Well, that was a very long way of saying "you get what you pay for".
Pay Too Much for everything
61–70 of 170 posts
Re: Pay Too Much for everything
#62Instead of overpaying, I think it's better to get the best product you can for the money you have. It does require you to learn how to recognize quality and know the prices, but it pays off in the end.
For example, I wouldn't buy a Ferrari or even Porsche 911 (both high quality cars, no doubt, but expensive) when a Nissan GTR R35 performs just as well and costs less.
All three will last a lifetime with a bit of care (I hate how people just use their tech without any maintenance, then wonder why "the POS" broke down!), so why pay more (aside from the design)?
Re: Pay Too Much for everything
#63The idea in this article is sometimes true, but it completely fails to take into account the relentless march of technology. Some items, such as cell-phones or laptops, will be totally obsolete within 10 years no matter how finely made they are. Other items, such as guitars, will not be obsolete since the technology isn't changing quickly, if at all. There will be new digital guitars with funky synth modes every year…
As an anecdote to add to your great analysis, I know a lot of my engineering coworkers (including me) who refuse to buy new cars. I drive a 15 year old truck not because it's fuel-efficient, not because it's beautiful, not because it has all the features, and certainly not because it needs no maintenance. It's because when it does need maintenance, I can do it and it's relatively cheap and easy. It's the Timex vs pocket watch thing, except in this case the Timex is much more expensive. Repair-ability is decreasing the more computers there are installed in a car.
The one new car I owned quickly became dated, even though I bought it with the latest technology (it even had a Windows Mobile USB port!). My truck doesn't have any technology to become outdated. It's the RHEL of the car world compared to the Ubuntu. Not flashy or cutting edge, but bullet-proof and easy to dig into the internals. I'd rather have something I can put 400k miles on than something with an iPod port or built-in GPS that will be worthless when it hits 150k.
Re: Pay Too Much for everything
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a friend who used to buy jeans from Costco. If he was ever with me when I was buying clothes, he would always be shocked at the money I was spending on jeans (I'm not talking designer, I mean £40 high-street jeans, that kind of thing). He would say that I could buy 2 or 3 pairs for the same price at Costco and there'd be no difference. I challenged him to buy a pair and now that's all he wears. They last longe…
eh, I think that most of what you are paying for is, well, paying more. I mean, today, the kids are buying $400 jeans that are thick and tough (then they don't wash them, which sounds disgusting, but what do I know?) but, you know, at least they are probably durable. But during the first dot com? the expensive jeans were made of this super thin denim that was then pre-stressed at the factory; So yeah, in '99? if you…
I spend more money on things I use all the time. My computer, bed sheets, jeans, etc... all have higher threshold of diminishing returns to me. I think you make a good point about the build quality of 90s jeans and jeans today. With that stated, while I like my 'designer' jeans I'm still likely paying too much. They do last longer than other cheaper jeans I have owned, but this could be a function of me being picky. The last time I bought jeans I had to go through many pairs to find ones that were not pre-torn. Why would I spend good money for jeans that are already ripped?
Re: Pay Too Much for everything
#65The idea in this article is sometimes true, but it completely fails to take into account the relentless march of technology. Some items, such as cell-phones or laptops, will be totally obsolete within 10 years no matter how finely made they are. Other items, such as guitars, will not be obsolete since the technology isn't changing quickly, if at all. There will be new digital guitars with funky synth modes every year…
Paying too much for something works if you have no idea how to actually judge the quality of the item. I know computers and bikes, and will not pay too much for those thing, because I know the quality and I know the cost. I have no idea about cars, or houses, or shoes, so I have not way of judging the quality of these items.
Learn.
Just because you don't know now, doesn't excuse you from not knowing when you go to make a purchase. There are a number of ways to acquire knowledge out there. Go get it.
