For some reason we humans loooooove to believe we're getting a deal. Why else would counterfeit and faux clothing/accessories be such a booming business? Personally, I don't care what the brand is on the clothes I wear as long as it's made well. I really don't like wearing a piece of clothing once or twice and having it shred or tear or, heaven forbid, fall apart the first time it's washed. And I really hate pulling on a pair of of hosiery and getting a run AS I'm putting them on. Stupid hose. I would prefer to pay a little bit more to get good quality. So I prefer tights. They're more expensive because they're thicker and stretchy and last a really long time. Why don't more women wear them? Is it because they get baggy at the ankles? Maybe so, but I get to buy them less and I'm happier with that.
I know that in today's economy a lot of manufacturers have tried to cut back on quality so they can keep the same price. I say that's silly. If the consumer is trying to save pennies on toilet paper by already buying one-ply, manufacturers are just cheating them by making the toilet paper even thinner, therefore forcing people to use more of the product which they will then have to buy more often. The same goes for making the cardboard tube bigger. You're forcing the consumer to buy more anyway, so just make it like you used to and make the price higher (but not unreasonably so). I'd rather you cut back on the packaging budget.
Plastic grocery bags got thinner. I understand the reasoning, but having my grocery bags splitting halfway to my front door and dumping out what I just bought makes me a bit frustrated. Now I will have to go back and consume more and hope that the bagger doesn't overfill those plastic bags (because I left my reusable bags in the house...AGAIN).
There's a saying: you get what you pay for. I wish that were true. I thought I was paying for my favorite frozen dinner, but then you had to add cheaper ingredients, like peanuts, that I don't think should be in the green beans with my glazed chicken. More expensive slivered almonds, sure, but not peanuts. Besides, when did you add nuts at all? Also, several of my fave frozen dinners have added mushrooms as fillers. I love mushrooms, so I'm actually thrilled by that change. But adding wood (cellulose) to food: that's not fiber that I'd ever thought I'd be eating on purpose. Oh, wait, it's NOT on purpose. Who thought THAT was a good idea. Thanks, FDA, for not stopping that.
At the place I work at, I get to live with the result of choosing the lowest bidder. I understand the company has a bottom line, but I have come to believe that you should always throw out the lowest and highest bidder and go for one of the realistic budgets in the mid-range. I've heard Mike Holmes say it time and again on Holmes on Homes. I also heard it twice in Armageddon. Steve Buscemi's character says to Bruce Willis' character, "You know we're sitting on 4,000,000 pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon, and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the lowest bidder. Makes you feel good, doesn't it?" I also have to add another favorite line: "Back off, you don't know the components!" "The components: American components, Russian components, all made in Taiwan!" Gets me every time. Especially Lev (Peter Stormare in real life) using the wrench to hit the components to get them to work. Hee hee hee.
In the long run, you have to pay more for the cheapest bidder because there are always, ALWAYS, things somebody didn't take into account and you have to shell out more money than if you had gone with the company that thought ahead and already had a good deal built into their bid. Sigh. So, look at the long run, not the short. What's that old adage about if something seems too good to be true? Right? Or are they not teaching that anymore. Pity.
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