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Let's make quality the norm again

forbrukerradet.no

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Re: Let's make quality the norm again

#211

Post by seizethecheese »

Quality already is the norm for many products. For example, I own Sennheiser headphones, an iPhone and a MacBook. (Sure maybe not the absolute top of the line, but definitely more expensive than commodity products.)

I find great utility in cheap low cost products for things that I don’t know I’ll use more than once. For example, I’m glad I bought the cheapest roller blades a few years ago because I used them twice. I also buy a lot of cheap toys for my kids, they may use them only a few times and also quantity really has a certain quality (novelty is good for kids).

I find the moralizing and lecturing around quality to be distasteful. These holier than thou types really think they know better than the buyer.

Re: Let's make quality the norm again

#213

Post by Borealid »

dtech wrote: post #43
scrlk wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The share of household spending on clothing has gone from 10%+ to under 5% in Western countries. When you're spending that much, it's not a surprise that clothing was "BIFL" both in quality and upkeep (repair rather than replace). The overall revealed consumer preference has been "more and cheaper", not "less and higher quality", which still exists as a niche if you are willing to go down the tailoring route, not off…

The thing is mainly there are no quality options available. It's mostly all cheap shit or slightly more expensive, but still equally shit. So how can this reveal preference if there are no options? I would argue the surge in vintage clothing ecosystems is an indication there is an unmet demand.

There absolutely are still rich-people brands that sell absurd quality at absurd price.

See, for example, Marine Layer in San Francisco, or boutiques like Red Ants Pants.

Re: Let's make quality the norm again

#214

Post by tracerbulletx »

throwitaway222 wrote: post #212
Animats wrote: post #190

Easy solution if you like tariffs: all imported items over $100 must have a 10 year full warranty.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty...

[flagged]

Alternative hypothesis.. Its not a hive mind and different factions vocalize their different opinions at different times in different places.

Re: Let's make quality the norm again

#215

Post by chasd00 »

werrett wrote: post #77
PMunch wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Major known brands are guilty of this too, often regardless of price. I think this is part of the problem. Everyone wants high-quality (for the most part), but no-one wants to pay more than necessary. If known brand is no longer an indicator of quality, how do you determine that you want to spend say 2-5x the price on something? Reading reviews and such gets you part of the way, but they often focus on new products…

I love this - super testable experiment. I have this exact desire too. - I can’t stand most cheaply made tshirts or things with crass branding - there are a few clothing brands that focus on high quality (and in this case english mfg fabric mills). - it is not cheap. our whole society is warped around “physical goods are super cheap now [because we can manufacture in cn]”. it’s a race to the bottom and we’ve hit the…

it's also a matter of fashion, you can get real denim work pants that will last a tech worker probably two lifetimes. They're ugly, thick, and heavy though.

Re: Let's make quality the norm again

#216

Post by gowld »

Animats wrote: post #190

Easy solution if you like tariffs: all imported items over $100 must have a 10 year full warranty.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty...

Comment is unrelated to the link, except that both have the word "Warranty".

Re: Let's make quality the norm again

#217

Post by MadameMinty »

throwaway454664 wrote: post #72
dakolli wrote: post #24

[flagged]

"European tries not to repeat hackneyed clichés about Americans for 30 Seconds: Challenge level impossible"

If those were merely "clichés" you wouldn't feel insecure enough to make a throwaway account to say so.

Re: Let's make quality the norm again

#218

Post by Terr_ »

xingped wrote: post #158
jolt42 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think 10x is quite rare. Quality ends up actually curtailing costs to some degree (eg. fewer returns, cheaper marketing - word of mouth). Buy a Weber grill, I had 2 grills before my Weber that lasted 3 seasons between them. I bought the Weber at about 2.2x the cost of the bargain grills and 17 YEARS later it's still going strong, built like a tank. Saved a lot not buying more cheapo grills.

Yes, this is quite common and is usually referred to as "it's expensive to be poor". That said, unfortunately these days it's very difficult to know which brands are still actually quality anymore and which are the ones still coasting on previous good engineering reputation while currently shipping substandard crap to make an extra buck for the bean counters in charge before the ship sinks.

> difficult to know which brands are still actually quality anymore

I haven't verified its accuracy, but I had a tab open for this from HN a while back:

> The Brand Ledger tracks 397 brands, from the tools in your garage to the pans in your kitchen. Who owns them, what they used to be, whether they're still worth buying.

https://ledger.worseonpurpose.com/

Re: Let's make quality the norm again

#219

Post by megaman821 »

tonymet wrote: post #161

Ikea compressed wood dresser = $125. Proper oak dresser = $5000 . What consumer is capable and willing to make that trade off. Much of that cost is because we nuked the American timber industry ? Appealing to the fabricators (or even consumers) who are 4-8 degrees downstream of this policy will get you nowhere.

Was there a time when an oak dresser was much cheaper in inflation adjusted dollars?

Furniture that lasts forever is an anti-feature for some. They want to change their furnishings about as often as cheap furniture lasts anyway. I mostly buy quality furniture, but sometimes I don't know what I really want and Ikea and Wayfair are great for that. Cheap enough to donate after I decide what quality piece I really want.

Re: Let's make quality the norm again

#220

Post by StilesCrisis »

irishcoffee wrote: post #208
StilesCrisis wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would being overweight make your jeans rip? Only if you were buying the wrong size...

Sorry, stranger on the internet, I was simply qualifying a failure case.

Or rather, the non-failure case!
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