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"We live in an era in which retail giants do everything in their power to drive down the quality of the goods we buy, forcing us to consume more than ever. Technology like this is can be one small part of our effort to collectively push back against an ever-rising tide of disposability."
If you buy the right stuff in the first place, it will last long enough without having to buy yet more stuff to make it last longer. Buy quality not cheapness. You'll only have to buy it once instead of replace it every year.
I inherited my cookware from my grandmother. It will last longer than I will and it will be even better by then, too. Has anyone ever actually worn out cast iron cookware? There is a stainless steel French press which we've been using for thirty years. How many cheap "Mr. Coffee's" has that replaced?
Forget Walmart, shop at antique stores. You'll get good durable stuff there! Plus it will increase in value after you've owned it for several decades.
We have become such a mobile society, that nobody wants anything to last forever. There aren't very many Americans on Social Security who are still living in the house they were born in. Moving every few years, it makes more sense to throw all your stuff away, and replace it at your new residence, than to haul it in a truck.
I live in an apartment building, and it is amazing how much furniture gets tossed out next to the dumpster. And it's so bad, it isn't even salvageable. Bedroom dressers, after a couple of years, are firewood, already in stove-sized pieces. Office chairs are a joke.
This started in the postwar years, when 50-million new startup families all needed a kitchen table, so they cranked out chrome sets, held together by a couple of screws into compressed sawdust. The public, gullible as always, thought they were a miracle of productivity.
You can buy 'quality' items that will last for generations....or you can buy 'lesser' quality as well, that will last if you don't dog it out, and have kids jumping on it or pulling on it. It's about quality of WORKMANSHIP, not price. Wuality and price go hand in hand -- but only to a point.
I personally only buy real solid wood furniture -- no very cheap particle board, etc. --
YET, I love IKEA, and think IKEA gets a bad rap. And my garage storage shelving is plastic resin -- and has served its purpose for more than a decade now.
I buy clothes a Walmart -- and get compliments. But I have a friend who only buys Dooney and Bourke and Coach handbags, and spent $100 on GUCCI flip-flops. FLIP-FLOPS!!!! $100.
I'll spend money on a good meal -- and buy clothes at Walmart -- others only shop and Nordstroms and wouldn't be caught dead in Payless.
What people will spend money on and how much is just so individual -- and and fascinating topic.
I'd much rather buy real wood furniture from a second hand store or on Craigslist because it will last generations or at least decades. That IKEA stuff will fall apart, it's a waste of money.
As far as clothes, I buy at the thrift store on Thursdays when they have dollar day. I could buy 100 pieces of clothing (not that I would) for the price of your friend's flip flops, LOL.
I'd much rather buy real wood furniture from a second hand store or on Craigslist because it will last generations or at least decades. That IKEA stuff will fall apart, it's a waste of money.
As far as clothes, I buy at the thrift store on Thursdays when they have dollar day. I could buy 100 pieces of clothing (not that I would) for the price of your friend's flip flops, LOL.
Do people actually have problems with Ikea furniture falling apart?
There's some extraordinarily cheap stuff that is a bit flimsy, but generally it's pretty solid and can cope with being disassembled and reassembled a few times without any issues. I have several pieces from IKEA, they are 15+ years old, and they do not fall apart or look distressed.
Of course I do not have "kids jumping on it or pulling on it". People should train their dogs not to chew on their home interior, and teach kids not to jump on furniture, or otherwise destroy them. It doesn't matter if this is IKEA or a high end furniture - they do not fall apart if given care.
If you buy the right stuff in the first place, it will last long enough without having to buy yet more stuff to make it last longer. Buy quality not cheapness.
Exactly. My parents have a Honda Lawnmower that is 30.5 years old. A Honda snowblower that is 24 years old. Still running like new. I have neighbors now that bought Craftsman and other cheaper brands that have had to replace theirs after 6 or 7 years.
That stuff reminds me of similar stuff I have been using forever. On all my leather goods I have always treated with either mink oil or dubbin. That waterproofs the leather and repels dirt and other crap. I oil metal things at least twice a year and it never rusts. Things that should be painted I keep painted.
I'm really the anti consummer for sure. I don't buy any cheap crap at all. Since I'm frugal and I like really good things I buy things in thrift stores. There are a few of them around here that obviously get a lot of their things from very well off folks. I love really good shoes and I have at least 6 pairs that would have cost over $200 each that I paid $5 for. They are like brand new, never worn. I have a 100% Alpaca coat all trimmed in Persian lamb that I can only wear when it's -10 or colder it's so warm. I paid $10 for that coat and it still had a cleaners ticket on it. It would cost $30 or more just to clean the thing.
