What are expensive not because they function better but purely as a status symbol?

Luxury watches are the first things that come to mind. I mean, I’ve worked on enough mechanical gear to know that a thousand-dollar watch tells the exact same time as a basic digital one you’d pick up for twenty bucks. People drop thousands on these because of the brand name and the prestige, not because the gears are somehow defying physics to make seconds tick by more accurately. It’s all about the logo on the dial at that point.

Designer clothing is another huge one. I’ve seen some high-end shirts that literally fall apart after a few washes just like the cheap stuff, yet people pay a premium just for the tag. It’s wild how much people are willing to pay for a piece of fabric just because it was featured in some high-fashion runway show. Honestly, most of the time you're just paying for the marketing budget of these massive fashion houses, not for better materials or durability.

Cars are pretty high up there too, especially those luxury brands that share parts with cheaper models under the same corporate umbrella. You’re often paying double the price for the exact same engine and chassis, just with nicer leather seats and a shiny emblem on the hood. It’s all about the image you’re projecting to the neighbors, because at the end of the day, they both get you from point a to point b in the same amount of time.