Showerthought: That $50 Italian leather wallet I bought in Florence was a tourist trap waste

I saw this fancy leather shop near the Duomo in Florence last year and dropped $50 on a wallet that fell apart after 3 months. The stitching unraveled and the leather peeled like fake plastic, probably mass-produced for tourists. Anyone else buy a 'local' souvenir that turned out to be junk?

2 comments

2 Comments

angelac6313d ago

$50 for a wallet that peeled after 3 months? No way, that's insane. I bought a little leather keychain near the Trevi Fountain for like 15 euros and it's still holding up four years later somehow. Guess they just saw you coming a mile away.

ericfox13d ago

Vibe with that feeling and it's everywhere if you start looking. I got a "handmade" ceramic mug from a little shop in Mexico that chipped the first time I washed it. Same thing happens with the "local honey" at farmers markets that's actually just repackaged store brand. It's like everything has this fake authenticity sticker slapped on it, from vacation souvenirs to the "artisan bread" at the grocery store that's frozen dough. You can't trust anything unless you literally watch them make it yourself, and even then they might be using cheap materials.