Saturday, August 27, 2011

Handmade = Expensive /= Overpriced!!

Awh, bugger! I had set this up to post yesterday, and blogger screwed it up... it always does when I forget to check if it really worked. >.<

Hello everyone, this is a bit of a random post that started off with me reading a nice article about handmade stuff:

“$70 for a t-shirt?!”

“I love your website, but everything on it is overpriced!”

“Your stuff is too expensive.”

“Are you rich or something?”

“I could make that for $5.”


“Sorry, but that’s a rip-off.”

“$80 for a hoodie? You’re not Gucci.”

I’ve heard it all. At first it hurt my feelings and made me worry that my prices were too high. Now it only baffles me that someone would say something so rude. This is my job. It may not be like your job. I don’t have a boss or regular hours, and I don’t have to drive to work or even get dressed for it (heh), but this is how I pay the bills.

I’m always tempted to asked these people, “How about I come down to where you work and tell your boss you’re overpaid?” Because that’s essentially what they’re saying.

Read the whole article

I came across this article on another blog and I liked it so much that I wanted to share it with you, too.

After more than half a year of downsizing, I am still learning tons of new stuff... I am very sensitive on people who happily shout out about every bargain they drag home from some sale where you know you'll be thrilled about the stuff for a few days at most and after a few months you will find a reason to get rid of it because it's broken, out of style or just boring.
At the same time, I am used to buying my stuff second hand and I have been a student and low on money most of my life - Gods, I do like cheap stuff!

When we were in Berlin I really needed a pair of comfy shoes and since we couldn't find anything second hand (that's the downside, you can't just walk in and they'll automatically be well stocked on everything you might need), I bought a pair of really nice slippers for 10 Eur.




Cheap... - but not a bargain.


After a few weeks of extensive use, they're already falling apart. Now, that means I paid 10 Euros for, say, 3 weeks of shoe-use. That means you paid about 3 Euros for every week you used them.
If I buy a good quality (maybe even sustainably produced) pair for 190 Euros and keep it for 3 years, that would be 190 Euros for 156 weeks of shoe use, which cuts down to a bit more than one Euro a week... and they will be better quality and, easier on the environment. (My favourites atm: elNaturalista)

I really have to learn to buy quality. I am just such a cheap-o ^^


7 Comments:

Sophie said...

Same problem over here. ^^ After buying for two years on and off cheap shoes which started falling apart after wearing for one to five months, I am now looking for some expensive stuff again. Because the quality is really better (if you know which brands to buy of course!). This month I could throw 3 pairs of shoes away. How sad is that? :(

And to the handmade-part: If I really need something I want to keep for long or I basically just want something unique, the first places to look for are etsy and dawanda. Most probably you know these shops already as well. ;) Of course things are pricey there, but they're worth it.

yaga said...

jap, I know them. I think a good sideffect if you buy good quality stuff (that, of course, has its price) is, that you really think about if you need it because you spend more money on it, so less impulse buys.

Elisa said...

Mein Mann sagt: "wer billig kauft, kauft zweimal" und das hat sich schon hundertfach bewahrheitet.

Allerdings gibt es auch Ausnahmen: hab gehört in den 1EUR Shops in Berlin gibt es Zehensocken mit hohem Baumwollanteil und wenn man sich gleich 7 oder 14 kauft, und wechselt sie täglich und muss erst nach 13 Tagen waschen, dann halten die auch ewig.

Squiggly Rainbow said...

lol, I learnt the hard way too! I bought my first pair of Birkenstock shoes this year and haven't looked back! xx Can't wait to have you part of the Bunting Swap!!!

Unknown said...

too funny! I just posted a blog post about the very same article last week! It's hard to not be cheap sometimes, but it pays to buy good quality. (especially for things that you KNOW you will be using a lot) For trendy things, I still say go the cheap way...

Daffy's Dream said...

Wow! Great article.Thanks for sharing...Thanks again for stopping by my blog and for your lovely comments...Will come back see more from you.

yaga said...

Since I'm trying not to accumulate more things and much rather get rid of even more stuff atm, I only buy stuff if I really need it, that means I think five times about if I need to buy something and then I'd say it's really ok to buy good quality. Although, mind, expensive doesn't automatically mean that the product is well made or even env. friendly... Much too often you just pay for the name :o(

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