Sweatshop Goods at Handmade Italian Prices

There are only two Acceptable Models of Producer Consumer Relations, and we seem to have lost both. Don't get me wrong, both still exist in some dwindling form or another, but the concern of this post is a third form -- a thoroughly Unacceptable form.

Form 1: Cheap product, cheap prices 
When I was growing up my mother used to buy washers and dryers from the used appliance place in the next town over. No problem. keeps materials in use longer. better for the environment. helps small businesses, and all that good stuff. However, every year, almost like clockwork, one, or both, would breakdown. This, of course, would require the purchase of yet another unit(s). She'd buy a unit, a year would go by, and she'd purchase another unit.

All of this was no problem (except, of course, for those of us who had to help move the units in and out) because it was furthering the use of already captured materials, and she wasn't paying that much for the units.

It was this example that first opened my eyes to these different models. One day, when my brother and I were moving a washer out, he -- frustratingly -- asked our mother, "Instead of paying $150 every year for a unit that's only going to last a year, why not pay $1,000 for a high quality unit that -- among other things -- will last, and has a warranty, for at least ten years?"

She was a single working mother of three, and her response was something along the lines of, "Because I can't afford to pay that much at one time." A perfectly understandable and all too common situation which is what makes this model acceptable.

Form 2: High quality product, expensive prices 
Most likely due to my upbringing, I primarily adopted the purchasing mentality of form 2. You do a little research, save up the appropriate amount of money, and you buy a high quality product. That product will perform better, last longer, and give you greater piece of mind.

When you go to a shoemaker's shop -- which are typically also cobblers (those who repair shoes) -- and look around, your eyes will pop out of your head at the thought of paying $400 to $600 for a pair of shoes. However, when you buy a high quality product and take care of it, it will last you many years if not decades.

This would be the ideal way everyone would probably desire to shop if they could afford it. There would be far less consumption of raw materials, and consumers would be far happier with their products.

At any rate, whether one chooses form 1 or form 2, these are both perfectly fair producer / consumer relationships.

Form 3: Cheap products at expensive prices
The problem is producers. Why be satisfied selling someone something once every 10 to 15 years, when you can sell it to them every year -- or multiple times a year. And, if producers were willing to stick to the criteria of form 1, that wouldn't be so bad.

However, what we, as consumers, have been feeling the greater and greater economic squeeze of lately is this bastard form 3. Don't get me wrong; it's not new, but neither is murder. The fact that something has been around for a long time does not make it acceptable.

Form 3 seems to have become the new status quo. We are now continuously being asked to pay Handmade Italian Prices for Sweatshop Goods. I could go on and on with anecdote after anecdote, but I think, if you've been shopping at all in the last couple years, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And, I don't know about anyone else, but I am tired of paying outrageous prices for crap products.


I'm curious as to what anyone else thinks.

This is mostly a personal contemplation post about everyday purchases, but price and quality are two thing that are very pertinent in both cycling and scuba.