Shoes Are Good For Your Sole

New Car Shopping

The NYT this week is reporting something NP girls have known for a long time- no matter how bleak the economy, shoes are a necessary luxury. For those of us living in cities where walking is our main means of transportation, good shoes are as necessary as good tires on a car. In fact, the NYT article uses the same quote we’ve oft been fond of saying, that shoes ARE our car here in the city.

Regardless of how much we’re trying to save in other areas, our feet have to be comfortable, and it really can’t hurt for them to be stylish too. Come cold weather, most ladies in the city switch to boots, boots, and more boots, with some closed-toe pumps for the office. Of course, we all still need a secret pair of Uggs or Minnetonka Moccasins, but those are really more for a midnight dash to the bodega, a too-early class, or a visit to the neighbor’s for movie night.

As for saving on shoes, by all means, check out every department-store sale, use Gilt and Piperlime, or wait outside the Black Friday storefronts later this month at 5:00am, but as we’ve told you before, you should not sacrifice comfort and quality in an effort to save. Repairing your old kicks is great, but it’s like detailing the car- a new coat of polish helps it look shinier, but the transmission might be broken and really, you just need a new car. (Ok, that example even lost me, the point was, buy new shoes because they’re pretty and it’s fun!) Those boots are made for walking, so throw a pair on and get going!

Nouveau Poor In The “News”

Report: Growing Ranks Of Nouveau Poor Facing Discrimination From Old Poor

E-Bay for Billionaires

(Via Yahoo)

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Millionaires down on their luck now have a place to sell their mega-yachts, super-cars and family jewels without having to resort to the pawn shop.

An Internet auction site devoted to millionaires launches officially on Monday and is likely to profit from the worst recession in decades, which has extended its reach to the rich and famous in the United States, BillionaireXchange said.

The company said it has already played a role in the sale or exchange of more than $180 million in assets during a 10-month test phase, and has noticed a trend of distressed transactions from U.S. clients.

“I would say that in the United States market that’s probably the majority of the types of the transactions that we’re seeing right now,” Quintin Thompson, co-founder and executive partner of BillionaireXchange, told Reuters.

“Because of the current economic conditions in the U.S. we’re seeing a lot of people who need to actually trade out or trade down from some of their luxury items and facilitate that transaction somewhere discreetly and privately so that they don’t have to deal with the shame and or embarrassment of downgrade.”

The company said its website aims to exploit a market niche between internet sales sites such as eBay, which are available to the general public, and auction houses such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s for fine art and collectibles.

Given the nature and price of items auction houses come to mind as potential competitors. But BillionaireXchange’s completely on-line model, is likely to be a key difference.

The site facilitates sales and trades of everything from arts and antiques to commercial properties, businesses and foreclosed homes.

Above all else, it aims for privacy and exclusivity, requiring of prospective members a minimum of $2 million in verifiable net worth.

BillionaireXchange will charge sellers a fee of five percent of the sales and said it would have generated approximately $8.75 million in revenue had those fees been charged during the test phase.

The Miami-based company set high financial qualifications to make sure bidding for the high-priced items would be taken seriously, according to Thompson.

He said the firm counts among its clients professional athletes and A-list actors. Overall, the five-member firm claims more than 26,000 multi-millionaires as well as “nearly a dozen” billionaires as its members.

(Reporting by Burton Frierson)