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There may be several reasons. People want new items so the quality doesn't matter but the price does.
Also, people expect to pay the same amount for an item as they did 20 years ago. For example, I remember when Dr. Martin boots were all the rage in my hometown. They were $120 a pair 25 years ago. Today, they are about that same price. How is that possible with the cost of living going up?
Why? My theory is that we used to have factories in the USA where the workers took pride and there was local oversight of the work by management. They made what was considered good money then. Now US companies and distributors spec out the design, and send it over to China to be manufactured, by people making very little money and don't have any idea where the item is going, or care. Costco, and a few other places seem to be very careful about the quality ofwhat they sell, even if it still comes from China.
It actually started before that. During the Reagan years he deregulated and gave tax cuts to big companies. This hurt the every day worker and factory person. Big corporations started buying companies and chopping them up to make the biggest buck for "themselves" and a lot of factories were closed, made smaller, and many many people lost their jobs and lively hood.(think of Edward in Pretty Woman...he seemed like a nice rich guy...not) "After" that is when we went global and Clinton signed the Nafta deal which now made it possible for those big companies to get cheap labor and parts. And most things I see are actually not made in China. Especially clothing.
I am reading an interesting book Glass House: The 1% Economy and the Shattering of the All-American Town by Brian Alexander. It is about the Anchor Glass Company and how it was destroyed by greed of the wealthy. Sad and it has happened to so many small towns across America. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...40-glass-house
Quote:
Originally Posted by J746NEW
Before Multinational Corporations went Global, their number one customer was consumers and they had to one up each other on quality in order to sale. Many did not have stocks on Wall Street either. A lot of mom and pop business made all kinds of high quality goods in small shops
When trade pacts were created with Third World and Communist Countries, the main customer was no longer the consumer but the suits and shareholders.
And sure enough that is all you hear today on who matters, Shareholders and Owner Profits and the customer is never mentioned.
Not quite how it started but I agree with how it is ending. See above.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nov3
I reside in an area where:
Tradesmen skills are honorable.
Be it wood working,masonry,iron workers.
From this ..The community buys local.
From shaker furniture,to wrought iron work.
It's not 'high' priced. It's reasonable given the intricacy. The only downside is...Once you buy the items...You don't need it again for another 20 years! Sure,they do wear..And most times the tradesmen can refurbish it ..
As to household items...It's contingent on its usage...I'm sure my kitchen towels have been replaced ..Many a time. But then I use them for many purposes..
I would encourage in this day and age to implement the younger generations into experiencing a trade..Instead of thinking 'technololgy' is the end all be all. A trades skill really is a life investment..
Trades need to make a comeback. We build crap.
Tools, lumber, and equipment have gone to crap. Our "good" lumber of today is warped and splits too easily and not good at all. Pressure treated posts don't last nearly as long as they used to. Wood is mass produced. There are less of our old big trees. Trees are being grown for lumber. They are too young and not as strong when they get cut which equals crap wood.
Forget about the manmade wood...that is all junk no matter what they try to "sell" you.
Stihl equipment is not the same. Dewalt tools have also gone downhill.
Appliances are made to be disposable. TV's are OK but if you have an expensive run I would buy the extended warranty. They are have become very expensive to fix.
Toilet paper seems to be the same although the rolls are much shorter than they used to be. Paper towels are frustrating because they leave a lot of fibers behind. I don't remember that happening when I was younger and my mother bought the cheapest ones. Microfiber seems to be a bit my future.
Cars do last longer and get much higher mileage than they used. So yes the engines are better but not everything on new cars is better. We have plastic everything now. The wheels rust and pit when years ago they didn't. And good luck with repairs. They have put so many electronics in them that you cannot repair them on your own.
I do love my Kitchen Aid mixer. It is a bear of a machine. You do have to be careful though and buy the more expensive one with the stronger motor. The ones at Walmart are not the same.
Vacuums are cheaper but so are the parts. The cords are not as strong.
I dread the day my old lawnmower goes. I have a push Lawn Boy that is over 10 years old and it was made in Canada. Knock on wood that thing is awesome. I know the new ones are not the same as per the reviews.
Gas cans...ugh!!! Ever since that fool threw gas in a fire and sued the company we no longer have good "pouring" nozzles. Blitz went out of business and now we have gas cans and nozzles that leak when you pour them.
I have a copper bottomed Revereware pots and pan set that is 30 years old. They are heavy and solid. I went to buy a new pot and they are super light. Definitely not made like they used to be. I would bet that company got bought, then got broken up and the workers got let go. I'll have to check that.
