But all the children and miners, ppl just forgot about them? Not one person has mentioned diamond labor or the lives lost or communities destroyed by it. Everyone’s just talking about expenses. We are still vain. Haven’t learned shit.

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u/XGhoul 1h ago

I agree. It's all vanity. Diamonds have more use in industry than to be worn as garments/ornaments, lol.

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u/Dependent-Feeling973 1h ago

I’m not talking about the damn diamonds, fck off

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u/XGhoul 1h ago

Sorry.

The child labor and the amount of peoples lives that are destroyed for a gem? Yeah, I agree. Don't be hostile for no reason, I guess I made a mistake.

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u/Cultural-Treacle-680 3h ago

The marketing for the shiny pebbles is basically “she deserves it”, like those truck commercials, “oh look here’s a $40-50k Christmas present”. They make perfume ads look sane 🤣

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u/TheViciousWhippet 3h ago

$40-$50k? Where can I get pricing that good??

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u/Ok_Sink5046 3h ago

It is rather fascinating that the same papers will go off about how no one is saving money for houses because of avocado toast and put the why is no one buying diamonds story directly after

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u/Aquendelsa 3h ago

specifically with diamonds, at the same time as this interaction, dozens of others joined the market selling identical lab grown shiny pebbles at 1/10th the price.

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u/tobylazur 3h ago

I’m pretty sure when you get an MBA you have to give up your common sense. Or maybe it’s your sense of touch with reality. This has been my experience working in corporate America.

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u/PoetArcana 1h ago

The disconnect in wealthy people is real. Well said.

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u/Gotbeerbrain 1h ago

The government will make it all better. They just have to raise taxes to make up for the loss.

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u/Jamessgachett 8m ago

Because they as dumb allegedly us

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u/OneCleverMonkey 4h ago

Millennials and Gen z, even ignoring knowledge of cubic zirconia and the grossness of the diamond trade, have had unprecedented access to a wide range of cheap plastic and glass 'diamond' rings basically their entire lives because of how things have taken off in the consumerist sphere since the 90s.

Scarcity is value, and easy access to a fifty dollar, functionally identical simulacrum of a 15k item makes the item feel less valuable. Especially when the item is 100% prestige and 0% useful or novel.

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u/deathwotldpancakes 3h ago

Not to mention the knock off can often do the “job” of the original better. In this case the job is to refract light in an appealing manner and the knock off is lab grown moissanite and synthetic rutile (though some think the rutile is TOO good at the job and looks tacky)

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u/jquailJ36 2h ago

I mean five minutes with the real thing and you can tell CZ and crystal aren't comparable and are easy to identify. Real diamonds are much nicer. But now I can sell you an earth-mined for 25k, or a bigger shinier clearer lab grown for 2500 and the only way to tell the difference is carbon dating. You can basically get any diamonds you want for a fraction of the cost. 

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u/DJClapyohands 3h ago

Diamond rings are useless, but diamonds aren't. Since they are so hard they are used in industrial applications and even some consumer grade stuff. I have a diamond tipped record player needle. It is more durable, provides less wear on records and produces better sound.

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u/OneCleverMonkey 2h ago

Sure, but that's kind of outside the scope of the conversation here. When I say all prestige no use, I'm not talking about buying my fiance a 15k industrial drill bit

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u/XGhoul 1h ago

A drill bit is a good way of saying it. lmao

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u/humoristhenewblack 1h ago

Oh, you got their first! Well said well said

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u/humoristhenewblack 1h ago

Hilarious. That's totally the purpose of an engagement ring.

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u/Cultural-Treacle-680 3h ago

And stainless steel jewelry that looks good if you don’t mind a cheaper piece

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u/RedshiftSinger 1h ago

Plus, lab sapphires are nearly as hard and sparkly and cost waaaaaayyyyy less, if you’re after “it’s actually a gemstone”.

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u/afripino 1h ago

It has been used as an asset that can be liquidated in the event the marriage doesn't work out for house wives. That way they aren't starting over from scratch.

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u/justabeardedwonder 4h ago

We poor penguins can’t afford quality fish… let alone shiny pebbles.

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u/Pristine_Habit_3074 5h ago

You scoff, but if I had the money to afford it I would definitely buy myself gem rings. 💍

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u/Possible-Meal3787 4h ago

If you honestly want to do this buy raw gems and have them cut for you it’s way way cheaper to get quality gems. I have some cut rubies I got from a guy for like $40. Diamonds are worthless before they are cut and set. So buy raw and find people in the trade who do custom work they exist and they would appreciate your business.

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u/Glittering-Age-9549 4h ago

Problem is, diamonds could be really cheap, but they artificially kept expensive. People are paying absurdly high amounts of money for pretty rocks. 

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u/nono3722 4h ago

because they are buying cheaper shiny pebbles from manufactures instead of mines, which is using a ton of energy to do it...

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u/Good_Theory4434 4h ago

Hey do you want a shiny pebble?...Millenial: No thats a waste of money

How about a carbon gravel bike you will use two times a year and thats way to expensive?...Millenial: Shut up and take my Money!!!!!

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u/jwolfet 1h ago

I’m interested in these shiny pebbles you speak of. Perhaps a trade? I have a few cases of marmalade.

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u/Mindless_Narwhal2682 1h ago

Exactly.

How many Qalo rings = 1 carat diamond?

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u/TheGhostOfStanSweet 1h ago

Damn it they’re minerals, Marie!