Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
One thing curves is not considering is inflation. It has never been cheaper to buy these things.
Here’s a neat site to look at in 1980 in USD. 299 for a kenmore electric range with coils. And 500-650 for a 17 cubic foot kenmore fridge. I can get a similar electric coil range for $700. 1$ is about $4 today plus whatever you want to use for exchange rate and that stove is half the cost. So it can last half as long and still be the same deal
Fridges you can get for the same price in today’s dollars.
Appliances are so cheap today for similar product features you used to get.
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Without a doubt that certain things are overall cheaper these days and they don't last. That bad cycle results in people spending more money in their lifetime on items. Quality isn't there and things are engineered differently to extract more money.
This isn't just an appliance thing, it's for everything. Think of the old Honda and Toyota's that went 500k+ km's with very little actual repair costs outside of light maintenance, a lot of which people could do themselves or for cheap. Try spending chump change on a 2025 Honda or Toyota for the next 15-20 years. A windshield and key fob may run close to $2k
I just don't know if in today's environment, it's Joe Consumer who's really the #1 beneficiary of all this stuff. If people actually run the numbers and see what these things are really costing them and how much more it's costing than before, it becomes an eye opener.
Edit: It's not just cheap things that don't last these days, it's the expensive things as well. Expensive clothing, electronics, appliances, cars and more are just not built to high quality standards to what they used to be. $2000 mobile phones that have a cracked screen when dropped with a case on carpet? $1000 dress shoes with rubber soles (grandson of a custom shoemaker, this GMG's) $1500 suits that are glued and not hand sewn with horsehair reinforcements in the jacket.
I think we are being railroaded and it's getting harder and harder to push back as consumers