If you’re a Millennial, the economy’s been in pretty rough shape for pretty much your entire life. At the same time, it’s been absolutely normal for women to be active in the workforce, every bit as ambitious and successful as their male counterparts. These two factors are part of what Centurion editor Hedda Schupak has identified as a shift in affluent individual’s luxury buying patterns: while Millennials are buying jewelry, they’re buying lower priced items. Bargain just isn’t a dirty word anymore.

“Luxury brands that originally targeted women with the message that luxury goods are “deserved” need to shift their message to acknowledge that luxury goods are “earned,” in order to better represent the hardworking mentality of female affluent Millennials,” Schupak writes.

[Tweet “Bargain just isn’t a dirty word anymore.”]

We’ve definitely seen this dynamic playing out on the retail end of things, where affluent customers are buying significant pieces of jewelry in order to reward themselves for milestone achievements, such as making partner, starting a company, or completing their doctorate.  It is a good idea to think through how your brand is presenting its truly spectacular items to the customer: while some of these pieces will surely be purchased as gifts, there needs to be messaging aimed at the customer who will be buying these items for themselves.

Schupak also reported that affluent Millennials favor brands like Target, H & M, and Gap. What unites these brands is a consistent ability to deliver perceived value. Prices are relatively low while quality is high. This is something to keep in mind while developing designs: something that’s squarely in the mid-range price wise while appearing to be much more luxurious is likely to be your best seller