Imagine that you’re buying a passport case at Hermès, a fragrance at Louis Vuitton, or a pen at Montblanc. The salesperson asks if you’d like your passport case hot stamped, or your fragrance bottle or pen engraved. The service is complimentary. In the case of Louis Vuitton, they might even have a special stamp that you can only get in that city or country. About the only thing free in luxury boutiques are the drinks while you shop, so you’re not used to being offered anything more lasting that’s actually complimentary. And you can make it yours. You take them up on the offer.

Now you get home and have second thoughts about your purchase. You’re smelling the fragrance you sprayed on your skin after a couple of hours and it doesn’t smell as good as it did when you sprayed it on in the store. The passport case clashes with your handbag or backpack. You realize that you’re not really going to take up writing with a fountain pen, no matter how many times you tell yourself you will. So you think about taking it back, until you remember the salesperson briefly mentioning that personalized items can’t be returned. So that, as they say, is that.

The question isn’t whether personalization is literally free—it often is. The question is what you give up in exchange for it.

To be clear, personalization is a benefit for some people in some situations. There’s research from South Korea telling us that many consumers tend to derive pleasure from personalized items:

But the fact is that personalization can turn a purchase that’s reversible into one that’s final. Hermès states directly that engraving is free but an engraved bottle can’t be returned or exchanged. Louis Vuitton’s US terms ordinarily allow returns within 30 days but classify personalized or made-to-order products—including hot-stamped and engraved products—as final sale. Montblanc follows the same basic model.

It doesn’t cost the maison much to personalize an object: a few minutes of a salesperson’s time. But it reduces your options. Depending on how committed you are to the purchase in the long term, that could be an expensive loss on your part.

There are a few ways to look at personalization, if it’s something you think you might want to do:

If you’re buying something you know for a fact you intend to keep throughout its useful life, or if it’s a commemorative purchase of some sort, then personalize freely. I’d be cautious with gifts, though; even the best gift-givers don’t get it right 100 percent of the time. If the recipient loves it and wants it personalized, it’s easy enough to for them do so later.

If you’re buying something expensive that you might want to trade, gift, or sell down the road, then personalize with caution, if at all. This would include high-cost handbags, luggage, watches, writing instruments, and the like.

But there’s a third path that seems like a reasonable compromise, when possible: personalize a detachable or replaceable component. Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and RIMOWA all sell luggage tags and offer complimentary hot stamping. In the case of Louis Vuitton and RIMOWA, this hot stamping can include special stamps that are unique to a city or country, which can be fun if it’s someplace special to you. In the case of RIMOWA, their standard luggage tags cost $95 / 75 €, so not a huge risk if you end up not liking it down the road.

If you would still choose the item knowing you could never return, exchange, gift, or resell it, go ahead and personalize it. Otherwise, personalize something detachable or replaceable.

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