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More on Quality vs. Cheap

Coach Sunglasses

A while back, I wrote about quality and its relationship to price, citing all the reasons I feel buying quality will always be the wiser choice between two items. But what does one do when they can’t afford quality? Personally, I buy the best cheap thing out there and bide my time. Silly? I don’t think so. Because the quality WILL come later, but I won’t put myself into debt to get it.

Case in point: sunglasses. While I would just die to own a fabulous pair of Coach sunglasses, I can’t afford the $250 price tag. I bought a pair of lookalikes for about $25 last year, and they’re… okay. They look great! But they’re falling apart and I really don’t like them all that much.

Some people would criticize me for wanting to own the sunglasses because they’re Coach… some would argue that they’re designer, and therefore frivolous. This line of thought is found throughout the frugal blogs online, and can be found elsewhere with anyone who doesn’t buy into fashion themselves. Honestly? I find this somewhat insulting. There was some debate about high-priced items last month in the frugality blogs and I opted to stay out of the conversation. One post I really loved was the rebuttal by Smart Easy Money on consumerism vs frugality. I understand that there are some things that are truly frivolous, but I think that if the thing is quality and you can afford it, you should always go with the more expensive, quality option.

I could just as easily buy a pair of sunglasses at REI for a similar price, but these would less be looked at as “unnecessary fashion” and be held more in the light of “high-quality sunglasses.” Why do we make the distinction? Is it the assumption that the REI ones are meant for outdoor activity and therefore unattractive and “rough” and therefore not fashion (and therefore not frivolous)? I think it’s all in the mindset.

I am waiting for the day when I can buy myself a good pair of sunglasses. I have gone through one pair after another for years now and am sick of it. After having yet another screw come loose and arm fall off (this always happens), I am ready to buy something decent. But until that time comes, I have hacked together this cheap pair of sunglasses yet again to keep them working (a bent staple works wonders for lost screws!).

The thing is, I know that I don’t want to sacrifice my financial goals for quality, but I don’t want to give up the pursuit of quality, either. So I suggest that if you can’t buy quality right now, work hard to get yourself into a position to buy quality ASAP, and in the meantime, do with what you have

Filed Under money and finance

Comments

4 Responses to “More on Quality vs. Cheap”

ell on March 27th, 2008 12:21 pm

You can probably buy Coach sunglasses on ebay for around $50 if you want to save the pain of cheap glasses. I regularly find the Smith sunglasses I want at the mall and then search on ebay and usually pay 1/3 to 1/2 of retail. So you get the quality for the cheaper price.
shanti on March 27th, 2008 12:30 pm

@ Ell - Thanks for the comment I regularly buy the things that I love on eBay for cheap (big eBay fan here), but what I find with the sunglasses that I want is that they start at $5 and end up in a huge bidding war, going up to $200… hence the quoted price I actually am reading an RSS feed of the Coach sunglasses listings on eBay right now in case the perfect pair comes up when I’m ready to buy (it’s too early for me to buy right now, but many things don’t sell and may be relisted… and I may just find a screaming deal while feeling out the current eBay market).

Thanks!
Carla on March 28th, 2008 6:11 am

I think it’s important for people to keep in mind that you should always pay for quality versus being cheap. There’s nothing wrong for wanting to buy Coach sunglasses and I can’t stand when people judge choices like that. I worked in one of their stores years ago and I know they are a great company. When you pay their big prices you get a great product that will last you a long time. Beyond that you get great customer service. If you bought their sunglasses and something happened to them you could bring it to them for repair. The cost of one pair of Coach sunglasses that will last you 5 years if not more is probably equivalent to the price of buying cheap pair after cheap pair over the course of those 5 years.

I’m in the same boat…waiting for a bit until I get the handbag I really want…sigh…I love Coach!
Ell on March 28th, 2008 11:15 pm

True, the bidding wars can be brutal. I should clarify: I tend to only look on the “buy it now” section for offers, every few days until the item I want shows up. The price isn’t always as good as the auctions, but it saves some time and stress and eventually I do get it for more than 50% off.