ANd here it is: https://reverewarehistory.wordpress....-ware-history/
It;s a fascinating story in our country. I would bet that most of our products that have gone downhill had a big corporate buyout at some pint and the care went out of our products all for the big buck. Research a product that has gotten worse over the years.
I think the downfall of so many of our products is stemmed from greed of the corporations. More money for them and junk for us. It is frustrating and it is "not" just about buying quality and what you spend. A lot of our old quality companies are just no the same.
Quality goods and services are just as available today as they were 50 years ago. What's changed with increasing income inequality is the demographics of those who can afford to buy them.
I am not much of a shopper so my views are more limited but I do appreciate quality in things. My views:
Cars - I drive Japanese only and don't often replace cars. Very reliable over high miles. Zero (literally zero) problems with cars in the last 15 years. Only maintenance type stuff. Decades ago, I would have significant problems multiple times per year.
Household goods/tools - Costco type places generally have good quality in my opinion (including things like paper towels, tp, cleaning supplies, etc). Often I'm surprised at the high quality levels available for the price. Discount tool places have become very popular so many very low quality tools can be bought very cheap. However, I see this as an additional option in the market when high quality may not be needed and low price is desired. Vacuum cleaner is about 8 years old. Very heavy use and no problems. Good brand but bought cheap on internet (about $150). Marshalls and TJ Maxx type places seem to have decent quality at decent prices for things like sheets, etc but not a keen observer of these things.
Home fixtures, etc - Can buy quality brands inexpensively on the web. Germany faucet/tap bands for example. Very high in quality. Typical bathroom and kitchen goods are low quality and less well made than decades past. Windows are usually pretty good quality now as compared with decades ago, however.
Electronics - I'm staring at a monitor that's probably 8-10 years old. Used every day for several hours and operates as new. Can't remember the cost but it was not expensive (I'm sure much less relative with inflation than you would pay 20-25 years ago. TV is probably 8+ years old - also not expensive and no problems with it. Also much less cost than a 'normal' TV 20-25 years ago. Never a quality problem with a mobile phone, even with heavy use. Phone battery life is pretty amazing when you think about it - charging and discharging constantly every single day. Typical consumer grade cameras - one problem since first went digital about 17 years ago across several cameras but generally quite good quality for the price.
Furniture - Been a mixed bag for me. Have some very high quality things where i've paid a lot. I expect them to last a lifetime (many are 20+ years old and fine). The few Ikea things here and there are often not even fit for the intended use. A couple have been surprising in good quality. A very mixed bag.
Clothing - quality has greatly declined in my view. I generally don't buy the very high end luxury but rather the mid-high (Polo, Banana Republic, boden, Thomas Pink shirts, Camper shoes, etc). Often shirt tails are too short (i'm not fat or overly tall), pockets have become very shallow in trousers and materials are poor (sweaters start to pill after just a few wears, etc). Usually I'm very disappointed. Have quite a few items from 20-25 years ago and they still look new.
Home builds - Average build and design quality is dismal. Favor size and features such as vaulted ceilings, double sinks, grand entryways, etc over quality. Give me one high quality sink/faucet over two cheapo ones. Unless it was built as truly high end, I would not trust a home built after the 70's and more comfort with 60's and older.
I reside in an area where:
Tradesmen skills are honorable.
Be it wood working,masonry,iron workers.
From this ..The community buys local.
From shaker furniture,to wrought iron work.
It's not 'high' priced. It's reasonable given the intricacy. The only downside is...Once you buy the items...You don't need it again for another 20 years! Sure,they do wear..And most times the tradesmen can refurbish it ..
As to household items...It's contingent on its usage...I'm sure my kitchen towels have been replaced ..Many a time. But then I use them for many purposes..
I would encourage in this day and age to implement the younger generations into experiencing a trade..Instead of thinking 'technololgy' is the end all be all. A trades skill really is a life investment..
Yes, quality tradespeople and so hard to find (children today do not seem to learn this from their parents) and worth their weight in gold. I wish I had some skill in this area as I would take this up as a second career, as I am sure my tech company will want me gone once I turn 50
Some of the quality is determined by where you buy the product. A Kitchen Aid mixer bought from WalMart is not the same quality as one bought from a non-big box store. WalMart stuff has stamped parts instead of machined parts and if you take the machine apart you'll see differences. They will both have the same name and pretty much look alike, but when it comes to the nitty gritty, they're different and the WalMart version is of lesser quality.
