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I get it that a company needs to make money, but is it really necessarily to have these high price to get a good quality item? Is the materials cost that much difference, or they just pricing base on market value? Just because you added a extra coat of paint on a hammer, doesnt justified a $4 increase on the same hammer with one coat of paint. Extra coat cost ya what, 1/100th of a penny.
Consumers are a fickle bunch. Sell a food item for $5, and it's decent. Sell a food item + a drink for $6, and more people jump on that now that it comes with drink, even though that's about the same price as buying them a la carte. I for one rarely pay for "sugar water" that's 800% profit margin, but I will acknowledge I do go for other things that aren't "as great a value".
And it's a never ending struggle between consumers and sellers...
--At one point manufacturers noticed that people go for electric irons with more holes, even though the number of holes had no bearing on performance
--Restaurants with fancy decor need to make back that money, even though the food may be close enough to a "hole in the wall" eatery that charges less. But some people like the atmosphere
--TV was free for the longest time, supported by commercials
--"freemium" cell phone apps can be worse values than paying up front premium prices, but they still reign supreme in sales from all of the in-app purchases
Each camp is trying to get as much value and profits as they can.
I will say to be fair to restaurants, a lot of the costs is also labor, insurance, rent, utilities, regulations, etc. It's hardly just the cost of materials.
I will say to be fair to restaurants, a lot of the costs is also labor, insurance, rent, utilities, regulations, etc. It's hardly just the cost of materials.
Sit-down and upscale restaurants in particular are selling an experience, not just a meal. It's a giant undertaking to get it all right...
"Let the comfortably sophisticated environment, sparkling atmosphere and sounds of live jazz set the tone for an exceptional dining experience. Choose from a varied selection of fresh seafood, or indulge in our critically acclaimed USDA prime center cut steaks. Whatever the occasion, let us handle every detail. We'll do the work. You bask in the glory."
That's about Eddie V's, which is run by the same people who do Olive Garden.
Fridge average life span is 2-4 years after say 1980s.
Not even remotely true. You get what you pay for. Buy a $500 fridge, yet it might only last 6-8 years. Buy a $1,500 fridge? You'll have it for 15 years at least.
Appliance longevity according to a study by the National Association of Home Builders:
Gas range oven: 15 years
Refrigerator: 13 years
Trash compactor: six years
Dishwasher: nine years
Microwave oven: nine years
Washing machine: 10 years
Electric or gas dryer: 13 years.
Food waste disposer: 12 years
This includes the typical cheap appliances, including those the contractors put in new houses. This also includes the fact that many of these items are not worn out. They are replaced due to remodeling or because they don't look new, modern, or in style.
Technology marches on. Would you pay more for a phone guaranteed to last ten years? Of course not, you'll buy a newer version in two. These days who cares how long clothing will last when it just goes out of style sooner? And, although you can still find shoe repair shops, it gets harder every year.
Technology marches on. Would you pay more for a phone guaranteed to last ten years? Of course not, you'll buy a newer version in two. These days who cares how long clothing will last when it just goes out of style sooner? And, although you can still find shoe repair shops, it gets harder every year.
Pretty much they are making everything disposable and cheap so they get repeated business over and over. That is were i get dis-appointed. Hate buying things over and over, when I can fix it. If i cant fix it, i horde the parts off it and get a replacement. Now i got parts for the same item. I got boxes of duplicates in my storage unit and wife gets mad lol.. But i tel her that box has saved us about 2k in products that we could been buying over and over due to poor quality product. We try our best to get the happy medium and keep it simple products, but comes to a point is it really worth the extra 20 bucks for a rubber handle mixer or metal one.
Pretty much they are making everything disposable and cheap so they get repeated business over and over. ........
Things are made cheap because cheap is what sells. I don't see much in the way of planned obsolescence. Planned obsolescence means exactly what you said. You buy something that is designed to fail. Then you return and buy the same item again. PO really only works in a monopoly or near monopoly situation. For most people, if they buy something that fails, they would look for an alternative. That would likely mean shopping elsewhere or buying different brands or different types of similar products.
And who is doing this planning? The store management? Not likely, unless they are the only store in town and even that would not work with the internet. The distributor? Same issue would apply to them. Maybe the manufacturer? That is likely to be a company in China. They built as cheap as possible to meet the specs given to them.
