How Do You Determine The Quality Of Anything You Pay For ?

Discussion in 'Shopping & Sales' started by Lon Tanner, Jul 31, 2021.

  1. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    Do you look for good value or quality?


    Paying a big price does not guarantee quality and because a product says quality is no guarantee. Third party opinions and reviews can be helpful. Your personal experience and likes can help.
     
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  2. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    Dunno because it depends on what is being purchased and what it is going to be used for.
    Example: I’ll buy a Harbor Freight tool in a second because they’re mostly inexpensive but I know I can’t use most of them on anything that demands heavy duty usage.
    On the other hand, things that have to hold an edge I buy specific metals that are known to be superior and I’ll pay the price. Electric tools that I know I will probably put a gazillion hours on will always be brand names I know I can depend on and definitely NOT made in China.

    Now, when ordering other things on Amazon, we ALWAYS go to the reviews and / or we look for the name brands we can trust. ALL makers of a product insist that they’re quality is excellent so to me that’s just wasted ink on the package.

    Don’t know if any of that answers any part of your question but it’s a start.
     
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  3. Lon Tanner

    Lon Tanner Supreme Member
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    It Did Thanks
     
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  4. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    When I was in my purchasing career, "quality" was defined as "Fitness for a particular purpose." It kind of distilled down to not over-specing stuff (of course, this is a general guideline.) The classic example is office pens. A gold-leafed pen might in some ways be defined of having higher quality, but the qualities you're looking for might be something like "comfortable in the hand, the ink flows evenly, the ball rolls smoothly, etc." In other words, it is of "sufficient quality."

    I kinda laugh at myself sometimes because as a corporate purchasing professional I was able to be somewhat analytical in my buying, but as a consumer I can be anything but that. As you said, I often have to remind myself that the quality of a given item does not increase just because someone jacks up the price. I think I pay more attention to quality when I buy tools than anything else. I don't "go cheap" there. Other things are not so easily evaluated, nor does "the best" always matter. The past couple of years I've started buying higher-quality (more expensive) ingredients for the things I cook. The difference there is readily discernible. When I was in the work force I bought quality clothing, meaning the fabric had some weight to it and the items held up over time (suits, shirts, shoes.)

    I think the way I tell "quality" is sometimes in hindsight, when I've bought solely on price. Then [once again] I get angry at myself and then go spend the money I should have in the first place, having wasted my money on "cheap." I try to do that less.

    I will say one thing about reviews: In reading the reviews of some of the items I've looked at recently on Amazon, people are commenting that when they have written a bad review of that product, the seller has contacted them and offered a refund if they'll delete their bad review. The dates of such comments cover a long stretch of time, meaning that Amazon has not put a stop to it. So I'll read reviews to get a sense of people's experiences, but not necessarily put all of my trust in them.
     
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  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    The Amazon reviews can sometimes be helpful, and sometimes pretty much useless, when they are describing how much (or little) the person liked the product, as opposed to how well it works.
    For instance, I bought some sugar-free chocolate pudding of a brand that I had never heard of. Some of the reviews said it was delicious, and how much they liked it, and some said that it didn’t have much of a chocolate taste and that it was a waste of money.

    One woman my age said that it had helped her lose 50 lbs, because she added it to the protein shake that she drank and it made it thicker and helped her stay full longer.
    So, I ordered a case (12 pack) of it, and it turned out to be delicious sugar-free pudding, and tastes as good to me as Jello, or any of the other instant pudding mixes.
    It does work beautifully with my protein drink, too, and turns it into a nice pudding that i can eat before swimming, instead of just drinking the protein drink. I like to have something in my stomach before swimming, but it needs to be something light and easy to digest, or it makes it harder for me to swim if I have a solid breakfast, like a bowl of the steel cut oats.

    If I read the reviews, and they all say that something was defective, or broke right away, then I try to avoid those products, when I can find a similar one with better reviews.
     
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  6. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    That's good you found something you enjoy that sounds like it's a decent price.

    So many reviews are useless if it's a physical item that gets repeated use because the buyer only just received/unpackaged the product, or (b) they are awaiting receipt and are giving their anticipatory emotional state 5 Stars before they've even touched it. I never review my purchases when I get those reminder emails...I wait until I've actually tried the thing for a while. Even if reviews are mixed, they will give me an idea what to look out for if I decide to buy the product.
     
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  7. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    About 3 or 4 years ago Amazon had a promo for sellers that didn’t pan out too well.
    The sellers would give out special deals if the buyer gave them a good review. We bought a few things off the specials listings and did the due diligence to give appropriate reviews which in turn gave us better deals.
    I can’t remember exactly how it went but the reviews had to be worded in such a way that other buyers wouldn’t know that you were reviewing a product as a sort of inexpensive trade off.

    Anyway, the promo didn’t last long because a lot of the reviews were bogus and couldn’t be depended on as being truthful. Some buyers bought and reviewed products that they sold on eBay or other venues so the long and short of it is that the whole program went south.
     
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  8. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    It's the easy dishonesty that the anonymity of the web provides that has caused me to not want to be a Seller on any of these venues. I've read so many stories of Sellers getting ripped off on everything from electronics to used children's clothes, and the hosting company (Amazon, EBay, etc) always sides with the buyer and the seller is out of luck...and money. I couldn't do it. I would be tempted to track people down...
     
