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Buying Quality vs. Buying Crap
By Mark Evans | August 24, 2008
Yesterday, I spent far more money than I could ever imagine on a new vacuum cleaner.
The purchase of a German-made Miele came after years of buying $100 at big-box stores that promised “Hurricane Suction” only to lose most of performance after a year or so. So while buying a Miele put a quick end to some recent penny-pinching, it seems to be a solid investment: a quality machine that will hopefully provide years of high performance.
In theory, this should be the goal for people looking to buy consumer electronics. In practice, however, consumers tend to be seduced by cost (the lower, the better) over quality. They buy a crappy product, use it for a short period of time, and then re-buy the same product. It’s a cycle that makes no sense other than being able to economically feed the need to buy something new.
Think about how many times you’ve considered two products, and picked the cheaper one, even though you rationally recognize the more expensive one is going to last longer and provide a better ROI. It’s doesn’t make sense.
Of course, consumer electronics makers are playing consumers for fools. They lure consumers with features most of us will never use while making products that aren’t designed or built to last. Even Maytag has sadly lost its status as a company that makes built-to-last products.
This model works as long as consumers are happy to accept low-cost, low quality products, while companies ferociously market features over quality. It’s a sad but harsh but sad reality.
More: Here’s an interesting article about how to squeeze more printed copies from low-cost printers. For people looking for a way to recycle gadgets, check out Gazelle.com, which will make you an offer on them based on condition and what packaging/accessories you have.
Even more: Jeremy Toeman has really good post looking at “14 Ways to Use Gadgets More Sustainably”. Lots of good words of advice, including “Don’t Need? Don’t Buy!”
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August 24th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I’m on a big “buy local, buy quality and buy things that will last” kick right now. Of course, buying locally made electronics in Vancouver isn’t really possible, but it is possible here to buy Bensen furniture that costs about three or four times what you’d pay for Ikea, but that will quite literally last a lifetime, rather than two years.
Is it because people don’t have the cash on hand to buy quality, or simply that they’re stuck in the rut of buy / dispose / buy?
August 24th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
True… but not always.
I can’t think of one expensive new product we’ve bought recently which has lasted longer then the older product it replaced.
In fact servicing no longer seems to be an option with consumer goods. It breaks, just buy a new one. It cost more to replace the screen on my phone then buy a new one… we bought a whole new washing machine for our 4 year old one which broke because it was cheaper then getting it serviced and fixed… etc
August 24th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
A fact of a “made in China” world we now live in?
August 25th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Quality is better of course, but like Josh commented, sometimes the service and repair facilities just aren’t there at a reasonable price.
Still we did spend a pretty penny on a new vaccuum 3 years ago or so (the Dyson animal) and it has been a wonderful investment, working as well as the day we bought it, even though we put it to some tough use!
August 26th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
so what does it cost to buy a quality vacuum?
August 26th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
i previously had a Hoover, then i went with a Fantom Fury whic was great (but died when neighbour dropped it down a flight of stairs), so then it was a Miele. however, the BEST investment i’ve ever made in this category was a Dyson (got it on sale after watching the flyers for months). and since i don’t plan to let it be borrowed, i’m sure i’ll have it for a good long time.
August 27th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Rusco,
Let’s just say it’s a lot more than $150 but less than $1,000.