3 ms·

Can you buy a spare part for your $90 mower if it breaks?

selestify 3y ago
Does it matter if the whole thing costs less than the replacement part for a more expensive mower? (Disclaimer: I have no idea about lawnmowers or their costs. I’m engaging based purely on economic decision making.)
- CapstanRoller 3y ago
  >I’m engaging based purely on economic decision making. Unfortunately the environmental cost of producing disposable junk continues to be externalized and not factored into the economic decision-making spreadsheet.
  - selestify 3y ago
    That’s a fair point. How could we ensure disposal-related externalities are factored into the cost of a product?
    - jsiepkes 3y ago
      The EU is working on legislation to take the full product life cycle cost in to account when importing products. It means taking in to account the cost of disposal or recycling in import duties. Which seems fair. I mean why do I have to pay for the disposal of someone's 90 Euro lawn mower? Aside from environmental cost this is clearly also intended to reduce reliance on low-labour cost countries. Since these usually tend to have regimes which might not "philosophically fully align with ours". Western countries went to China and started selling opium. China went to the west and started selling low quality cheap stuff. I think the later might even be more addictive then the former...
mcpackieh 3y ago
Even if you could you'd probably have to fix it yourself, because the guy in town who used to run a general repair shop retired/died from old age 10 years ago and never managed to find a young guy to take over the business. I knew a guy who used to repair anything from work boots to sewing machines to televisions, but he gave it up in his 80s with nobody to replace him. I've heard this is very common, those kind of handyman repair shops mostly don't exist anymore.
Spooky23 3y ago
For the engine, sure. It’s all made by like 2 companies. I use a Murray lawn mower that my dad bought for $40 in 1995 at Walmart. The evil of Walmart isn’t the products, it’s their predatory destruction of competition in rural areas. Once you hit the suburbs, they lose that power.

Does it matter if the whole thing costs less than the replacement part for a more expensive mower? (Disclaimer: I have no idea about lawnmowers or their costs. I’m engaging based purely on economic decision making.)

CapstanRoller 3y ago
>I’m engaging based purely on economic decision making. Unfortunately the environmental cost of producing disposable junk continues to be externalized and not factored into the economic decision-making spreadsheet.
- selestify 3y ago
  That’s a fair point. How could we ensure disposal-related externalities are factored into the cost of a product?
  - jsiepkes 3y ago
    The EU is working on legislation to take the full product life cycle cost in to account when importing products. It means taking in to account the cost of disposal or recycling in import duties. Which seems fair. I mean why do I have to pay for the disposal of someone's 90 Euro lawn mower? Aside from environmental cost this is clearly also intended to reduce reliance on low-labour cost countries. Since these usually tend to have regimes which might not "philosophically fully align with ours". Western countries went to China and started selling opium. China went to the west and started selling low quality cheap stuff. I think the later might even be more addictive then the former...

mcpackieh 3y ago

Even if you could you'd probably have to fix it yourself, because the guy in town who used to run a general repair shop retired/died from old age 10 years ago and never managed to find a young guy to take over the business. I knew a guy who used to repair anything from work boots to sewing machines to televisions, but he gave it up in his 80s with nobody to replace him. I've heard this is very common, those kind of handyman repair shops mostly don't exist anymore.

Spooky23 3y ago

For the engine, sure. It’s all made by like 2 companies. I use a Murray lawn mower that my dad bought for $40 in 1995 at Walmart. The evil of Walmart isn’t the products, it’s their predatory destruction of competition in rural areas. Once you hit the suburbs, they lose that power.