3 ms·

Good point. Reading this thread I was wondering what of my crap is pass down able. Tools (lots of them), art, and furniture (we buy mid-century designer). Eve

Good point. Reading this thread I was wondering what of my crap is pass down able. Tools (lots of them), art, and furniture (we buy mid-century designer). Everything else is trash. Why do we keep trash? Why do we buy trash?

dagw 9y ago
Why do we buy trash? Because the sad simple truth is that buying trash, using it until it breaks and then buying a new one often makes more financial sense than trying to buy quality.
- ljf 9y ago
  And not only that - buying trash today when you know that you'll be moving soon and possibly have a better income next time you buy. We are putting off major purchases because we can - because there is that option, and the user value of of 'trash' is 80% of that of the version that costs 10 times as much.
  - dagw 9y ago
    Also, at least in the home electronics space, there is a good chance that the 'trash' in 3 years time will be better than the quality product today (in short term functionality if not in longevity). 12 years ago I bought the best quality TV I could afford. And while it still works perfectly, it's objectively worse in just about every way then a current TV costing 20% of what I paid for it. However since it was so expensive and still works I cannot really bring myself to replace it.
Brendinooo 9y ago
I know as a kid I had a ton of "collections" - Pez, coins, stamps, Pokemon cards, Nintendo games, postcards, baseball cards, old newspapers, books. For many of those, I would build up and hold on to things because I thought they'd be valuable some day, or maybe future kids/grandkids would benefit from having something handed down. I also like history and really enjoy seeing antique craftsmanship. Even though stuff like the Beanie Baby craze crested and fell pretty quickly, you still have shows like Antiques Roadshow and Pawn Stars that show all of those hidden gems. Or, in the coin world, you'd read about some trove of uncirculated buffalo nickels being discovered in an attic somewhere. Or, if you ever go to the Andy Warhol museum, there's a whole section dedicated to his "time capsules" of collected mundane stuff, much of which ends up providing some kind of historical value. When I was a kid, no one told me about putting money into mutual funds and compound interest (or if they did I didn't listen), let alone the principle of survivorship bias. Besides, that stuff is boring compared to the Star Wars Episode I Pez collection and commemorative Pepsi cans[1]. If I had held on to my 20 our of 24 opened cans, maybe I could have sold them for 30 bucks or so! I've been having a lot of reality checks as I get older. I kept my Star Wars prequel novelizations in good condition, but I can also get a book in similar condition on Amazon for 5 or 6 bucks. And I never read my parents' favorite fiction books, so there's a solid chance that my kids won't care either. Maybe in the midst of getting rid of these things I'll get rid of the one thing that could be worth thousands in a generation or two, but that's like playing the lottery, isn't it? [1]: www.ebay.com/itm/Star-Wars-Episode-1-Exclusive-Pepsi-Display-Collectors-Item-Set-of-24-Cans-/253064909025

dagw 9y ago

Why do we buy trash? Because the sad simple truth is that buying trash, using it until it breaks and then buying a new one often makes more financial sense than trying to buy quality.

ljf 9y ago
And not only that - buying trash today when you know that you'll be moving soon and possibly have a better income next time you buy. We are putting off major purchases because we can - because there is that option, and the user value of of 'trash' is 80% of that of the version that costs 10 times as much.
- dagw 9y ago
  Also, at least in the home electronics space, there is a good chance that the 'trash' in 3 years time will be better than the quality product today (in short term functionality if not in longevity). 12 years ago I bought the best quality TV I could afford. And while it still works perfectly, it's objectively worse in just about every way then a current TV costing 20% of what I paid for it. However since it was so expensive and still works I cannot really bring myself to replace it.

Brendinooo 9y ago

I know as a kid I had a ton of "collections" - Pez, coins, stamps, Pokemon cards, Nintendo games, postcards, baseball cards, old newspapers, books. For many of those, I would build up and hold on to things because I thought they'd be valuable some day, or maybe future kids/grandkids would benefit from having something handed down. I also like history and really enjoy seeing antique craftsmanship. Even though stuff like the Beanie Baby craze crested and fell pretty quickly, you still have shows like Antiques Roadshow and Pawn Stars that show all of those hidden gems. Or, in the coin world, you'd read about some trove of uncirculated buffalo nickels being discovered in an attic somewhere. Or, if you ever go to the Andy Warhol museum, there's a whole section dedicated to his "time capsules" of collected mundane stuff, much of which ends up providing some kind of historical value. When I was a kid, no one told me about putting money into mutual funds and compound interest (or if they did I didn't listen), let alone the principle of survivorship bias. Besides, that stuff is boring compared to the Star Wars Episode I Pez collection and commemorative Pepsi cans[1]. If I had held on to my 20 our of 24 opened cans, maybe I could have sold them for 30 bucks or so! I've been having a lot of reality checks as I get older. I kept my Star Wars prequel novelizations in good condition, but I can also get a book in similar condition on Amazon for 5 or 6 bucks. And I never read my parents' favorite fiction books, so there's a solid chance that my kids won't care either. Maybe in the midst of getting rid of these things I'll get rid of the one thing that could be worth thousands in a generation or two, but that's like playing the lottery, isn't it? [1]: www.ebay.com/itm/Star-Wars-Episode-1-Exclusive-Pepsi-Display-Collectors-Item-Set-of-24-Cans-/253064909025