Better value for money than you thought ?

[Flick of the Elbow]

I'm terrible for dismissing high end brand names as a waste of money, just paying for the label, etc. But every so often I give in to that little inner voice saying 'Go on, treat yourself'. And when I do, buy the thing, take it home, start using it, there have been times when I've been genuinely surprised by just how good it is and how much I enjoy having it. I wasn't just paying for the label after all.
Examples include
Swarovski compact binoculars, amazing image and so light I forget they are there
Oakley cycling sunglasses - for 20 years I'd been steadfastly refusing to pay such a ridiculous price for a bit of plastic but I saw some reduced in a shop, it seemed to good an offer to refuse. And I'm delighted with them, they fit so much better and the image is so much better than the many and varied budget glasses I've been using to date. Should have bought some 20 years ago.
The one item of Rapha I've ever bought, a pink brevet gilet, bought reduced a few months ago. Great fit, looks fantastic, quality appears to be excellent. If this is representative of other Rapha stuff I'm going to be buying more.

What examples do you have ?

 

[snorri]

Lidl cycling gloves.

 

[Hill Wimp]

Miele vacuum cleaner and AEG washing machine.

I spent years relying on cheap machines that I ended up replacing rather regularly.

Wish I had spent out the money on these years ago. I would not have wasted so much money.

 

[Drago]

The one Rapha top I have is a poor fit, a bit mean with the material forma 2XL, and not very generously cut around the chest. The quality of manufacture and materials is not better than a garment from M&S that my Mum might buy for £30.

I'm still using the same pair of Raybans I bought in the early 90's, genuinely well manufactured from hard wearing materials.

Ditto my Traser watch, which was £150 well spent in c.1989.

 

[Cubist]

Proper Ray Bans.

I've been wearing prescription varifocals for a decade now, but I still have a pair or two of "emergency" Raybans. Do they still have glass lenses? That was the draw for me, proper, optically flawless glass lenses.

 

[JohnHughes307]

Proper Ray Bans.

Ditto. My Brother in law tried them on and said - "bloody hell - I've been upgraded to HDTV!" The contrast is superb, they make everything look clearer than without sunglasses, let alone inferior ones!

 

[Cubist]

Hanwag walking boots £190, reduced to £90 because they were struggling to sell the womens.
So good and well made, they are really great and I've had loads of walking boots and shoes.

See also Meindl boots. I had an old pair of Burma GTX that lasted me about 15 years before the Goretex sock finally gave way. They've been replaced by a pair of Guffert that I wear every day. Comfiest boots I've ever owned.

 

[User32269]

Swiss Army Knife. Years of breaking cheepo imitations. Now had mine for over 15 years, even sent it off and got a full refurbishment done for free when I bent the big blade.

 

[Cubist]

A Hamilton watch.

A Mauser pen-knife.

A Letherman.



*Coughs*

A BMW.

Ooh, a discerning watch owner! Which Hamilton? I have a Khaki Field Auto 42mm.

 

[Drago]

I've never been especially a car person, but my ex-Wife was fanatical about the mobile status symbols. She was a company director and could afford to indulge, and I had a succession of unnecessary cars.

The culmination was a 7 series BMW. £58,000 was a lot of money 15 years ago, and for that kind of wedge you'd expect it to be flawless. It wasn't. I managed to persuade her to buy me a relatively sensible Peugeot 406 HDi to replace it, and that was utterly reliable for 1/4 the money.

As much as there are examples to celebrate where the cash buys you genuine utility and long service, there are an equal number where you get nothing more than a stupid badge to flash about.

 

[Racing roadkill]

If anything, I'm the opposite. I've bought the expensive version, and thought 'hmmm yes, I can see how the stickers on this make it worth twice the price'. Anything to do with the bike, and I won't go 'high end', after all 'high end' stuff, bounces down the road as well as good quality non branded stuff, but costs more to replace. Fortunately I ride enough to be able to do meaningful comparisons, and I have, on rare occasions, tried something expensive / listened to the marketing man's hype, and actually found it not to be as good as the sheep may have you believe. Emperor's new clothes and all that.

 

[biggs682]

Re homing a cat from the cat protection league about 9 years ago , we could have gone out and bought a Kitten but now we decided to re home a once unloved and abandoned animal who is now a right pain in the ars@ but he fits in the family so well .

 

[Haitch]

Spotify

 

[Drago]

Biggs mentions an area that puzzles me - animals.

My Lemmy is the culmination of five generations of Labrador breeding. He's the crème de la crème from one of the countries top breeders, the pinnacle of his breed, yet as a puppy cost me £500. Compare that with these mongrels e Labradoodles etc that sell for twice the amount.

What's that all about? I remember when mongrels were given away, or drowned in a bucket at birth, yet now they go for more than quality bred animals.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I've never been especially a car person, but my ex-Wife was fanatical about the mobile status symbols. She was a company director and could afford to indulge, and I had a succession of unnecessary cars.

The culmination was a 7 series BMW. £58,000 was a lot of money 15 years ago, and for that kind of wedge you'd expect it to be flawless. It wasn't. I managed to persuade her to buy me a relatively sensible Peugeot 406 HDi to replace it, and that was utterly reliable for 1/4 the money.

As much as there are examples to celebrate where the cash buys you genuine utility and long service, there are an equal number where you get nothing more than a stupid badge to flash about.

If anything, I'm the opposite. I've bought the expensive version, and thought 'hmmm yes, I can see how the stickers on this make it worth twice the price'. Anything to do with the bike, and I won't go 'high end', after all 'high end' stuff, bounces down the road as well as good quality non branded stuff, but costs more to replace. Fortunately I ride enough to be able to do meaningful comparisons, and I have, on rare occasions, tried something expensive / listened to the marketing man's hype, and actually found it not to be as good as the sheep may have you believe. Emperor's new clothes and all that.

You could always go and start a thread about stuff that turned out not to be as good as the marketing man said...