440 sats \ 4 replies \ @elvismercury 22 Dec 2023 \ on: Buying high quality products Personal_Finance
Agree that a good vacuum is worth the premium that you pay for it.
This is a thing where a btc phrase that I generally hate ("fiat mindset") is actually spot-on. Even if you say "I will spend 5x as much on this thing to get the best possible one" it's not always either a) possible or b) practical to identify how to do that.
I buy expensive boots that last a decade, and it's clear what the money gets you. But the expensive winter jacket I bought has lasted only a few years, where the cheap and shitty one has lasted fifteen. I would like to buy a toaster that would last twenty years but have so far been unable to manage it.
A renaissance where it's possible to buy high-quality, well-made stuff that will last a long time would be so welcome. I wonder (non-ironically) if btc really could fix that, or at least help.
I think BTC could fix this over the next few decades.
I know what you mean about trying to find the actual quality in the spot you need it.
One thing we’ve been struggling with is pots and pans. We’ve had really crappy ones that go out within a few months. We bought what we thought was an expensive set but they only lasted about 18 months. It’s one of those things where do we go up to the premium quality the absolute top or is it just more of the same?
Yes, we have cast-iron. But I hate cooking my eggs on a cast-iron.
Secretly, I’ve always wanted to start a website where I curate the best value items on the planet. It would be such a fun project, but so time-consuming
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You might learn that there's an explosion of demand and you're suddenly rich from the project, as everyone in the whole world who's as fed-up as we are piles in :)
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Yeah. The problem is I don’t know how to build websites and have no desire to learn it. Could you imagine the market research you’d have to do??
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Wouldn't be too hard, to be honest. I'm a developer and it could be done pretty easily, I think the main issue would be having to convince end users/visitors to the site that the person(s) curating the items purported to be of the highest quality/best value, knows what they are talking about (no offense, lol). I think it's a good idea, actually, I just don't know how you'd get past that hurdle...the technological aspect of making the site itself is negligible nowadays, I am sure if you are here and know how to use Bitcoin you are technically proficient enough that you could be guided if necessary to teach you to the extent needed to build such a site.
On the actual subject, I too am a big fan of purchasing higher quality items for things I need, even if it's initially more expensive, it's well worth the time to do some research and figure out what isn't complete garbage. This is especially true, IMHO, in a few specific areas -- one such one being the chair I sit in at my desk. Of course, it might be initially expensive when I say I spent ~500 USD on a computer chair, but, it's one of the best purchases I've ever made. I spend enough time in it, and those shitty cheap chairs will kill your back. Same with a mattress, always good to buy something higher quality.
Unfortunately, that's not so easy nowadays, even brands which have had a lengthy history of making quality products, I'm finding fun little surprises where I learn that the company got sold to some investment fund or to a foreign conglomerate and while the name is the same, their products bear little resemblance to what made them famous initially.
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