Buy Cheap buy Twice?

B

brian.mobile

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An older girlfriend of mine always said this.

Kind of think she is right, you cant beat buying the better product first time. Rather than wasting more money and almost as importantly TIME and WITS END all over again.

Any thoughts on this?

BM
 
I couldn't agree more. I am currently at the fit out phase of a new build and the number of people who have said can't you just get a cheap version to last you a few years and you can always upgrade.
It hink this is pointless as if you are going to invest in the more expensive product in the end you may as well get it to start with and let it be earning it's money.
 
To an extent I agree. However, take clothing for instance. Most 'quality' labels are in fact made in factories in North Africa, the far East, etc. Now, I'm not disparaging the quality one gets from these locations, but you'll often find 'brand name' and 'cheap' clothes are made in the same countries.

Unless there are some super artisan craftsmen factories in these countries which I haven't heard about who in fact make the expensive designer/quality clothes, I reckon there's no point in buying a €200 pair of jeans (to mention a recent thread) when a €30 or cheaper pair will do.

Similarly, is there any real quality/reliability difference between a Bentley and a Toyota?
 
I think this is way too broad of a generalisation. Cost does not always reflect quality since the price is only a reflection of market demand in most cases.

Even if price is a reflection of quality in some cases, sometimes things are way over-spec'ed for what you need. I think the common or garden (or yellow pack or whatever you want to call it) varieties of most things are perfectly serviceable. For example, I've had bad experiences with both Homebase (cheap) and Laura Ashley (expensive) paints and good experiences with most other brands including Woodies own (cheap). I don't agree with brand loyalty either because just cos they get one thing right is not a guarantee that it will stay like that; plenty of brands that people swear by have let me down.

I have had similar mixed experiences with clothes, plumbers, kitchen appliances, cars, food etc.

My attitude to spending is definitely not led by this kind of mantra. The amount I spend on an item is more a reflection of how much I want it or value it's use/beauty than anything else and whether other people would make the same choice is of no consequence to me.

Rebecca
 
I thought as this was in homes and gardens you were talking about home and garden buys.
 
Paint, appliances and plumbers are three home and garden issues I mentioned. Sometimes I've paid over the odds and been very dissapointed and sometimes I've bought cheap and been pleasantly surprised. In any case, all goods should be fit for the purpose for which they are sold under consumer legislation. I don't have a different attitude to home and garden purchases to other types of purchases.

Rebecca
 
I once bought cheap white paint to put over a light blue. After the first coat, the walls were ligher blue, and the second, and the third. In the end I had to get a brand name paint & low & behold......all was well after the first coat. Time and money.....
 
I suppose the word 'cheap' could be substituted with 'low quality'.

Not always a price thing I 'bose?

B
 
I think for items that you want to last long term & which are expensive to begin with, yes I agree that you might as well go for the more expensive better quality (up to a certain point - once you go to really expensive/designer stuff it is more about fashion that quality) than for a lower cost lower quality product.
eg if you buy a suite of furniture - minimum you are going to pay realistically is €1k so rather than waste €1k on something that will lose its shape and fall apart & look crap after a while, why not spend €2k and get something decent (because you will just end up buying 2 of the €1k suites in the end anyway)

But for lower value 'fashion' items sometimes cheap & cheerful is the way to go because you are going to replace quicker anyway.
 
....depends on product.....but would echo a prev post above.....will never ever buy cheap paint again.....
 
in my opinion 95% of the time

You get what you pay for, then again, I have rather expensive taste, without even knowing the cost, you can bet your last bottom dollar, its the most expensive, can be frustrating at times.
 
lala41 said:
in my opinion 95% of the time

You get what you pay for, then again, I have rather expensive taste, without even knowing the cost, you can bet your last bottom dollar, its the most expensive, can be frustrating at times.
Click to expand...

The other 5% of the time it's just not worth ringing them back!

BM
 
Yes, generally you are right - household stuff appliances, furniture, windows- definitely you get what you pay for.
 
Saw a really interesting show a while back about pricing new products - do you want your product to be considered a 'luxury' item or a standard item? Marketing surveys showed that no matter how good a product was, if the price was below a certain threshold people wouldn't buy it and so they marked up prices accordingly. Price thus reflecting expectations rather than real quality.

cheap does not alway have to = nasty although I supppose you have to be a bit more careful.
 
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