Excellent point! And once you have a good used item, keep it in good repair, and you will have it for decades. Seriously. So different from what I have received from online purchases where my fingers never actually touched the object until it came - and it was NOT as advertised and could not be used for the purpose for which I bought it. I'm learning!
Great comment! That’s what I’m doing used clothes used appliances. Just got a slow cooker from 70s and oh my God food is just delicious. Sticking to goodwill now. Just got a brand new wallet for $1.99 perfect wallet . So much stuff . Sticking to goodwill
you know the term --managed/accelerated obsolescence. Even on BMW engine they put some plastic junk on solid engine so they will need reparation times to times 😔
@@sincity8717I think you make a valuable point that I'm not seeing RUclipsrs talk about. "Underconsumption Core" says, if you have too much, think very critically first about getting rid of excess. USE UP, WEAR OUT, what you have....EVEN if you don't love it. By contrast, "Minimalism" says, if you have too much of something you should keep your favorites that you use, and get rid of the rest. I've done that. Minimalism has many virtues. But, unlike underconsumption core, it doesn't teach you to completely use up & wear out what you have before buying more. There's a "quick fix" dopamine hit to decluttering. There's no quick fix dopamine hit to underconsumption core because if you own 300 clothing items, it might take you 20 years to wear them all out!😆🇨🇦♥️
Stuff. I have been actively going through my stuff to down size. I was left with a lot of "stuff" when my parents passed away. It is my mission to go through all of my stuff and get rid of, throw out, donate... whatever it takes for me to be more minimal. In the long run, my kids will appreciate I have spared them the agony of should I throw out, donate? One thing I will be able to pass down... My cast iron! Kris
The problem is that even expensive products who are supposed to be of high quality making the expensive purchase more economical on long term also break down after a short while!
It's so frustrating, I've been trying to find clothes they will last longer than a year and it's been a struggle. I remember having jeans that would last ten years, not so much anymore.
Currently wearing some of my grandma's jeans. She had a habit of buying a pair, wearing it once, and moving on several times. I should have taken them all when we downsized her house, even the ones that were a little tight (I likely was bloated from the air travel and my cycle.) I'm also learning how to make my own clothes. My dad got bleach on a set of bedsheets while winterizing our windows so if I make PJs, not only will I get my skills up, no one else gets to see them but me. I am glad to live in the information age where I can easily learn to make anything I want. I would rather pay more for materials and spend the time making it than buying something that will fall apart with a sneeze; or I can see how long I can do without (like chairs.)
I'm doing the same. I am learning to knit so I can make my own sweaters. I like natural fibers and can't really find them anymore. I already chrochet to make things for home and gifts.
I am 47 years old and still have a lot of clothing from 20 years ago. Happy i didnt throw it away and it still fits because the quality is so good! A lot of time people ask me if I have a new dress/sweater/coat etc:). There is a Netflix documentary about companies making crap in order for you to buy more
This is the reason why I only buy household furnishing stuff from my local salvage store that gets all its stock from unpaid storage units, the older stuff feels like it was made by a human and the new stuff feels like dropshipper junk
Everything sucks these days. And my response is: I’m doing an extreme no buy. Between inflation, shrinkflation, and cost of everything - I’m done spending
We live in a Temu world -- Americans want the cheapest stuff possible, and that comes at a price in more ways than just quality. Even mid tier is a shell of what was once produced. Longevity doesn't help the bottom line!
good video! Yes, i work customer service for a higher priced women's clothing company. Older women are constantly complaining that the quality has gone down so much since the 80s/90s..but then they call upset about a $8,95 shipping fee and feel entitled to free shipping. They'll have one home in NE and one home in Florida and spend so much energy to try to save $8.95!:D
You’re very right. There’s great products out there that have long lives (at above average prices). LED light bulbs come to mind. Expensive clothes / shoes tend to last.
Definitely do research on the brand first though because sometimes you’re only paying for the name. The one time I splurged on more expensive jeans from a fancier brand, they ripped at the knee within the first 2-3 wears, while my $20 jeans from Target lasted me for several years. 🤷♀️
Great analysis! One issue you might have not covered is that life has become "temporary". I could afford expensive "lasting a lifetime" furniture ... but I don't live a lifetime in the same place. I worked as an IT consultant and travelled both domestically and internally a lot. Either I was in furnished accommodation, or I lived for a year or two near a project. In this case, I had old, beaten-up furniture. If it fits - great. If not - I was off and bought something second-hand that did. I am now nearly retired, but my son will leave for university next year. So, I still have acceptable, but inexpensive furniture. Guess even when I retire I will not buy "built to last" because I am no longer used to it.
There is one rule for the industrialist. Make the best quality of goods possible, at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible. -Henry Ford-
But everyone thinks it’s the best system in the world and when you bring push back to them it’s always.. “but that’s not REAL capitalism” or the “are you a communist” argument. So low brow.
@@LukaDonesnitchIt's not the best system, because every system has its flaws, but it's currently the best option. Care to provide a better alternative?
Thank you, this is by far the best video that Austin has ever made. Cleared up a lot of things that were in my mind, now I'll focus on buying high quality stuff.
100 years later there actually are alot of model T Fords that survived. The reason is they were simple to maintain well engineered products for their time. How many EV cars or other high tech vehicles do you think will be running 100 years from now? I doubt none because they have too many chips and computer nonsense in them.
One notable exception to this for me is guitar pedals. I feel like when we’re talking about American guitar pedal companies that make their pedals in the USA, the quality just keeps getting better.
Hey Austin congratulations on getting to 125 K subscribers I remember when you only had 5K and you first started out I knew your channel was going to succeed ; your truthful videos help people so much ! My parents recently passed away and going through their stuff it's amazing the quality of everything compared to what is available in the stores today... furniture towels clothes kitchen Goods tools EVERYTHING ! I'm storing everything in boxes in my garage I literally will not have to buy anything new for years and years😀
Nice video, didnt even think of surviour bias. The added complexity also adds to things not being able to be fixed or cheaper to replace than fix. Mo complexity Mo Problems. What also is happening is even the so called higher quality products are also junk as well.