Lately my wife and I have changed all the furniture in the house. WE really like mid centure high quality stuff and it's completely crazy the prices you have to pay on internet sales boards. Just a couple of examples.
Solid walnut king size bedroom suite, Danish style, 2 dressers, two night tables one huge mirror in a great frame and a king size bed ,from 1960. Not a mark or scratch on the thing, $300.
Teak dinning room suite in perfect condition, looks Danish but made in Quebec in 1965, $200. All kinds of other stuff similarly priced.
It's crazy, I have a house full of beautiful things a closet full of great clothing and basically I have paid less than the tax would be on new JUNK.
Yup, we get name brand stuff for mere dollars at garage sales. All these mobile folks have it even worse when they are leaving an island. Usually they have wonderful plans about "living in paradise", pack up all their mainland "treasures" into a huge container and ship it over here. After a year or two they notice it really isn't paradise after all and they haven't been able to find a job to even vaguely compare to the money they were making before so they ditch all their stuff to get back to the mainland. Or occasionally, sell all their stuff so they can afford to go back to the mainland. I feel for them, but there are so many of them it's hard to sustain sympathy. In the meantime, we have great garage sales around here with all sorts of stuff being sold or given away as their departure date looms closer.
This is just from garage sales this year:
Teak Danish style chair $5 (they were moving to Oahu)
New grandfather clock still in the shipping box $10 (they just moved here and all their stuff didn't fit into the house since island houses are small)
Front load washing machine - free but needed a $30 repair part (from the dump)
Gas clothes dryer - free but needed a small part which was free from a different dryer. (from the dump)
Wicker glass topped desk and chair set $10 (clearing out a rental house)
7' x 9' Persian type wool rug - $20 (moving back to the mainland)
Laz-E-Boy chair in good condition - $5 (moving back to the mainland)
Floor length drapery made by a curtain company on the mainland, a set of eight wide panels - $2 (moving back to the mainland)
King sized Eiderdown comforter - $2 (just moved here and it was too hot to use it)
Lane cedar chest - $5 refinished it to like new with a bit of sandpaper and shellac (needed cleaning and repair)
Drum carder for preparing fibers to spin into yarn - $30 (needed cleaning and repair)
Solid oak with stained glass insert coffee table - $30 (moving back to the mainland)
7 person hot tub with heater, electric cable, cover, etc. - $400 (moving back to the mainland)
This doesn't include the little stuff we find at garage sales, this is just the relatively large items.
In defense of the folks who sold the grandfather clock, apparently they had tried to find someone to set it up, but as far as I know, I'm one of the very few clock repair people on this island (maybe even the only one) and I don't advertise. I did offer to set it up for them but by that time they just wanted it gone. I bought it for parts since they hadn't even fully unwrapped it and I couldn't really tell what it was. Still, for $10 it would have parts I could use if nothing else so I gave them the money more or less sight unseen and loaded it up. It is in like new condition, strikes Westminster, has a moving moon dial and huge lyre pendulum. Works fine and keeps good time, too. Says "Ridgeway" on the face, but the movement is by Hermle. Only problem is now there's two grandfather clocks in the living room, guess I'll sell one of them soon as I decide which one. Maybe trade it for something, dunno. In the meantime, there's two of them.
With just a tiny bit of repair skill, you can get stuff for free and fix it up to keep or sell. I haven't a clue how many lawn mowers we've had this year. The pull cord breaks and people throw them away! They get fixed and then swapped, traded, sold or given away. We buy very few items at retail price.
Still have the 72 Plymouth Valiant I drove back in school... the State sends me a notice every year to crush it so I can do my part for the environment.
Diesel Equipment is being forced out of State... a Mom and Pop excavating contractor recently closed up shop... his Backhoe and Dump Truck are meticulously maintained... he bought both new. The State informed him that he will be breaking the law because his engines have been deemed non-compliant... really gets my dander up.
I have an older propane grill with spare tanks... well, this is now also obsolete...
Anyone see a pattern here?
How about my little Sony Battery TV??? there is no way to hook up a digital convertor box that runs on batteries... they don't even make one...
So all the small portable TV's are now useless.
It is even worse with Medical Equipment... manufacturers drop lines all the time...
How would you like to be a Hospital spending 40k per operating room table to find out 5 years later the line is discontinued with no company support?
Of course the company will gladly give a quote for their new super duper model...
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 11-23-2011 at 12:02 PM..
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