why is it that when you buy something you never get good quality or value for money these days?

Anything in particular? Or just everything?

Personally I think a 30p mix-up is both good value and high quality ;)

I would say that Sella Artois at £2.99 for a four pack from Netto, represents good value for money. Wouldn't you?

Indeed it is. As is Concorde Sports Centre charging £2.45 for 10 minutes on the sunbed, good value in my eyes ;)

I would say quality and value for money is much better these days. Even in my short life time, I have seen things like computers, TVs, videos, etc, all come down from high to low prices. I think this is largely due to the rise in competition from non-big brands who manage to produce cheaper goods, often to the same quality as the traditional big names like Sony, Panasonic, etc. Many new electrical goods are brought out at first in such a way that they are over priced, so they appeal to a niche market of more affluent buyers. Once this market is 'skimmed', the price falls down quite rapidly to appeal to the masses. DVD players for example cost hundreds a few years ago. Now you can get them from about £40.

t020 makes some interesting points regarding the drop in prices, but I do not agree that a DVD player from the likes of Alba or Bush will ever be as desirable or better than one from the likes of Sony, Panasonic, Samsung or Philips.

Yes, 'big brand' items have dropped in price considerably, but they're still 50 to 100% more expensive than less desirable brands - not just because of the perceived image, but because of better build quality and functionality.

Would you spend £150 on a games console from Alba?

Is this bad...

I am 21 I can remember when a penny chew was 1p, An packet of crisps was 10p and you got crisps in there not just half a bag....:rolleyes:

I suppose a train ticket is a product as well, When I go see my family in the lakes it was £14.50 least year xmas just gone it was £39.00. How can they justify that the product has got better? On time etc... When it clearly has not!! :loopy:

Originally posted by Sam Miguel
I would say that Sella Artois at £2.99 for a four pack from Netto, represents good value for money. Wouldn't you?

It depends if you like beating your wife for under a fiver.

It's cheap, but then it is cheap low quality beer.

<HOWLS OF LAUGHTER>

My vote for the post of the month!

I though it was supposed to be reassuringly expensive?

Don't believe everything the advertisers tell you, eh?

Originally posted by Bookey
Is this bad...

I am 21 I can remember when a penny chew was 1p

I can remember when "penny" chews were 1/2 d !

I do think you get what you pay for.

You can buy expensive batteries and you they will last you days or you can buy cheap ones thats that lasts for a few hours and have a higher posibility of a leak and damaging the goods.

Cheap DVD players @ £40 will more likely lack features than a £100 model.

However, clothes by fashion designers, a good bulk of that is paying for the name rather than the quality of the product.

Products sold in supermarket brands, in Adsa for example, are cheaper not because the quality is worst than a branded name but because they reap 100% of the profit so they can cut the prices.

Originally posted by itsmyfault
why is it that when you buy something you never get good quality or value for money these days?
Have you considered the possibility that it's just you buying poor quality stuff? maybe you could learn how to shop around for the best deal. ;)

Anyone got some good advice on how to get the best value for your money these days?

I was surprised as a youngster when a friend told me always to ask for a better price when you can - you don't have to pay the price on the ticket you know! ask for a cash discount :)

...and how much money that's saved me over the years! priceless tips can be free you know :thumbsup:

Originally posted by John
I do think you get what you pay for.
Cheap DVD players @ £40 will more likely lack features than a £100 model.



I got a "Compacks" DVD player for 39.99 and it plays everything, multi region, mpegs, jpegs, mp3s CDA as well as DVDs and 'preview' releases of DVDs (ok pirates)

My colleagues several hundred pound DVD player does not do as well on that score. But it does have nicer buttons and a slightly more palatble interface. Cost of buttons? about £130.

Cheap products are made in cheap countries with a poor populace and quite possibly a poor human rights record and minimal legislation.
Fair trades products we buy them!
European consumer goods we buy them!
Do they cost more? of course.
But at least we don't finance regimes that run over their own people with tanks!

Enjoy your bargains!

If you are in any way whatsoever engaged with the capitalist economy, then you are contributing your £tax to despotic regimes whose human rights record is worse than apalling.

