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Repair services in any western country will be hideously expensive because it can't be automated and has to be paid western wages, while the products themselves

Repair services in any western country will be hideously expensive because it can't be automated and has to be paid western wages, while the products themselves are made in an automated fashion with third world wages. For this repair stuff to work, we have to make it easier to do so that people can do it themselves.

HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
It does depend on the product. I have a KitchenAid blender and a KitchenAid stand mixer that I've had to repair. In both cases, the part was purchased for under $10 online and repair only took a few minutes. The alternative was buying a new $300 or $100+ product. Sure, I did the repair myself, but a local KitchenAid service center (yes, they exist!) would probably have done the job even faster. It boils down to cost/benefit. Would I have done the same thing with a $30 mixer? Not worth it; simpler to buy a replacement, but in this case, the products are built to last (both broken parts were "sacrificial" and designed to fail before something more expensive failed).
- rplst8 10y ago
  Sacrificial parts are great design IMO, specifically when they protect a much more expensive part. However, it does bother me that the parts are often very custom and only available from the manufacturer. I enjoy listening to a conversation where some blowhard talks about was was obviously a shear pin breaking in some mechanical peice of equipment and then replaces it with a grade 8 bolt.
r00fus 10y ago
Well there is the desire for the consumer to keep an item they know works (ie, a good-fitting pair of jeans or shoes). I think the incentives here will simply make that edge-case more viable. In order to make a sea-change, Sweden and other countries will have to go to war against mass-market manufacturers.
PavlovsCat 10y ago
For a lot of things and a lot of small repairs/modifications (even just cleaning in some cases), all that's needed to is to use standard screws that aren't super soft. They were invented to allow reservible fastening of things, and they're great, if you're not making them suck on purpose. Unless you're making it even easier than screws, make the screws rock solid and straight forward.
sliverstorm 10y ago
It's a little chicken and egg, the bridal shop was able to command high prices because they were the only game in town and served a luxury segment of the market. As a result less people want to repair clothes. But if there was high demand, there would be a competitive market of general purpose tailor, and repairing clothes would be cheaper & more attractive.
Grishnakh 10y ago
The one factor you're missing in the equation is that those products, made in automated fashion with third-world wages, have to be shipped across an ocean, and then shipped to distributors, and then sold in retailers that pay western wages, and which are owned by corporations that demand western profits. The retail mark-up of almost any item is enormous, probably at least half to 2/3 the cost. When you repair something, you avoid all that retail mark-up. However any parts you buy will also have a big markup usually, plus shipping costs.

HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago

It does depend on the product. I have a KitchenAid blender and a KitchenAid stand mixer that I've had to repair. In both cases, the part was purchased for under $10 online and repair only took a few minutes. The alternative was buying a new $300 or $100+ product. Sure, I did the repair myself, but a local KitchenAid service center (yes, they exist!) would probably have done the job even faster. It boils down to cost/benefit. Would I have done the same thing with a $30 mixer? Not worth it; simpler to buy a replacement, but in this case, the products are built to last (both broken parts were "sacrificial" and designed to fail before something more expensive failed).

rplst8 10y ago
Sacrificial parts are great design IMO, specifically when they protect a much more expensive part. However, it does bother me that the parts are often very custom and only available from the manufacturer. I enjoy listening to a conversation where some blowhard talks about was was obviously a shear pin breaking in some mechanical peice of equipment and then replaces it with a grade 8 bolt.

r00fus 10y ago

Well there is the desire for the consumer to keep an item they know works (ie, a good-fitting pair of jeans or shoes). I think the incentives here will simply make that edge-case more viable. In order to make a sea-change, Sweden and other countries will have to go to war against mass-market manufacturers.

PavlovsCat 10y ago

For a lot of things and a lot of small repairs/modifications (even just cleaning in some cases), all that's needed to is to use standard screws that aren't super soft. They were invented to allow reservible fastening of things, and they're great, if you're not making them suck on purpose. Unless you're making it even easier than screws, make the screws rock solid and straight forward.

sliverstorm 10y ago

It's a little chicken and egg, the bridal shop was able to command high prices because they were the only game in town and served a luxury segment of the market. As a result less people want to repair clothes. But if there was high demand, there would be a competitive market of general purpose tailor, and repairing clothes would be cheaper & more attractive.

Grishnakh 10y ago

The one factor you're missing in the equation is that those products, made in automated fashion with third-world wages, have to be shipped across an ocean, and then shipped to distributors, and then sold in retailers that pay western wages, and which are owned by corporations that demand western profits. The retail mark-up of almost any item is enormous, probably at least half to 2/3 the cost. When you repair something, you avoid all that retail mark-up. However any parts you buy will also have a big markup usually, plus shipping costs.