$10,000 Boots?!?

As I was reading my September 2006 Town & Country magazine, I flipped past a page in the fashion layout section and I saw a Cole Haan shearling duffle coat. I have been a fan of shearling duffle coats since I was in high school and when I saw this I had to stop and look at the rest of stylings in the layout. Well, my stopping led me to two pages over where a woman had on some boots. Ralph Lauren Collection boots. Boots are quite possible my kryptonite. I can see a pair of knee high boots in Nordstrom and consider taking on a second job just to pay for them. Anyway, as I read the shopping information in the back of the magazine, they only listed a NYC phone number for where to buy. I called the number and duh! it was the Ralph Lauren store. But the kicker was that these Ralph Lauren Collection vintage-style crocodile boots was listed at $10,000!!! $10,000? That is nowhere near reasonable for a pair of boots made out of an animal carcass. An animal carcass that according to this website, (what the hell the site is about, I have no idea) a first-grade crocodile skin is worth about $600. I figure that a pair of women's boots made from crocodile skin should take 3, possibly 4 skins. That's only $2400! Why the outrageous $7600 mark-up? I know that Ralph Lauren has master craftsmen crafting his shoes, boot, and purses, but at that rate why not just ask for the buyers first born child?

What else could I buy with $10,000? I have compiled a list of things that I could buy with $10,000 that makes more sense than buying those Ralph Lauren Collection vintage-style crocodile boots

1. Buy a fully loaded computer for everyone in my immediate family
2. Buy a used late model sedan from just about any dealership in this area
3. Buy a 2006 Harley Davidson 1200 cc Sportster/Roadster from the classified section of my local newspaper
4. Getting new windows installed on my house
5. Finishing and waterproofing my basement
6. Setting up some type of interest bearing account for my daughter to use when she goes to college

These are just my first thoughts. What can you come up with?