buying one good thing once instead of buying 10 poorly made things.

RadoX

RadoX

RadoX

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Just wondering about other peoples views on this. Some of my family have every day house hold items that they use every day that are 50 or so years old but some of my family insist on buying things that are cheap yet disposable. Is Britain a wasteful disposable society ? Is it worth cost wise buying one good thing once eg. Pans, Brushes, Tools etc. once and then never having to worry about replacing them again ?
 
There's lots of things to spend your money on these days, so people tend to buy crap so they can spend their cash on those other things.
 
It depends.

A wooden spoon is a wooden spoon.

But a microwave is not like the next microwave.

Rule of diminishing return kicks in at different price point for different thing.
 
Cash flow is more of an issue,
Yes I'd love an expensive battery drill, couldn't afford one, bought a cheap £30 one.
10 years later it's still working.

Bought an expensive non-stick pan and cherished it thought my student years, brought it home, Mother scratched it within the day.

Most cheap stuff is good enough to do a job.
 
buy once buy right.

i'm trying to teach the misses this but she just keeps buying truck loads of **** constantly that seems to break within 6 weeks. then she replaces it with another POS.

i would rather do without than have cheap cack everywhere!
 
depends, if the 10 cheap things cost less than 1 tenth of the expensive thing then it's more sensible to buy them.
 
Tefal said:
depends, if the 10 cheap things cost less than 1 tenth of the expensive thing then it's more sensible to buy them.
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Indeed. I cant predict how many brushes or w.e i will buy over a lifetime though im asking has it been cost effective for other people thus far in there life. 10 was just a example a random number picked out of my head.
 
I think the best example I can come up with is trainers. I used to buy crappy £20 trainers oevr and over again and they fell to peices within 6 months of little use. I bought one pair of walking boots for £80 when I went to uni and use them as my only footware, lasted well over 8 years so far.
 
Moses said:
Well, no, not necessarily. If the use experience of the item over its life isn't as good, or you have to bother going and buying new ones/storing spares - that's not necessarily worth the difference in cost.
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excellent point. You also have to account for the downtime you are incurred with if your badly made item breaks etc.
 
I do prefer good quality stuff, I'd rather go all out on a more expensive item that will last. But if I can't afford it, and I need it, the cheaper option is the only choice!
 
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For the most part, it's where the cost meets needs meets quality. So, I'm not above buying less expensive goods in a larger amount, however, I do also at occasional intervals spend a little bit more and buy a high quality item (i.e. a Tefal frying pan vs a Wilko's frying pan) as they last longer and generally have a much more satisfying building quality and performance.

That's not always the case, but it's worked for me so far.

For example, I recently bought a very nice £50 toaster. 4 slots, different power settings, all sorts of fancy switches. Until then I had a cheapo £5 white toaster, two slots, heat setting and an eject switch. While it served the function of making toast, the newer toaster not only looks better, it feels better and the toast is much better (evenly toasted, etc) and it's easier to get at.
 
With technology moving so fast, I tend to wait until the item I want is at a price I'm willing to pay. Rather than buying the cheaper item straight away.
 
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