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  9. Joyce Senior

    Joyce Senior Well-Known Member
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    Most things sold on Amazon can be returned for any reason at all within 30 days. Those that can't be can usually also be purchased as an item fulfilled by Amazon or as Amazon Prime. I don't mind spending the little extra for one of the last two (if, indeed, it is extra) for the ability to return something, no questions asked, no dragging myself back to the store, and no return postage or restocking fee.

    I buy some of my stuff locally or on other sites, but I prefer Amazon for the above reason.
     
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  10. Marci Miller

    Marci Miller Very Well-Known Member
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    Finding good quality items is getting increasingly difficult.
     
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  11. Faye Fox

    Faye Fox Veteran Member
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    It depends on how much I am spending. I first try to find out where it was made. Second I read the reviews and look for a pattern. Third I check shipping charges and how they will ship. Fourth I check to see if the company has an address, email, phone, or just a message system. Fifth I look at return cost. Do free returns mean they won't charge a restocking fee but will make you pay return shipping? If I have to pay $7.95 to return a $15.95 item, well that isn't a free return.

    To answer your thread title Lon, sometimes we cannot determine the quality of a product until we use it. Four years ago I order 4 pairs of lighter material mom jeans for summer. The reviews were good except that 1 out of 98 reviews was from a gal that said the crotch ripped out after wearing them for 1 hour. I appreciate this store because they make all reviewers post weight and measures. The negative review was for my size but the gal weighed 24 more lbs than me. Since these are 100% cotton no stretch, then it made sense to me that if they fit tight standing, when you squat down something is going to give. So I got them and they fit nicely in the waist and while the hips and thigh are a bit loose, they just get snug during squatting or bending. I am on my 4th summer and they only show light wear and no rips, tears, or even holes in any of the 4 pairs. They are now discontinued. I wish now I had bought a dozen pairs as they are comfortable.

    Sorry about the long-winded reply, but your question isn't answered easily. Another example is my friend asked me to go help her pick out a new wrought iron patio set. She fell in love with a beautiful expensive set and asked my opinion. I agreed it was beautiful but the spot welds on it looked poorly done and a bit cold. She bought it anyway and a week later her husband was going over all the welds as she broke one promptly. He wasn't happy as he also had to repaint it.

    Ordering online is a buyer beware and always a gamble. Sometimes quality is great for a few months and when the product gets popular, then they cut back on quality. I had an electric leg shaver for 5 years and finally, it quit. I bought the same exact model and they looked the same but the new one lasted a year.
     
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  12. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    Harbor Freight finally set up a store that's not too far from me. I went there this morning and bought a 50' 3/8" hose and fittings for my air compressor. My old 1/4" coiled hose finally broke in half (the instructions didn't say to not step on it), and I've wanted one that won't *sproing* back when I lay it down on the ground. I was going to get one on a reel (either self-retracting or hand-crank), but the reviews weren't encouraging. For my limited use, I can deal with manually winding it around the compressor handle. Most of the hoses received the same iffy reviews as the reels. This one seemed to be the least dissatisfying (PVC + rubber blend.)

    We'll see how the quality holds up.
     
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  13. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    All my compressor hoses and fittings plus my high pressure hose for my airless come from H.Freight. In the last 15 years, I’ve only worn out 2 of the compressor hoses and I used them quite a bit.

    Screw guns are something else I’m having to contend with. The Harbor Freight guns are great if you can get more batteries for them. They no longer stock the batteries I need for my 2 Chicago Electric guns so I have to special order them. Heck, the batteries now cost as much as the whole gun did when I first bought them.
     
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  14. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    So many battery-operated tools are like that. I have a nice 18v Makita screw gun/impact gun set I really love. I've had it for 10 years. I've used it in a semi-commercial way for 7 years with that non-profit I did home repairs and handicap ramps with and beat it to death at home. So far the batteries are OK. Maybe I should find a spare set and put them in the fridge.

    So what do you know about compressors and the various diameter hoses? I went from 1/4" to 3/8" and it took me a while to find the right reducer to hook it up. I gotta wonder what the point of a 3/8" hose is if you reduce the ends down to 1/4". I looked around and did not see any accessories (air jets, air chucks) or quick-connect couplers in 3/8"...they are all in 1/4".

    I'd like to get an impact wrench sometime in the future and a shorter 1/2" hose to carry the PSI and have the same question. There is nothing in 1/2" or in 3/8" to connect directly to the compressor...it seems as though everything steps down to 1/4".

    I asked the guy at the store as I was struggling to fund a way to direct-connect the 3/8" hose to my compressor, and when he couldn't figure it out, told me to buy a 1/4" hose and call it a day.

    I just looked at the nail guns and at the impact wrenches on their website. They all have a 1/4" air inlet. Makes no sense to spec a 3/8" or 1/2" hose for air tools and then choke down both ends (although choking down the output makes more sense than choking down the inlet.) And when I go to this Northern Tool page they have all 3 sizes of couplings and rapid-connect plugs. Maybe I'll go to Northern tomorrow.
     
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