Ski gloves

Grey suspenders Tony, have you no sense of colour balance?

Tony_H wrote:This has all got very technical. I was hoping to find out whether, generally, people buy on price, if features are particularly important (I guessed they would be for the likes of Ise and Bandit etc) or whether people just renew something they had before because they were warm.

Just my opinion but there is a big difference between good value and cheapness. I've always liked this quote from John Ruskin 1819 - 1900

"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper. And the people who always go for the cheapest are this man's lawful prey. It's unwise to pay to much... But it's worse to pay to little. When you pay to much, you lose a little money... that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot.... It can't be done.If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run.And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better."

John Ruskin had never heard of steep and cheap :D

http://tram.gearattack.com/items/17297

Trencher

Trencher wrote:John Ruskin had never heard of steep and cheap :D

http://tram.gearattack.com/items/17297

Trencher

Interesting site, not come across it before. I assume its mostly bancrupt (insolvency) stock as the prices seem to be below trade price.
Perhaps the original retailer went bust because all of their customers started to buy at TK Max )

I have heard of Steep and Cheap, though these days UPS will happily swallow any savings I might have made, in their carriage charges. The UK Post Office now charge for collecting Duty on behalf of HMRC BTW.

Cheap and Cheap, and it's offspring Tramdock and Whisky Malitia are addictive. Each has a deal at a time, constantly changing. You need a desktop alert for each, which pops up every time the deal changes. The best deals only last a few minutes so it's like a feeding frenzy for gear addicts. Often though, if you are only buying one low value item, the shipping kills the deal.

Trencher

The thread has really widened out to purchasing cost attitudes.

I am quite parsimonious when it comes to spending, and look for value all the time. Mmmm, slight correction, when my OH says we are going to buy something, then consider it done. :cry:

Ruskin was correct, in his lifetime, and his principle broadly remains true. However, markets are now more developed, and consumers more knowledgable.

It not just a possibility, but frequently achieved, to pay between say two and three times more, (or even greater multiples) than the lowest price, for the same product or service. As far as I can see, the biggest factors to achieving the best value are:

1) An understanding of the range of specifications, sources and costs,
2) Timing

Totally agree with Dave Mac it comes down to knowing what you want and researching the market ,,,,,,,,and becoming addicted to TK Max