It depends on your background. I grew up in Russia in the 90s, back then it was considered cool to put plastic panels on the walls of your apartment. Fresh and modern look, easy to wash, clearly superior to wallpaper. It was called "euro-renovation" as opposed to soviet-style or "grandma" apartments.
Hopefully I think this has changed though. Or I have become grumpy who knows.
Touch panel oven tops is my main hate object in this regard.
Well, everything falls under "unless someone tells you" in the grand scheme of things.
But as far as furniture knowledge goes, it's of the most basic type, not something "just the rich would know".
Some others are very hard to observe yourself (e.g. the poisonous effect of lead) but by now they are embedded into the collective consciousness.
My worry is with things that are neither. In this particular context these are things that you know if you grow up in a rich/middle-class family, but hard to come by if you become rich/middle-class later in life.
Mahogany and teak was in fashion around here for a while and oak went out the door.
Oak was considered cheap so we painted it. The fashion then change to lye treated. Then we went with soap treated oak.
And then one day Ikea came into fashion.
Price is an important function of choice. But we should not discard the fashion trends.
Rich people might have good sense. Or they may have a sense for fashion. But they are still just people like the rest of us.
So the "unless someone tells you" really rings true to me. Rather than equating rich with good and hence equating good sense with common sense - I think it is a really interesting question.
What opportunities and choices are not obvious to us have-nots?
I never believed that that getting rich would make me happy and solve all my problems. But I am quite sure that I would get a nicer set of worries and problems than I have now.
Would I like to experience that for just a day? No, thank you. Ignorance can be a bliss.
It is one of those Schroedingers cat like questions.
That's the point. Most of it is flaunting waste of labor or materials.
Imagine how much labor it took to keep everything white from getting dusty and sooty in the era of coal and wood stoves and lamp and candle light.
The display luxury category: anything by LVMH, Birkin bags, limited edition sneakers, Ferrari, etc
The "better product for more money" category: Miele, wood furniture, Lexus etc
Birkin bags are also actually better products for more money, they can last quite a while with minimum care. They are display goods for sure but there is a qualitative difference between a good quality handbag from certain brands and a much cheaper one.
Just as an example, my wife's only handbag is a balenciaga bag that she's had for 12+ years, she's been using it to carry back food from restaurants, put anything she needs in it, etc... and it's still in good shape. In the end, her bag has cost her so far 60 usd/year.
So yes, it's not obvious to people not in the know but even products that seem to be display luxury category can actually be worth it from a quality perspective.
You've been jonesing for a fancy luxury item since you first laid eyes on it (Birkin bag, some European watch, a supercar).
Now that you're rich and have enough to pay for the item in cash, you decide to head to their fancy store and treat yourself.
Once you get in the door, you're faced with the cold splash of reality - luxury goods are not available off the rack/off the shelf, even if you can pay for cash on the spot.
You have to prove to the company that you're a loyal customer before you can purchase the object of desire.
How? You have to buy several of their products.
see https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/buying-an-hermes-bag and https://www.wired.com/2014/10/herjavec-ferrari-laferrari/
How hard can that be? So hard that people have sued - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/style/birkin-bag-hermes-l...
P.S. The markup on these luxury goods is high - https://www.businessinsider.com/dior-italy-labor-investigati...
Some time in 2017/2018, I was in Decathlon and needed a bag for the other stuff I bought. Picked up a cheap rucksack for a single digit number of Euros, possibly €2 but it was ages ago now and I can't remember exactly.
It's still going fine, around 1/200th the price per year of your example.
People don't buy such crap because it "lasts log". There's tons of products with same or better quality than Birkin bags, better leather and materials, and so on, that are cheaper. It's the brand that sells.
Hardly rich, but that "veneer wood furniture and doors" are much better than "laminated chipwood" is common knowledge. But back in the day, poor and rich alike wouldn't look twice at either, but opt for solid wood furniture.