No, I don't think there is any sign of planning or some sort of conspiracy. Just cheap products. On top of that every time you mention a specific product, it seems there is a quality alternative, often at a very good price. For a while I thought you just had difficulty shopping wisely. It seems more likely you just like to complain about buying poor quality products instead of paying more for better.
I have no idea what you are writing about when you say I am generalizing. I don't think I mentioned buying clothing at Nordstroms or Costco. BTW, Costco is clearly not a clothing store. I have however gotten really good deals on clothing there. The best heavy duty hooded sweatshirt I have ever seen came from Costco. I have one and gave one to the SIL. He wears his a lot and has for over 10 years. I have also bought Levis, Haggar, Field and Stream, and other name brand clothing items at Costco. I am not saying the quality of those brands is the best, but they will do when Costco sells the items for about half price. I just got a HD Field and Stream flannel shirt-jac for $11.
Again, it seems to me that you have minimal local shopping opportunities or you are lost when it comes to shopping. I would never go into Nordstroms or any similar department store looking for a high quality suit. Go to a quality men's store instead. You will find people who know how to help, a better selection, and you wont pay much, if any, more than at a department store. Then again, I bought my last suit 15 years ago. Since I am retired, I do not need to worry about buying another. The idea that quality clothing does not exist is just plain silly. The clothing and fashion industry is bigger than ever. You can buy cheap or expensive and high quality. You can buy utilitarian or for fashion. You can buy virtually any specialty type item. (I love my lithium battery powered gloves.) In addition, prices are absolutely amazing. There is a lot of hand labor in manufacturing and foreign factories have help prices really, really low. Again, that does not mean your local store is going to treat you well.
I don't go to high quality men store for woman's pant suit. Be serious. You mentioned you know where to buy stuff and it's from Costco.
When I was in my teen and twenty a, Nordstrom is the place to get high quality clothes. Not as high end as Saks fifth but pretty decent.
Basically I think that the equivalent products from today will far outlast and be of far better quality than the equivalent products from "back in the dayz". Ex. the cheapest products from today will be better than the cheapest products from the past. Cars are an obvious example. I grew up in the 80s and 90s so I'm probably not old enough to have any personal experience with products before around 2000. Here's a listing of products I've used since I've moved out on my own:
Microwave 14 years old, still going strong
Had a decades old GE stove that finally broke
Decades old overhead vent fan over the stove that still works
Decades old washer/dryer that finally broke, after that bought new washer/dryer about 2 years ago which is still good.
Floor fan lasted about 10 years before broke
Multiple furniture pieces I bought about 14 years ago and I still use.
TV about 10 years old
Floor lamp about 20 years old
Toaster oven about 6-7 years old
Keurig coffee maker 3 years old
Refrigerator about 6-7 years and still worked but bought a larger one.
Granted, even by my own personal experience I can't say the time period when something was made indicates its quality or longevity, but I'd still take a newer product over an older one generally speaking.
I spent 10 years in the furniture and appliance business starting 52 years ago. I can tell you, that quality of items has not changed, only higher prices by far. Then as today, there were different levels of quality in both furniture and appliances. Quality cost more and cheap was cheap quality, same then as today. In the 1930s I had toys of course. Some were made in Japan clear back then. Some were good quality and lasted. Some were poor and very cheap quality, and lasted about as long as the cheap ones do today.
I remember the WWII years, and there were no new cars available. The cars lasted back then year after year, and did not require as much repair as some here seem to think, and over 100,000 miles was very common. I turned 16 in 1947, and got my first car by trading an old cow for a 1929 model A Ford. Over 100,000 when I got it, and I put a lot of miles on it. Some say the 1960 and 1970 cars were pieces of junk. I differ on that. Especially in the 70s, when I entered the real estate business as a investment real estate broker in 1972 and stayed in it till I retired. I averaged 40,000 miles a year back then and kept a car an average of 4 to 5 years liking to get rid of them at about 150,000 miles. A lot of my travel would be trips of say 200 miles to 1,500 miles one way. I moved investment property and ranches in several states.
Today you can buy quality stuff, and you can buy junk, depending on what you are willing or able to spend. This ranges from clothing to furniture, automobiles to TV and computers. And everything else. High end clothing with top designer labels are made not in China but in Bangladesh.
The thing that is different today, is there is wide variety of quality, depending on the price you are willing to pay. Much more price range than a few decades ago. A pair of jeans can cost from about $10 to $100 at Walmart and much higher prices at high end stores. You get what you can afford to pay for, or are willing to pay.
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