As someone working in a call center for a telecommunications company, this is the sad truth. Most of the calls we get are regarding customers who are binded under a 3 year contract that promises them a "free" phone so long as they pay the carrier's service for 3 years, but then the phone hasn't been used for a year and it gets worn out quickly, most of them are "high quality" phones - ie: iphone 16 series, samsung s24 series etc - and customers would call in stating either it won't turn on anymore or the battery drains quickly, the replacement we give them are refurbished devices (if eligible) but if they've had an insurance, they need to pay a fee or if they've had a separate third party insurance for years, then a deductible will cover it. Upon receiving the refurbished device, they then realize it's refurbished and it doesn't work well, i came into a sad assumption that companies nowadays design everything that would wear out/break easily so that you would buy a new one and they'd make more money.
Love your channel. The visuals are awesome and appreciate your sense of humor. Extremely entertaining videos you make. Your content is always spot on. Appreciate the work you put into these videos. 👏👏👏
There is another video that can be made as a spinoff to this video, which is how, in this day and age, do you tell the difference between a product that is higher quality and one that is simply overpriced? Aside from brand recognition and past experience, let’s say you’re looking at two pairs of hiking boots. One is $90 and one is $150. Their specs seem relatively the same and the reviews for both are pretty good. How does one decipher whether the more expensive pair will give you $60 more in value than the $90 pair? With so many choices at our fingertips now, these are the answers we need to find so we aren’t wasting our money.
I forget the channel, but there is some guy on youtube who has a channel where he torture tests various popular brands of clothing, shoes, boots etc. to see which are the strongest and can take the most abuse before they fail. It's pretty interesting if you can find it. He will even do things like a use a scale to measure how many pounds of force it will take to tear the pockets, crotch, and belt loops on jeans etc.
i know everyone likes to say 'they don't build them like they used to'. but i remember when my dad's 1968 lincoln contenintal got to 100,000 miles. the odometer rolled back to zero. they didn't even put a sixth position on the analog odometer cause no one expected the car to run for 100,000 miles. my chevy tahoe is over 200,000 miles. cars are getting better and better. maybe thank the japanese, and that might be the only exception, but just saying.
My husband’s Chevy truck made it to 270,00. His current 2005 Ford is close to 100,000. My 2014 Honda CRV keeps on running with NO issues so far. Seems like our ‘60s and ‘70s vehicles were always in the shop.
Such a shame. Your channel is amazing has changed my life & helped me in more ways then u can imagine. Im a mum with 2 children n u have really helped me. My husband is so happy as well 😂. Ur tips r amazing. Thank u
This episode makes complete sense ,I have to say I bought New Balance running shoes ,which was at one time was top quality shoes an high reviews .but last time I bought those shoes ,that are made very cheap Walmart crap ,but still charge the same amount that has always been ,why is that
The stuff made during the pandemic was made with what was available - the basic materials were in short supply. I agree with you about the loss of quality in many former solid good shoe/boot brands. NB is one of many mfgs that have really dropped quality. It is very sad.
Oh I used to buy New Balance. Loved them. I used to do some light hiking in some shoes they called Country Walkers. Put some significant miles on them before I had to buy another pair. They had a metal shank that prevented a nail I stepped on from penetrating into the footbed and my foot! When they started renaming all their shoes numbers, everything went downhill.
I used to laugh at my grandparents that kept plastic on their couch when I was a kid. But I get it now. There was no cheap chinese junk. Back then, you bought American made high quality furniture and it cost the average working/middle class person a fortune. It wasn't something they could just go out and buy on a whim. It was something they had to save up for a long time to get. It cost a lot, but it was built very well, they could pass it down to their children if they wanted to.
That is chauvinism. It doesn't matter were something was made but how it was made. Paying high prices for inefficiencies Made in Murica is not a good idea.
“High quality is reserved for the rich folks” I never thought of it that way but it makes sense why rich people are willing to pay $400 for an ashtray. I thought it was just exclusivity. Now I see it’s both.
One of the reasons for all the cheap stuff is everyone also feels the need to keep up with the Jones or have things as soon as they can instead of saving for the quality items. When I first moved into my townhouse I had 2 chairs and a futon and a childhood bed. It was like that for 2 years before I bought a nice couch and I'm currently saving up for a nice table for life. I still had friends over and we ate on the floor in front of the TV, enjoying each other's presence and joking about all the things we would do when we finally got nice furniture. I've also had cheap furniture and broken nice things because it broke with those items on top of it.
Welcome to the age of mediocrity, where companies know by just doing the bare minimum now exceeds customers expectations, and the money they used to spend going above and beyond ensures year over year growth for the stockholders.
This also applies for plumbing and electrical supplies. Living in a apartments/houses is going to be expensive in the future when your floors and walls have to be ripped open every 10-years or so to change the piping and wirings etc.
Love your channel has changed my life. I no ur not married & don't have kids but would love it if you could do research & do a video on how to save money when you have kids--- groceries, toys, clothing etc. thanks 🙏
Thanks for the suggestion! I might get attacked in the comments as people with kids don't like to listen to people talk about kids who don't have kids, haha.
What about the influx of Chinese products ? 😊❤ We had a normal picture tube TV that lasted 15 years. In 2019 I bought a 55 inch LED TV whose screen went blank precisely after warranty expired. To repair it cost would be almost 50 % if the price of TV.. 😂😂😂
we all need to revisit a classic book, from the 1960s, by Vance Packard, called "The Wastemakers". a scathing expose of 'planned obsolescence' rearing its ugly head. (he had several other good ones too, most famously, "The Hidden Pursuaders", about the fledgling Madison Avenue advertising industry) Groucho Marxs once famously observed,"I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would accept me as a member!" lol. and my mother said, "you don't want to be friends with people who don't want to be friends with you!"
I'm often accused of being a Scrooge, I buy my clothes from charity shops, I've only had 3 mobile phones, a Motorola brick, a Motorola phone box and my current phone, a Nokia 6310i which I've been using for over 20 years, my car is a 13 year old basic diesel, my motorbike is a 21 year old bike, my house is nearly 300 years old, the furniture was built by a friend of mine, it's hand built bespoke furniture designed specifically for this property, I don't buy online, I pay for everything with cash, I don't care that it may be cheaper because it could also be cheaper in quality, I buy what I need when I need it and only if it's worth buying, I've been criticised by many for it, I've never had a new vehicle, new phone, new clothes because I don't need to
Remember too that for many things -- furniture, clothes, construction materials -- the resources needed to create them no longer exist, or are not available to meet demand, due, in part, to demographics. With rising quality of life in China, for example, hundreds of millions of people are now competing with "the west" for the highest grades of leather, wool and cotton, or the best hard woods to create high quality furniture. We're no longer "king of the hill" and will have to learn to make do with what we can afford. As much as it's fashionable to poo-poo synthetic materials, if you've ever worn a Patagonia fleece jacket or its equivalent, you know it lasts forever, keeps you toasty warm (and dry), and isn't going to be devoured by moths. (BTW, Patagonia is also a company that will repair their products free of charge, like a broken zipper or torn seam. Their products are pricey but they stand behind them.). Running shoes are much more durable than they were decades ago due to advances in durable foams and knit uppers. Finally, in most things, people prefer lightweight to heavy, so home appliances, outerwear, and all sorts of equipment are made of plastic rather than metal-- flimsier, yes, but who misses lugging around a 40lb "portable" sewing machine? Excellent topic, Austin!
I collect and restore vintage radios and phonographs...I have sets from 1941-1960, after restoration, these units function as good as the day they were built! The cabinet and furniture is REAL wood and crafted well! My home is furnished in pieces from the 1920s-1960s...built like a "tank"!! AI is a huge cash cow...a billionaire creator!!
Before watching the video I'm gonna say it's 2 things: 1) Reduced quality, in order to be able to offer lower prices, therefore increasing revenue. 2) Because of the reduced quality, items will break down faster, therefore they will need to be replaced faster, which again means more revenue for the sellers. (AKA planned obsolescence)
Our last couch & love seat lasted 11 years. Our new set bought 9/24, looked like it was quality, and was purchased from a brick & mortar store, family owned and well established. It’s already looking worn, and we don’t even have kids, to abuse it excessively. It’s really frustrating, because we paid a lot for it, thinking we would be getting something that would last. I think from now on, we’ll be shopping 2nd hand used furniture, from FB Marketplace. 🤷♀️
I think the norms have changed a lot as well. People used to expect and demand tge ability to repair things and would have the skills to do so. My grandma could make dresses from scratch and had the ability to patch or repair clothing. And she expected 5-10 years out of a piece of clothing. I don’t think most people today know what to do with a sewing machine. Same with cars. If you buy a car with the expectation of repairing it, you’ll look for it to last longer. Tge norms for how long a given item is supposed to last have gone down by more than half.
We are living in a central planned economy where every good thing seems controlled, from real estate to stocks and now gold. I'm open to ideas how to safeguard and grow my wealth amid high inflation, can't let over a mil lose its value by just sitting in my bank.
Right, when it comes to situations like this, having a seasoned advs0r diversify your portfolio for high performance is ideal and thankfully, I can attest to this approach, seeing my holdings of $800k grow by 240% in barely 3 years.
please, who is the advisor guiding you? how to put my money to work has been my daily thought, did my research and most suggestions pointed at the stock market, the thing is i'm an absolute noob at investing
Personally, I've stuck with Melissa Terri Swayne and her performance has been consistently impressive. You can confirm her basic info on the internet, she's quite known in her field with over 15yrs of experience.
I owned a Samsung TV that was 13 years old and is was working great. However, I could not wait until it would break because I wanted to justify buying a new one. Finally, I got so tired of it that I gave it away to a friend. I ended up buying a TCL that was a fraction of the price of a Samsung. I know the TCL will not last as long as the Samsung but has better picture quality. Guess what I am fine with that. Because I know that TV’s are getting better and cheaper as time goes on. I also know that I will not pay as much for 3 TCL TV’s as I would pay for just one Samsung. Perhaps this a bad consumer mentality, but it works for me.
I have definitely noticed that my $1700 installed and it’s only good for six years. I remember my father going to Home Depot getting a water heater installing it and it was only a couple hundred dollars.
and chocolate tastes like sweet plastic poop. My cosmetology instructor was collecting everyone's phone and when it was time to give it back she wanted to belittle me so she pointed out to the class that I'm the only one with an android.
@1:06 Clothing that lasts forever would be extremely expensive and barely anyone would be willing to buy that. Let alone that people usually don't just buy clothing out of necessity. Otherwise fashion would not exist and everyone would wear some standardized piece of fabric. The same goes for cars. @5:12 Ikea furniture can last you a long time. It is not necessarily cheap - bad - but made on a budget. The sky is the limit but there is always the law of diminishing returns. @5:47 Affordable, not cheap, there is a huge difference between those but you imply that they would only gravitate to buy junk. @6:45 What about online reviews? They aren't the perfect solution but they prevent you from buying junk. @10:21 If you compare reliability with reliability, there is no survivorship bias. @11:01 You compare apples to apples. Pop music to pop music. Trends to trends. You simply have to generalize.
10:20 Gold is a durable material. If you are being paid with it 150 years ago. You are going to demand durable materials in return. Otherwise, you wouldn't have what was considered money 150 years ago. If you're going with a less scarce resource such as silver. That, too, has desirable qualities used to make a great many products. If you are not being paid. You are not going to be able to afford anything.
I have my grandmother’s dressers from the 1930s. It’s made from…… drumroll…. 100% wood. Turns out a company can say a product is made of wood as long as a certain percentage of that item is actually wood and it’s a very small percent. Disappointing. But that dresser will outlive me too, and nobody will be able to move it either. 😆
Just find the quality stuff, I got some stuff from eBay and it’s about 50 years old and a bit of elbow grease and tidying up and the pots pans and tools will last another lifetime
The survivorship bias is valid, however, good quality stuff is less attainable nowadays, so I expect much less contemporary stuff to survive the test of time. Not only because quality has become more expensive, but also because people need a wider variety of items nowadays, like all the tech stuff. Needing a wider variety of stuff (not just wanting) means your money gets divided over more items, meaning lower spending per item, resulting in lower quality purchases.
My family helped this guy (a legal immigrant of 15 years) go from his KIA that was stolen and crap to a well taken care of 2001 Lexus. The 24 year old Lexus is wayyyy better
Technology gets worse because software updates from these giant corporations intentionally slow down older devices. Clothing trends and overconsumption go hand in hand. Trends constantly change everyday and consumer obsessed people can’t stop buying.
Just bought a pair of 34'w x 30"L name brand jeans made in another country as I've lost a ton of weight due to my health conditions and my old jeans literally fall off me(Lost 69Lbs). Within a week of daily wear,the fabric being to stretch to the point that those 34"W jeans began to slip from my hips...and I know I haven't lost additional weight since. Such crap!!.
Can we be real? Cars are unecessarily complex. I just need practicality. The choice of practicality has been strangled. What was once a mecanical repair job is now a mechanical, electrical and computer repair job. When did I sign up for that?
Another reason to use "old" stuff. Conspiracy theory here😂: they found a way to prevent more people reuse old things, they've labelled it vintage, so the price goes up...aand most of us have to buy these low quality items... because we can't afford "vintage"😅. And even supposedly high quality are waaaay lower quality than before 😕
It's all about profit unfortunately. If they produced goods that would last 30 years, the companies would be making very little profit because people wouldn't be buying a lot. My parents still use some electric goods they bought 20 or even 30 years ago .
Another point...People need to stop that mentally when they purchase something that cost low and it breaks.... I always hear People saying "it's ok, it didn't cost much" guess what?? Multiply those you by the hundreds or thousands. How much money do you think that company made out of people like you with that mentality?? A lot..... don't buy cheap, buy quality
What I've noticed is more and more google employees, aka content creators, making irrational and unsubstanciated claims. "Everything sucks now",and, "Why Nothing You Buy Is good Anymore." Two blatently and easily testable false claims. But I do appreciate the BS in titles and thumbnails, it helps me easily choose to avoid such channels.
I am at the beginning of my "investment journey", planning to put 385K into dividend stocks so that I will be making up to 30% annually in dividend returns. any good stock recommendation on great performing stocks or Crypto will be appreciated.
As a newbie investor, it’s essential for you to have a mentor to keep you accountable. Ruth Ann Tsakonas is my trade analyst, she has guided me to identify key market trends, pinpointed strategic entry points, and provided risk assessments, ensuring my trades decisions align with market dynamics for optimal returns.
I managed to grow a nest egg of around 120k to over a Million. I'm especially grateful to Adviser Ruth Ann Tsakonas, for her expertise and exposure to different areas of the market.
I don't really blame people who panic. Lack of information can be a big hurdle. I've been making more than $200k passively by just investing through an advisor, and I don't have to do much work. Inflation or no inflation, my finances remain secure. So I really don't blame people who panic.
Without a doubt! Ruth Ann Tsakonas is a trader who goes above and beyond. she has an exceptional skill for analysing market movements and spotting profitable opportunities. Her strategies are meticulously crafted on thorough research and years of practical experience.
how would you recommend i enter the crypto market? I am also looking at studying some traders and copying their strategy rather than investing myself and losing money emotionally.. What's your take on this approach? and How can i reach her, if you don't mind me asking??
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best life hack is contentment, saved a lot of money xD
Stoic philosophy teaches that, Seneca mentions that as well.
Seriously! I’m happy with what I already have
I know I am wealthy, because I have enough. I am immune to advertising. I am immune to consumption. I simply have enough.
Buying good used items is a good solution
Quality used clothing can still be found in thrift stores.
Excellent point! And once you have a good used item, keep it in good repair, and you will have it for decades. Seriously. So different from what I have received from online purchases where my fingers never actually touched the object until it came - and it was NOT as advertised and could not be used for the purpose for which I bought it. I'm learning!
Great comment! That’s what I’m doing used clothes used appliances. Just got a slow cooker from 70s and oh my God food is just delicious. Sticking to goodwill now. Just got a brand new wallet for $1.99 perfect wallet . So much stuff . Sticking to goodwill
@@MeMyself-y5nBrands? Everything I’ve seen in a thrift store seems like it came from a souvenir shop.
The same thing has happen to our "food products".
Couldn’t agree more
Yes butter and baking it’s not my skills
I bought an Ethan Allen end table for $40 with a broken leg. Repaired it myself. Fine piece of furniture.
I own a Cardigan since 1992. It looks like new. There is no pilling or fading. Todays clothing will go to the trash after two years or faster. 😐
Clothes used to be like that😢
Most of the items in our home are 30 to 40 years old and still going strong. I prefer quality over change.
you know the term --managed/accelerated obsolescence. Even on BMW engine they put some plastic junk on solid engine so they will need reparation times to times 😔
I’m sad the “minimalist” trend made me discard my high quality older clothes in favor of, “buying it new whenever you need it.” 😢
@@sincity8717I think you make a valuable point that I'm not seeing RUclipsrs talk about. "Underconsumption Core" says, if you have too much, think very critically first about getting rid of excess. USE UP, WEAR OUT, what you have....EVEN if you don't love it. By contrast, "Minimalism" says, if you have too much of something you should keep your favorites that you use, and get rid of the rest. I've done that. Minimalism has many virtues. But, unlike underconsumption core, it doesn't teach you to completely use up & wear out what you have before buying more. There's a "quick fix" dopamine hit to decluttering. There's no quick fix dopamine hit to underconsumption core because if you own 300 clothing items, it might take you 20 years to wear them all out!😆🇨🇦♥️
Stuff. I have been actively going through my stuff to down size. I was left with a lot of "stuff" when my parents passed away. It is my mission to go through all of my stuff and get rid of, throw out, donate... whatever it takes for me to be more minimal. In the long run, my kids will appreciate I have spared them the agony of should I throw out, donate? One thing I will be able to pass down... My cast iron! Kris
The problem is that even expensive products who are supposed to be of high quality making the expensive purchase more economical on long term also break down after a short while!
It's so frustrating, I've been trying to find clothes they will last longer than a year and it's been a struggle. I remember having jeans that would last ten years, not so much anymore.
Quality of clothes in the US is very poor.
Currently wearing some of my grandma's jeans. She had a habit of buying a pair, wearing it once, and moving on several times. I should have taken them all when we downsized her house, even the ones that were a little tight (I likely was bloated from the air travel and my cycle.)
I'm also learning how to make my own clothes. My dad got bleach on a set of bedsheets while winterizing our windows so if I make PJs, not only will I get my skills up, no one else gets to see them but me. I am glad to live in the information age where I can easily learn to make anything I want. I would rather pay more for materials and spend the time making it than buying something that will fall apart with a sneeze; or I can see how long I can do without (like chairs.)
I'm doing the same. I am learning to knit so I can make my own sweaters. I like natural fibers and can't really find them anymore. I already chrochet to make things for home and gifts.
I am 47 years old and still have a lot of clothing from 20 years ago. Happy i didnt throw it away and it still fits because the quality is so good! A lot of time people ask me if I have a new dress/sweater/coat etc:). There is a Netflix documentary about companies making crap in order for you to buy more
Name of documentary?
Last time I remember you were just shy of 100k and now you’re 123k…holy!!! Great job mates keep making content and enlightening all of us! Thank you!
This is the reason why I only buy household furnishing stuff from my local salvage store that gets all its stock from unpaid storage units, the older stuff feels like it was made by a human and the new stuff feels like dropshipper junk
Everything sucks these days. And my response is: I’m doing an extreme no buy. Between inflation, shrinkflation, and cost of everything - I’m done spending
We live in a Temu world -- Americans want the cheapest stuff possible, and that comes at a price in more ways than just quality. Even mid tier is a shell of what was once produced. Longevity doesn't help the bottom line!
good video! Yes, i work customer service for a higher priced women's clothing company. Older women are constantly complaining that the quality has gone down so much since the 80s/90s..but then they call upset about a $8,95 shipping fee and feel entitled to free shipping. They'll have one home in NE and one home in Florida and spend so much energy to try to save $8.95!:D
My 2006 iPod is still chugging along in my 2006 Scion xB. Hoping they stick around for 3 more years. 🤞
You’re very right. There’s great products out there that have long lives (at above average prices). LED light bulbs come to mind. Expensive clothes / shoes tend to last.
Definitely do research on the brand first though because sometimes you’re only paying for the name. The one time I splurged on more expensive jeans from a fancier brand, they ripped at the knee within the first 2-3 wears, while my $20 jeans from Target lasted me for several years. 🤷♀️
To be frank, this is one of the best videos you've made for us Mr. Austin, thank you very much
Great analysis! One issue you might have not covered is that life has become "temporary". I could afford expensive "lasting a lifetime" furniture ... but I don't live a lifetime in the same place. I worked as an IT consultant and travelled both domestically and internally a lot. Either I was in furnished accommodation, or I lived for a year or two near a project. In this case, I had old, beaten-up furniture. If it fits - great. If not - I was off and bought something second-hand that did. I am now nearly retired, but my son will leave for university next year. So, I still have acceptable, but inexpensive furniture. Guess even when I retire I will not buy "built to last" because I am no longer used to it.
Capitalism: Make a product from the cheapest parts, with the lowest paid and qualified workers, sell it for max price
There is one rule for the industrialist.
Make the best quality of goods possible,
at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.
-Henry Ford-
@Christina-g4s Nice theory. Check the planed obsolence in cars and other goods
But everyone thinks it’s the best system in the world and when you bring push back to them it’s always.. “but that’s not REAL capitalism” or the “are you a communist” argument. So low brow.
That's not the definition of capitalism. Like it or not, without capitalism a lot of the products you use daily would not exist.
@@LukaDonesnitchIt's not the best system, because every system has its flaws, but it's currently the best option. Care to provide a better alternative?
Thank you, this is by far the best video that Austin has ever made. Cleared up a lot of things that were in my mind, now I'll focus on buying high quality stuff.
100 years later there actually are alot of model T Fords that survived. The reason is they were simple to maintain well engineered products for their time. How many EV cars or other high tech vehicles do you think will be running 100 years from now? I doubt none because they have too many chips and computer nonsense in them.
One notable exception to this for me is guitar pedals. I feel like when we’re talking about American guitar pedal companies that make their pedals in the USA, the quality just keeps getting better.
Hey Austin congratulations on getting to 125 K subscribers I remember when you only had 5K and you first started out I knew your channel was going to succeed ; your truthful videos help people so much ! My parents recently passed away and going through their stuff it's amazing the quality of everything compared to what is available in the stores today... furniture towels clothes kitchen Goods tools EVERYTHING ! I'm storing everything in boxes in my garage I literally will not have to buy anything new for years and years😀
Great commentary El Agustin! 🎉 Pertinent topic for today.
Thanks!
Nice video, didnt even think of surviour bias. The added complexity also adds to things not being able to be fixed or cheaper to replace than fix. Mo complexity Mo Problems. What also is happening is even the so called higher quality products are also junk as well.
As someone working in a call center for a telecommunications company, this is the sad truth. Most of the calls we get are regarding customers who are binded under a 3 year contract that promises them a "free" phone so long as they pay the carrier's service for 3 years, but then the phone hasn't been used for a year and it gets worn out quickly, most of them are "high quality" phones - ie: iphone 16 series, samsung s24 series etc - and customers would call in stating either it won't turn on anymore or the battery drains quickly, the replacement we give them are refurbished devices (if eligible) but if they've had an insurance, they need to pay a fee or if they've had a separate third party insurance for years, then a deductible will cover it.
Upon receiving the refurbished device, they then realize it's refurbished and it doesn't work well, i came into a sad assumption that companies nowadays design everything that would wear out/break easily so that you would buy a new one and they'd make more money.
Love your channel. The visuals are awesome and appreciate your sense of humor. Extremely entertaining videos you make. Your content is always spot on. Appreciate the work you put into these videos. 👏👏👏
There is another video that can be made as a spinoff to this video, which is how, in this day and age, do you tell the difference between a product that is higher quality and one that is simply overpriced? Aside from brand recognition and past experience, let’s say you’re looking at two pairs of hiking boots. One is $90 and one is $150. Their specs seem relatively the same and the reviews for both are pretty good. How does one decipher whether the more expensive pair will give you $60 more in value than the $90 pair? With so many choices at our fingertips now, these are the answers we need to find so we aren’t wasting our money.
I forget the channel, but there is some guy on youtube who has a channel where he torture tests various popular brands of clothing, shoes, boots etc. to see which are the strongest and can take the most abuse before they fail. It's pretty interesting if you can find it. He will even do things like a use a scale to measure how many pounds of force it will take to tear the pockets, crotch, and belt loops on jeans etc.
i know everyone likes to say 'they don't build them like they used to'. but i remember when my dad's 1968 lincoln contenintal got to 100,000 miles. the odometer rolled back to zero. they didn't even put a sixth position on the analog odometer cause no one expected the car to run for 100,000 miles. my chevy tahoe is over 200,000 miles. cars are getting better and better. maybe thank the japanese, and that might be the only exception, but just saying.
My husband’s Chevy truck made it to 270,00. His current 2005 Ford is close to 100,000. My 2014 Honda CRV keeps on running with NO issues so far. Seems like our ‘60s and ‘70s vehicles were always in the shop.
Such a shame. Your channel is amazing has changed my life & helped me in more ways then u can imagine. Im a mum with 2 children n u have really helped me. My husband is so happy as well 😂. Ur tips r amazing. Thank u
This episode makes complete sense ,I have to say I bought New Balance running shoes ,which was at one time was top quality shoes an high reviews .but last time I bought those shoes ,that are made very cheap Walmart crap ,but still charge the same amount that has always been ,why is that
Because they can get away with it.
The stuff made during the pandemic was made with what was available - the basic materials were in short supply. I agree with you about the loss of quality in many former solid good shoe/boot brands. NB is one of many mfgs that have really dropped quality. It is very sad.
Oh I used to buy New Balance. Loved them. I used to do some light hiking in some shoes they called Country Walkers. Put some significant miles on them before I had to buy another pair. They had a metal shank that prevented a nail I stepped on from penetrating into the footbed and my foot! When they started renaming all their shoes numbers, everything went downhill.
I used to laugh at my grandparents that kept plastic on their couch when I was a kid. But I get it now. There was no cheap chinese junk. Back then, you bought American made high quality furniture and it cost the average working/middle class person a fortune. It wasn't something they could just go out and buy on a whim. It was something they had to save up for a long time to get. It cost a lot, but it was built very well, they could pass it down to their children if they wanted to.
That is chauvinism. It doesn't matter were something was made but how it was made. Paying high prices for inefficiencies Made in Murica is not a good idea.
“High quality is reserved for the rich folks”
I never thought of it that way but it makes sense why rich people are willing to pay $400 for an ashtray. I thought it was just exclusivity. Now I see it’s both.
One of the reasons for all the cheap stuff is everyone also feels the need to keep up with the Jones or have things as soon as they can instead of saving for the quality items. When I first moved into my townhouse I had 2 chairs and a futon and a childhood bed. It was like that for 2 years before I bought a nice couch and I'm currently saving up for a nice table for life. I still had friends over and we ate on the floor in front of the TV, enjoying each other's presence and joking about all the things we would do when we finally got nice furniture. I've also had cheap furniture and broken nice things because it broke with those items on top of it.
Welcome to the age of mediocrity, where companies know by just doing the bare minimum now exceeds customers expectations, and the money they used to spend going above and beyond ensures year over year growth for the stockholders.
You have a relaxing and soothing voice 😊😁😊😊😍
This also applies for plumbing and electrical supplies. Living in a apartments/houses is going to be expensive in the future when your floors and walls have to be ripped open every 10-years or so to change the piping and wirings etc.
Also ads everywhere. For example, in this video.
According to Nicole it’s sh*tification. 😂
Not my title style.
Nicole is correct. She's awesome
Yes, that was a great video. Ya gotta love Nicole.
enshittification is a much broader term that also applies to services.
Exists for quite some time already.
I’ve ❤️this topic !!!!
Watching the video and an ad for Ashley furniture pops up shortly after you mention them 😂
Love your channel has changed my life. I no ur not married & don't have kids but would love it if you could do research & do a video on how to save money when you have kids--- groceries, toys, clothing etc. thanks 🙏
Thanks for the suggestion! I might get attacked in the comments as people with kids don't like to listen to people talk about kids who don't have kids, haha.
@@ElAgustin Yep that's definitely a minefield!
What about the influx of Chinese products ? 😊❤
We had a normal picture tube TV that lasted 15 years. In 2019 I bought a 55 inch LED TV whose screen went blank precisely after warranty expired. To repair it cost would be almost 50 % if the price of TV.. 😂😂😂
That’s gotta be deliberate.
we all need to revisit a classic book, from the 1960s, by Vance Packard, called "The Wastemakers". a scathing expose of 'planned obsolescence' rearing its ugly head. (he had several other good ones too, most famously, "The Hidden Pursuaders", about the fledgling Madison Avenue advertising industry)
Groucho Marxs once famously observed,"I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would accept me as a member!" lol.
and my mother said, "you don't want to be friends with people who don't want to be friends with you!"
Most the products I buy including clothing and furniture aren’t expensive but are good quality
I'm often accused of being a Scrooge, I buy my clothes from charity shops, I've only had 3 mobile phones, a Motorola brick, a Motorola phone box and my current phone, a Nokia 6310i which I've been using for over 20 years, my car is a 13 year old basic diesel, my motorbike is a 21 year old bike, my house is nearly 300 years old, the furniture was built by a friend of mine, it's hand built bespoke furniture designed specifically for this property, I don't buy online, I pay for everything with cash, I don't care that it may be cheaper because it could also be cheaper in quality, I buy what I need when I need it and only if it's worth buying, I've been criticised by many for it, I've never had a new vehicle, new phone, new clothes because I don't need to
Remember too that for many things -- furniture, clothes, construction materials -- the resources needed to create them no longer exist, or are not available to meet demand, due, in part, to demographics. With rising quality of life in China, for example, hundreds of millions of people are now competing with "the west" for the highest grades of leather, wool and cotton, or the best hard woods to create high quality furniture. We're no longer "king of the hill" and will have to learn to make do with what we can afford. As much as it's fashionable to poo-poo synthetic materials, if you've ever worn a Patagonia fleece jacket or its equivalent, you know it lasts forever, keeps you toasty warm (and dry), and isn't going to be devoured by moths. (BTW, Patagonia is also a company that will repair their products free of charge, like a broken zipper or torn seam. Their products are pricey but they stand behind them.). Running shoes are much more durable than they were decades ago due to advances in durable foams and knit uppers. Finally, in most things, people prefer lightweight to heavy, so home appliances, outerwear, and all sorts of equipment are made of plastic rather than metal-- flimsier, yes, but who misses lugging around a 40lb "portable" sewing machine? Excellent topic, Austin!
Very good topic ❤
I collect and restore vintage radios and phonographs...I have sets from 1941-1960, after restoration, these units function as good as the day they were built! The cabinet and furniture is REAL wood and crafted well! My home is furnished in pieces from the 1920s-1960s...built like a "tank"!! AI is a huge cash cow...a billionaire creator!!
I’ve replaced all light bulbs with LED bulbs. I have some going on 12 years now without any issues.
Before watching the video I'm gonna say it's 2 things:
1) Reduced quality, in order to be able to offer lower prices, therefore increasing revenue.
2) Because of the reduced quality, items will break down faster, therefore they will need to be replaced faster, which again means more revenue for the sellers. (AKA planned obsolescence)
Blaming online shopping for low-quality purchases ignores how much information is out there now.
Our last couch & love seat lasted 11 years. Our new set bought 9/24, looked like it was quality, and was purchased from a brick & mortar store, family owned and well established. It’s already looking worn, and we don’t even have kids, to abuse it excessively. It’s really frustrating, because we paid a lot for it, thinking we would be getting something that would last. I think from now on, we’ll be shopping 2nd hand used furniture, from FB Marketplace. 🤷♀️
I think the norms have changed a lot as well. People used to expect and demand tge ability to repair things and would have the skills to do so. My grandma could make dresses from scratch and had the ability to patch or repair clothing. And she expected 5-10 years out of a piece of clothing. I don’t think most people today know what to do with a sewing machine.
Same with cars. If you buy a car with the expectation of repairing it, you’ll look for it to last longer.
Tge norms for how long a given item is supposed to last have gone down by more than half.
We are living in a central planned economy where every good thing seems controlled, from real estate to stocks and now gold. I'm open to ideas how to safeguard and grow my wealth amid high inflation, can't let over a mil lose its value by just sitting in my bank.
I think you're better off speaking with a certified market strategist, they can help with pointers on equities to acquire
Right, when it comes to situations like this, having a seasoned advs0r diversify your portfolio for high performance is ideal and thankfully, I can attest to this approach, seeing my holdings of $800k grow by 240% in barely 3 years.
please, who is the advisor guiding you? how to put my money to work has been my daily thought, did my research and most suggestions pointed at the stock market, the thing is i'm an absolute noob at investing
Personally, I've stuck with Melissa Terri Swayne and her performance has been consistently impressive. You can confirm her basic info on the internet, she's quite known in her field with over 15yrs of experience.
Thank you for the lead. I searched her up on google, and I have sent her an email. I hope she gets back to me soon.
I owned a Samsung TV that was 13 years old and is was working great. However, I could not wait until it would break because I wanted to justify buying a new one. Finally, I got so tired of it that I gave it away to a friend. I ended up buying a TCL that was a fraction of the price of a Samsung. I know the TCL will not last as long as the Samsung but has better picture quality. Guess what I am fine with that. Because I know that TV’s are getting better and cheaper as time goes on. I also know that I will not pay as much for 3 TCL TV’s as I would pay for just one Samsung. Perhaps this a bad consumer mentality, but it works for me.
I’m a delivery driver and our work truck transmission gave out at 101k miles it’s a 2018 truck…
I have definitely noticed that my $1700 installed and it’s only good for six years. I remember my father going to Home Depot getting a water heater installing it and it was only a couple hundred dollars.
and chocolate tastes like sweet plastic poop.
My cosmetology instructor was collecting everyone's phone and when it was time to give it back she wanted to belittle me so she pointed out to the class that I'm the only one with an android.
American chocolate is garbage. Always has been
Superb content 👌
@1:06 Clothing that lasts forever would be extremely expensive and barely anyone would be willing to buy that. Let alone that people usually don't just buy clothing out of necessity. Otherwise fashion would not exist and everyone would wear some standardized piece of fabric. The same goes for cars.
@5:12 Ikea furniture can last you a long time. It is not necessarily cheap - bad - but made on a budget. The sky is the limit but there is always the law of diminishing returns.
@5:47 Affordable, not cheap, there is a huge difference between those but you imply that they would only gravitate to buy junk.
@6:45 What about online reviews? They aren't the perfect solution but they prevent you from buying junk.
@10:21 If you compare reliability with reliability, there is no survivorship bias.
@11:01 You compare apples to apples. Pop music to pop music. Trends to trends. You simply have to generalize.
You make furniture pretty cheap. My family uses lumber to make beds. Foam, fabric, staples etc... I believe people are smart if they try.
It's a great opportunity to save while having a lot more free time that's not spend shopping and working to pay for junk.
My Apple phone works great up to a month before a new one releases lol.
yep
10:20
Gold is a durable material. If you are being paid with it 150 years ago. You are going to demand durable materials in return. Otherwise, you wouldn't have what was considered money 150 years ago. If you're going with a less scarce resource such as silver. That, too, has desirable qualities used to make a great many products.
If you are not being paid. You are not going to be able to afford anything.
I have my grandmother’s dressers from the 1930s. It’s made from…… drumroll…. 100% wood. Turns out a company can say a product is made of wood as long as a certain percentage of that item is actually wood and it’s a very small percent. Disappointing. But that dresser will outlive me too, and nobody will be able to move it either. 😆
I try to buy metal/wood furniture, its normally built better than all particle board type stuff.
Just find the quality stuff, I got some stuff from eBay and it’s about 50 years old and a bit of elbow grease and tidying up and the pots pans and tools will last another lifetime
Two words for why everything sucks but costs more: private equity.
The survivorship bias is valid, however, good quality stuff is less attainable nowadays, so I expect much less contemporary stuff to survive the test of time.
Not only because quality has become more expensive, but also because people need a wider variety of items nowadays, like all the tech stuff.
Needing a wider variety of stuff (not just wanting) means your money gets divided over more items, meaning lower spending per item, resulting in lower quality purchases.
I miss those brand new 99 cent cassette tapes sold at target in the 1980s
Same with cars. In the past it was built to last and easy to work on. Now it’s all complicated with all the tech.
The almighty dollar!!! Corporate greed!🤑 Poor overstuffed landfills!
I couldn't have said it better myself!
My family helped this guy (a legal immigrant of 15 years) go from his KIA that was stolen and crap to a well taken care of 2001 Lexus. The 24 year old Lexus is wayyyy better
The Brave Little Toaster!
I've had the same piece of underwear since 2003, although the elastic is stretched and its faded in the crotch I still wear it LOL
I sure do like my heated car seats!
I'm embarrassingly fond of my tush toaster.
Technology gets worse because software updates from these giant corporations intentionally slow down older devices.
Clothing trends and overconsumption go hand in hand. Trends constantly change everyday and consumer obsessed people can’t stop buying.
I missed you so much 😮😢
I didn't go anywhere!
Just bought a pair of 34'w x 30"L name brand jeans made in another country as I've lost a ton of weight due to my health conditions and my old jeans literally fall off me(Lost 69Lbs).
Within a week of daily wear,the fabric being to stretch to the point that those 34"W jeans began to slip from my hips...and I know I haven't lost additional weight since. Such crap!!.
Can we be real? Cars are unecessarily complex. I just need practicality. The choice of practicality has been strangled. What was once a mecanical repair job is now a mechanical, electrical and computer repair job. When did I sign up for that?
The reason we buy cheap is because we don’t trust that that most expensive product is better, that is my opinion, thanks
Hello so true I love George Carin your welcome. 💕NonnaGrace 🐓
Another reason to use "old" stuff. Conspiracy theory here😂: they found a way to prevent more people reuse old things, they've labelled it vintage, so the price goes up...aand most of us have to buy these low quality items... because we can't afford "vintage"😅. And even supposedly high quality are waaaay lower quality than before 😕
Save up for the “good” stuff. I buy good furniture. Sometimes it takes years to save enough for good pieces.
It's all about profit unfortunately. If they produced goods that would last 30 years, the companies would be making very little profit because people wouldn't be buying a lot.
My parents still use some electric goods they bought 20 or even 30 years ago .
The first light bulb is still bright In that fire department over a century after being built. Let's figure out how to make eternal light bulbs again.
It was the type of glue that would fail and allow air into the vacuum tube and burn out the filament.
I saw that when I was learning about lightbulbs for this video!
20 punchy plays followed by scrambled bacon and eggs
Another point...People need to stop that mentally when they purchase something that cost low and it breaks.... I always hear People saying "it's ok, it didn't cost much" guess what?? Multiply those you by the hundreds or thousands. How much money do you think that company made out of people like you with that mentality?? A lot..... don't buy cheap, buy quality
IF You cant buy Quality Stuff then You are not Middle Class.
Got phone 6 and it stopped working suddenly and I lost 20k pictures I was so mad.
So true
Britney spears is very popular here in the Philippines even in the hinterlands.
I think I own 7 broken printers.
iPhone is biggest example of this, they are doomed to last only 2.5 years
What I've noticed is more and more google employees, aka content creators, making irrational and unsubstanciated claims.
"Everything sucks now",and, "Why Nothing You Buy Is good Anymore."
Two blatently and easily testable false claims.
But I do appreciate the BS in titles and thumbnails, it helps me easily choose to avoid such channels.
I am at the beginning of my "investment journey", planning to put 385K into dividend stocks so that I will be making up to 30% annually in dividend returns. any good stock recommendation on great performing stocks or Crypto will be appreciated.
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I don't really blame people who panic. Lack of information can be a big hurdle. I've been making more than $200k passively by just investing through an advisor, and I don't have to do much work. Inflation or no inflation, my finances remain secure. So I really don't blame people who panic.
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how would you recommend i enter the crypto market? I am also looking at studying some traders and copying their strategy rather than investing myself and losing money emotionally.. What's your take on this approach? and How can i reach her, if you don't mind me asking??
Guitar's last. Get a good quality acoustic like a Martin and it will last you a lifetime.
Save for higher quality products. AND be willing to use estate furniture, China, jewelry, etc.
Greed baby Greed !