If you want quality, look around at vintage and antique shops. If something has survived this long, it's gotta be durable. That won't answer for everything you need, but if you can start getting general household items that are durable and don't have to be bought all the time, that leaves more money to buy new quality items.
The other way is to buy products that aren't heavily merchandised. If someone has a huge advertising campaign to get you to buy something, be suspicious. If the item is good, it won't need much advertising.
You're right, vintage now is the stuff I grew up with. But ... no towels from that era. I didn't even know you could buy a KitchenAid mixer at Walmart. Mine was from a department store and is at least 10 years old, a workhorse, I use it all the time.
As mentioned a few posts ago, lumber issues stem from the lack of old growth forests left in the US. That's why reclaimed lumber has become "a thing", because it is impossible to fake old growth lumber with new growth trees. But new growth trees are much of what we have. That's not a problem that will be solved any time soon as we can't make trees grow faster.
As far as the rest, I find that some things are better quality, and some things are worse. I do agree that corporations have some role in the blame. Publicly traded companies have a duty to their shareholders to maximize profit at the expense of everything else. This is what is causing much of our society's ills related to the economy. As much as my 401k hates to admit it, this supposedly neutral system works against the best interests of employees, consumers and even our general economy. It's not evil, it's just an unbalanced rewards structure that prioritizes profit above all other considerations. If we were able to restructure our stock market to minimize short term holdings and be more - I don't know the word we could use - perhaps "holistic" in the corporate decision tree, we'd all be better off.
I also hear older folks complain about Ikea quality without realizing two things: 1) Younger folks want to swap their furnishings more often, especially if they move to a new place and 2) Because younger folks tend to move more often, the lighter ikea stuff is an advantage over the heavier real wood furniture. Yes, an advantage. The same thing can be true with clothes - fast fashion exists in low quality because people don't want to wear clothes for more than a season. They can go from pineapple fad to unicorn fad in a blink without breaking their budget.
You know what kills me though? Soap dispensers. Soap dispensers! We've probably bought five kinds of them, and they've all broken horribly and quickly. And yet the softsoap ones from the store work just fine for months or longer. So why can't we get a softsoap quality dispenser in something nicer looking. It is a mystery.
People get the quality of goods they're willing (or able) to pay for.
Similar applies to the quality of education their kids get...
and most every other consumer choice.
You can still buy quality items but they are costly. There are plenty of custom furniture places one can order from. We just redid our house and I had no issues finding stuff. If you are serious about knowing them, PM me with what you are looking for. This stuff is NOT cheap, if you aren't prepared to spend thousands on an item, you get what you pay for.
Many people don't care about the quality, the only care about the price.
Frontgate makes a divine line of towels that will last me 20+ years.
It also depends on how a person treats an item. If you got kids or pets, granted you are going to be harder on things than most people.
Last edited by foundapeanut; 09-16-2017 at 08:29 AM..
You can still buy quality items but they are costly. There are plenty of custom furniture places one cam order form. We just redid our house and I had no issues finding stuff. If you are serious about knowing them, PM me with what you are looking for. This stuff is NOT cheap, if you aren't prepared to spend thousands on an item, you get what you pay for.
Many people don't care about the quality, the only care about the price.
Frontgate makes a divine line of towels that will last me 20+ years.
It also depends on how a person treats an item. If you got kids or pets, granted you are going to be harder on things than most people.
Frontgate towels. Going to look into those. Thank you!
The wealthiest people we know (several millionaires) are surprisingly much more frugal than one might think. Some of them are so down to earth and ordinary, you would never guess they were vastly wealthy. I did interior design for one such couple, they were very nice people ... he was in international finance of some sort. Anyway, they were building a $2.5 million 7,000 sq ft "cottage" (their 3rd residence). There were 7 bathrooms ... the Kohler bill alone was over $30,000 (one custom Kohler ceramic trash can cost $150). The Kohler fixtures were not available in stores, only to-the-trade. Sub Zero refrigerator, large Viking range, Ann Sacks tile. I was paid a LOT of money for that job which lasted for 1-1/2 years during construction. Even with all of those expenses, they were careful and choosy about their expenses. They cared about the quality AND the price, even though they could afford anything they wanted.
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I didn't even know you could buy a KitchenAid mixer at Walmart. Mine was from a department store and is at least 10 years old, a workhorse, I use it all the time.