I can take it from your post that nothing in your house comes from the USA, China, N.Korea, Thailand, Singapore or Indonesia?

Originally posted by Norbo
I can remember when "penny" chews were 1/2 d !

Ok ok not that long ago but still, makes you think.

I cant even imagine what it would have been like before they started spelling Dence with a P.

Quality of goods and service has definately dropped, and as for value for money, you get what you pay for.

You can pick up 'mountainbikes' for £39.99 and DVD players for £12, and you do get your money's worth.
Your money's worth and nothing more.

Originally posted by jackthedog
I cant even imagine what it would have been like before they started spelling Dence with a P.
Rofl

I remember when people used to pay each other using Lsd.
No wonder everyone was so tripped out in the sixties.


Quality of goods and service has definately dropped, and as for value for money, you get what you pay for.

You can pick up 'mountainbikes' for £39.99 and DVD players for £12, and you do get your money's worth.
Your money's worth and nothing more.

£25 buys a lot of chinese made DVD player. Especially as they are assembled by political prisoners, who when their fingers are worn down too far, are executed and their organs harvested for transplant into rich Taiwanese patients. That's why they are so cheap.

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
£25 buys a lot of chinese made DVD player. Especially as they are assembled by political prisoners, who when their fingers are worn down too far, are executed and their organs harvested for transplant into rich Taiwanese patients. That's why they are so cheap.
That isn't remotely funny :mad: Where's your proof P?

Hey Phan
you can take it from me, in our house we try not to confuse quality with quantity and we always look at country of origin and make decisions after taking this into consideration.
So although we may not have total control over our money due to the capitalist system we all live in as you point out , we can at least exercise some control.
It might not change the whole world, but it influences our immediate family environment enormously.
My kids are growing up in the knowledge that good stuff is attainable and that there's no need to accept second best.
After all if you only get one crack at living, why sell yourself short!
And bear in mind these are material possesions anyway and pail into insignificance at the side of human rights and life in general.

Originally posted by bulldog D
Hey Phan
you can take it from me, in our house we try not to confuse quality with quantity and we always look at country of origin and make decisions after taking this into consideration.
So although we may not have total control over our money due to the capitalist system we all live in as you point out , we can at least exercise some control.
It might not change the whole world, but it influences our immediate family environment enormously.
My kids are growing up in the knowledge that good stuff is attainable and that there's no need to accept second best.
After all if you only get one crack at living, why sell yourself short!
And bear in mind these are material possesions anyway and pail into insignificance at the side of human rights and life in general.
Agreed.

But I have so much blood on my hands that no amount of scrubbing is going to get rid of it.

I pay taxes that fund despotic regimes and subsidise british industries producing torture equipment, terminator genes, small arms, landmines & clusterbombs. I pay for petrol that funds more despotic regimes and the oppression of entire ethnic groups worldwide.

I'm not saying that voting with your wallet is not worth it, it just craves thought and attention. Only that no-one should be under the impression that there is no such thing as ethical consumerism.

Heh, this discussion reminds me of the "cheat sheet" (http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/how_to/the_nonexpert_ikea.php) for IKEA...

WORLD FIVE: CHECKOUT
...Do not try to reconcile your recent participation in anti-globalization protest parades with the fact that you are now on the verge of buying an armchair that somehow costs 23 bucks....

When did this become a big anti-capitalisation thread? It's the world we live in, we can't change it.

To get back to the original topic, it is a shame that these days, we almost expect the things we buy to be cr*p.
We dont seem to question why our expensive kitchen appliances pack in after 2 years of light use.
We dont complain when we get a bad service.
We seem to accept that it takes 28 weeks to fix a simple problem on a faulty product.

We live in a disposable world where everything is mass-manufactured as cheaply as possible. The manufacturers know that we'll not question their quality, and that we'll just throw stuff out and buy new if we have any problems.

I agree it's harder to find good quality and value for money - but that's no excuse to stop looking if it's important to you...

"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." - Ruskin, John

'nuff said :thumbsup: