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I wonder if this is the symptom of ever eroding purchasing power the average western person is experiencing. Everyone is looking to stretch their income further

I wonder if this is the symptom of ever eroding purchasing power the average western person is experiencing. Everyone is looking to stretch their income further and are willing to buy ever cheaper, but flimsy goods. Really the only thing that will fix it is stronger warranty law, this will make things more expensive, but it will massively cut down on landfill fodder. A refrigerator that can’t last 20 years is terrible for the environment to throw away when it lasts 3-6 like many Samsung and LG fridges do… I will keep repairing my ancient Sears washer and dryer for as long as possible.

klausa 3y ago
>A refrigerator that can’t last 20 years is terrible for the environment to throw away when it lasts 3-6 like many Samsung and LG fridges do… Modern fridges are much more energy efficient, which makes this calculus somewhat complicated.
- anizan 3y ago
  We stick with Panasonic for most of our home appliances. Quality has been consistently higher than South Korean brands.
willbush 3y ago
I recently made a blog post / rant about this exact thing https://willbush.dev/blog/complex-appliances/ https://willbush.dev/blog/complex-appliances/. I only shared it https://slrpnk.net/c/buyitforlife https://slrpnk.net/c/buyitforlife. Someone mentioned a warranty law in the EU that affects quality https://slrpnk.net/comment/4749319 https://slrpnk.net/comment/4749319. I didn't look too far into it. Anyone know anything about that?
- hug 3y ago
  I know nothing about the EU, but I do know about Australia; Under consumer protection laws in Australia, AKA “statutory warranty”, goods must be fit for purpose or replaceable under warranty for the reasonable expected lifetime of the goods. I have friends who have received a replacement fridge, under warranty, five years after the purchase date of the failed fridge — any reasonable person would expect a fridge to function for more than 5 years. Apple have also been forced to replace MacBooks under warranty as far as 4 years out, from my anecdotal experience, and even have pages addressing expectations: https://www.apple.com/au/legal/statutory-warranty/au/ https://www.apple.com/au/legal/statutory-warranty/au/ The money quote from the above link: > For the avoidance of doubt, Apple acknowledges that the Australian Consumer Law may provide for remedies beyond 24 months for a number of its products. It’s worth noting that the Australian consumer law states that goods must be of “acceptable quality”, or “merchantable quality”, specifically related to advertised quality and price: essentially if you are sold something more expensive for more money, it has more warranty.
friend_and_foe 3y ago
This is one angle to view the problem, yes. Shrinkflation is the quintessential symptom of the problem, from the perspective of the consumer. But it's not just "how do we raise the price per pound without raising the price per unit." Another angle to view this from is that saving money is jot worthwhile. People who get paid in dollars need to spend them quickly, so on offer around them is a plethora of goods and services that they can spend it on. Nobody saves for stuff so that stuff better be cheap, I'm sure the ideal price for an item is some function of the median weekly paycheck and apartment rent. Viewed from yet another angle (and IMO a more informative one if you want to get at what exactly is going on here objectively) you see that inflation has a general corrosive effect on value and quality. The velocity of money increases, and the value of holding money decreases the longer it is held. So businesses trying to maximize profit have to go from getting people to spend their money to getting their money first. They have to have fast turnaround time for that capital. They have to pump out as many units as they can as fast as they can, those units have to degrade quicker than the money loses value or they can't make a profit. This creates a culture of unscrupulousness, the phenomenon compounds and speeds up over a few generations. Inflation hollows out and cheapens everything, including the culture of your society.
ejb999 3y ago
I have a GE refrigerator that is now 70 years old, and has never stopped working or needed repairs (at least in the 30 years I have owned it). Doesn't have a touch screen, and there is no app to tell me what food to order, but it just keeps on running and doing what it is supposed to do. Not sure any amount of money could buy a new model that would last this long. and before anyone says newer models are more energy efficient so I should replace it, you have to factor in the wastefulness of having thrown away 8-12 refrigerators over that 70 year time period and the impact that would have had on the environment.
piuantiderp 3y ago
It just boils down to energy/capita. While there have been some efficiency gains on the consumer usage side, the big cuts in quality come from the production side. Our lifestyles need to worsen to stop climate warming...

klausa 3y ago

>A refrigerator that can’t last 20 years is terrible for the environment to throw away when it lasts 3-6 like many Samsung and LG fridges do… Modern fridges are much more energy efficient, which makes this calculus somewhat complicated.

anizan 3y ago
We stick with Panasonic for most of our home appliances. Quality has been consistently higher than South Korean brands.

willbush 3y ago

I recently made a blog post / rant about this exact thing https://willbush.dev/blog/complex-appliances/ https://willbush.dev/blog/complex-appliances/. I only shared it https://slrpnk.net/c/buyitforlife https://slrpnk.net/c/buyitforlife. Someone mentioned a warranty law in the EU that affects quality https://slrpnk.net/comment/4749319 https://slrpnk.net/comment/4749319. I didn't look too far into it. Anyone know anything about that?

hug 3y ago
I know nothing about the EU, but I do know about Australia; Under consumer protection laws in Australia, AKA “statutory warranty”, goods must be fit for purpose or replaceable under warranty for the reasonable expected lifetime of the goods. I have friends who have received a replacement fridge, under warranty, five years after the purchase date of the failed fridge — any reasonable person would expect a fridge to function for more than 5 years. Apple have also been forced to replace MacBooks under warranty as far as 4 years out, from my anecdotal experience, and even have pages addressing expectations: https://www.apple.com/au/legal/statutory-warranty/au/ https://www.apple.com/au/legal/statutory-warranty/au/ The money quote from the above link: > For the avoidance of doubt, Apple acknowledges that the Australian Consumer Law may provide for remedies beyond 24 months for a number of its products. It’s worth noting that the Australian consumer law states that goods must be of “acceptable quality”, or “merchantable quality”, specifically related to advertised quality and price: essentially if you are sold something more expensive for more money, it has more warranty.

friend_and_foe 3y ago

This is one angle to view the problem, yes. Shrinkflation is the quintessential symptom of the problem, from the perspective of the consumer. But it's not just "how do we raise the price per pound without raising the price per unit." Another angle to view this from is that saving money is jot worthwhile. People who get paid in dollars need to spend them quickly, so on offer around them is a plethora of goods and services that they can spend it on. Nobody saves for stuff so that stuff better be cheap, I'm sure the ideal price for an item is some function of the median weekly paycheck and apartment rent. Viewed from yet another angle (and IMO a more informative one if you want to get at what exactly is going on here objectively) you see that inflation has a general corrosive effect on value and quality. The velocity of money increases, and the value of holding money decreases the longer it is held. So businesses trying to maximize profit have to go from getting people to spend their money to getting their money first. They have to have fast turnaround time for that capital. They have to pump out as many units as they can as fast as they can, those units have to degrade quicker than the money loses value or they can't make a profit. This creates a culture of unscrupulousness, the phenomenon compounds and speeds up over a few generations. Inflation hollows out and cheapens everything, including the culture of your society.

ejb999 3y ago

I have a GE refrigerator that is now 70 years old, and has never stopped working or needed repairs (at least in the 30 years I have owned it). Doesn't have a touch screen, and there is no app to tell me what food to order, but it just keeps on running and doing what it is supposed to do. Not sure any amount of money could buy a new model that would last this long. and before anyone says newer models are more energy efficient so I should replace it, you have to factor in the wastefulness of having thrown away 8-12 refrigerators over that 70 year time period and the impact that would have had on the environment.

piuantiderp 3y ago

It just boils down to energy/capita. While there have been some efficiency gains on the consumer usage side, the big cuts in quality come from the production side. Our lifestyles need to worsen to stop climate warming...