The problem is that some consumable products such as perfumes and skincare are overly priced because you're buying a brand. Sure, the active ingredients are usually in higher amounts than their cheaper counterparts but only in a rough +-10% ratio.

I remember my first time in Japan, the chemists were selling local Japanese skincare products that were cheap yet as effective as some of the big brands in the market such as SK-II etc.

When it comes to gifting I like to do proper research on the product - if it's leather goods that'll last for decades then I don't mind spending thousands. If it's a consumable then I would like to look up any white paper that comes with it - if the formulation's effectiveness is rapid, the ingredients are rare and good for our body, then I don't mind paying the price.

It's like going to Salt Bae's restaurant to eat a tomahawk steak covered in gold leaf - there's no point in paying thousands for that because his beef grades are not even Wagyu A5, and the gold leaf he uses costs roughly $10-20. Fun fact: our digestive system is only going to poop out all that gold because our body has no nutritional uses for gold particles.