Re: Pay Too Much for everything
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
eh, I think that most of what you are paying for is, well, paying more. I mean, today, the kids are buying $400 jeans that are thick and tough (then they don't wash them, which sounds disgusting, but what do I know?) but, you know, at least they are probably durable. But during the first dot com? the expensive jeans were made of this super thin denim that was then pre-stressed at the factory; So yeah, in '99? if you…
Is it just me, or do jeans seem very cheap in America? In Sweden, a pair of regular Levi's jeans might cost you 1000 SEK, which is about $136. The designer jeans might cost 1500+ SEK.
I have a friend in Finland (Hyvinkää) who comes over to America on business trips a few times a year. When he's here, he buys things like jeans, nice shirts, golf equipment etc and has them mailed back home. Even paying the taxes at customs, he says it's cheaper than buying them in Finland.
The Wrangler jeans I'm wearing right now (wonderful pair of regular jeans) cost me $20.
Re: Pay Too Much for everything
#67I don't agree with most of this. The idea that price equals quality has long been used by merchants to extract money from consumers, not extend value. Sure it's true of some products and some companies, but overall I'd argue that at best, more expensive things aren't close to being relatively better - by any meaningful measure. A $300 meal isn't 10x better - in terms of taste (subjective obviously) or nutrition - as…
As a personal anecdote: when I eventually stopped growing taller (~19), I started purchasing clothing and outdoor gear that was a step up from the quality of when I knew that I'd grow out of things. While not universal, I did notice a definite uptick in the durability and comfort of most things. It's obviously possible that this was a placebo effect or maybe I'm nicer to my gear now, but I've certainly been getting more out of the expensive things.
Re: Pay Too Much for everything
#68A while back, I stopped buying the highest-priced goods and started doing research instead. What I found what the best things weren't the highest-priced. I also found that I could find the best items for me because what I care about isn't necessary what others care about.
Using this, I've managed to buy better shoes, toasters, and even a car than I've ever had before, and at less than I would have spent if I hadn't done that research. The car ended up being the cheapest car made by that manufacturer, and I like it better than any other car I've ridden in or driven. (Admittedly, I haven't tried anything over about $50k, but I couldn't afford those anyhow.) I would never have found it if I used price as an indicator of quality, instead of reviews.
The key to reviews is to look over the good reviews. Look at the bad reviews instead. Find out what people hate about it. And then ask yourself: Does that feature matter to me?
My rice maker doesn't make brown rice well at all. Many people complained about that. However, white rice is the only kind I make, and it does a great job on that. So it didn't make sense to spend twice as much money on a better rice maker. I could have spent more money and gotten an objectively better rice maker. But why bother?
So no, I don't agree with paying too much or buying the 'best'. At all.
Re: Pay Too Much for everything
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Paying too much for something works if you have no idea how to actually judge the quality of the item. I know computers and bikes, and will not pay too much for those thing, because I know the quality and I know the cost. I have no idea about cars, or houses, or shoes, so I have not way of judging the quality of these items.
Learn. Just because you don't know now, doesn't excuse you from not knowing when you go to make a purchase. There are a number of ways to acquire knowledge out there. Go get it.
To a point. But there aren't enough hours in the day to become an expert in buying everything one has to buy, and in many cases predicting the durability of something is really difficult.
I guess this is in large part why brands are so valuable, as they give consumers a seemingly easy quality heuristic.
Re: Pay Too Much for everything
#70As always with the "Do and get " articles, there is an obvious question: why doesn't everybody do that? I cannot speak for other people but here are my reasons for not always going for the quality over price. First, I obviously cannot always afford the high price. When I bought the car I had checked the failure reports and decided it just wasn't worth paying an additional few months salary to get the failure probabil…
1. It's not always true that things that are more expensive are also higher quality. But the reverse is true: things of higher quality are more expensive. Because they're made of better materials, because they were grown naturally, because they were made of natural ingredients, because they were tested... better stuff is usually made with more effort or better material.
2. Because of #1, distinguishing genuine high quality stuff from a simple ripoff takes critical thinking. People don't like thinking too much, don't like analyzing, and critical thinking is unpopular especially in United States of America. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo