When faced with financial constraints, logic dictates that people will stop spending on things they don’t feel they need first. For many, this includes little luxuries such as high fashion and prohibitively expensive designer items. As the global economy continues to turn and money starts to feel more and more limited, luxury goods become harder and harder to sell. After all, how easy can it be to justify the purchase of a very expensive dress that will only be used once? It isn’t impossible to sell luxury and class in a tough economy, but it won’t be easy.

The first thing that people need to learn is that sometimes, it isn’t so much luxury being sold, but an investment. A high-end Ferrari can be prohibitive in price now, but what happens a decade on? The value of that model has the potential to increase with time, as the manufacturer ceases to make new units and even replacement parts. Suddenly, the Ferrari could see itself worth up to five times its original price. This strategy can work not only for cars, but other products or items that have the potential to increase in value, such as real estate.

Like any other sales project, a luxury sale needs to know its market. Even in a tough economy, there will still be the elite and the rich that would be willing to spend large amounts of what many would consider frivolous goods. This is less about any actual need and usually more as a way of showing off their wealth and relative social status. Items such as jewelry, yachts, and designer clothing can all be useful as status symbols, particularly among specific social circles. Something as simple as understanding which groups to market to can help any luxury goods company survive all but the most dramatic of economic downturns.

There is also the option of marketing products over the Internet. One problem that some luxury goods providers might encounter is a limited market in their area of operations. It is possible they set up shop in an area where the market for something like a diamond necklace is limited and their revenues are smaller than they are comfortable with. A website can help them reach out to the same market in other locations, essentially giving them much wider reach. Some companies, like Chanel, have managed to survive and thrive without having an online component. However, competitors like Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior do have websites and this has helped boost their profitability.