Do you settle for less quality at less price?

hi dorannmwin I think sometimes we just equate quality with higher prices when a lot of the store brand foods for example are made in the same factory with the same quality as the name brands. but some things I will not go the store'brand way as I did find the brand name just was a better product. I have bought a lot of tops at Walmart and the quality seemed really good but I had one sweater from there that came apart at the shoulder seams. this showed poor workmanship for sure. the fabric was of good quality but the seams were not made right at all. very disappointing.I also hate the store brand quality of toilet tissue. I opt for brand names there.What gets me is that I seldom find clothes that are made here in' the United states. instead they are made in other countries due to that blasted outsourcing getting cheap labor while Americans are really out of work here.

It is said that we get what we pay for. if we are paying a lower price for something, we are likely to see our savings in less quality of a product.

I do it wherever possible...mostly we can cut on clothes becoz they are not the permanent things in our life...but for eatables i mostly go for quality things...as you just can't chew grass in the name of fresh green vegetables....similarly the nuts which are from good companies are found to be cleaner and better tasting from the local ones...so i go for quality...where you can clearly see the quality difference..in clothes also i buy costlier ones when i see that they are looking worth its price....

Yes, I think we all do that to a certain degree, particularly in today's tough economy but most generic products are usually comparable in some respects. In the case of medicine, I always read the ingredient labels to make sure that the generic is something that is comparable in ingredienst as well.

I agree with you on the food. Most of it is not a matter of quality but a matter of marketing & paying for that marketing. Though some things do taste different than another so that is a preferance you have to make. Some items last longer than others some don't... sometimes the brand has all to do with it some times it doesn't. Like a lady I know from GS she had said she won't buy store brand shoes for the kids because they don't last as long. I am finding out in some cases it's true they don't last very long unless you buy something a bit more expensive.

I'm the same as you. I'd love to be able to buy my kids more expensive clothes because the Walmart clothes just don't seem to last long at all.. neither do Walmart backpacks. Last year we went with slightly more expensive backpacks, they cost $30 each, and I figured they'd last longer, but they didn't. I guess we have to buy $50 backpacks if we want them to last a full year! My foster mom used to give me gift cards to JCPenney's to help with school shopping, and I loved it because the clothes lasted forever and I could save them to pass down to the younger kids too. Now I can only buy name brand clothes 2nd hand.

I do sometimes, but it depends on the item and it's value in my life. For instance, I bought a cheap TV, less than $200, but I watch TV maybe one or two nights a week at the most. I expect the TV to last as long as I need it to. If I were a big TV fan and used it all the time, I would have bought better quality (and higher price). On the other hand, I bought an expensive kitchen range for over $1200. I could have got one for much, much less, but I use a stove every day and I always cook holiday dinners, so I wanted the one I wanted... I buy store brands when it doesn't matter, but for meat, fruit and vegetables, I try to buy organic or at least naturally raised.

I'm not sure that I settle for lower quality... I think of it as looking for the best quality I can get for the lowest price. I, too, buy shoes and clothing for my daughters at places like WalMart. We make it a habit to check through things like running shoes for whatever is being liquidated. One of my daughters wears a ladies size 10 and, because it's not the most popular size, we often find shoes that were originally $40 or so, written down to $9-$12. Both my girls are pretty hard on their shoes and I've found that, even if I buy them footwear from "more expensive" stores, they still don't get much more wear out of them. So, WalMart it is! :) I do notice a difference in items like tshirts... cheap ones are often REALLY cheap quality. So when I find them on sale or liquidated and of good structure and fabric, I'll stock up. When it comes to food shopping, I rarely buy brand name anything. Through trial and error, at my favored stores, I've found which store brands, generics or lesser known brands have the quality I'm looking for and I buy those. It means sometimes being disappointed in a purchase but, once I find something I like, it's great because I know I can save on those items. Mac and cheese is an example... I used to only buy Kraft because the girls wouldn't eat the cheaper brands (they didn't like the flavor of the cheese powder). Then I discovered a brand called Italpasta at my local discount department store that has a grocery section. It was $0.33 a box so I bought a couple to test it. The girls liked it, actually preferring the taste over Kraft, so that became my regular brand and a real cost saver. I find saving money is very possible and very do-able... but you have to put in the time to test and find the areas where your money is still going to get you something worthwhile.

Most of us get tired of looking at or using the same disposable things year in, year out. Things like clothing and linen. I have so many clothes I have rarely worn because my size changed or whatever and I have a lot of trouble knowing what to do with them. At least I know I haven't forked out huge amounts of money for them. If something is cheap and I like it I will buy it but I have to consider my very limited budget at all times. I always need undies and shoes and my normal brand of undies was wearing out faster than usual...the elastic was wearing out very quickly. So last time I changed my brand and I'm now paying 3 times as much for one pair of knickers so I hope they last. I'm glad though because they are certainly of superior quality. Sometimes it's quantity over quality and sometimes it's quality over quantity. You just need to be able to figure out where the difference is.

I'll settle for the same quality for a lower price. :D

For me it just depends on what it is. Food items most times store brands will do just find but there are certian items that i can really tell the difference. Mayonase is one. I love the taste of Best Foods mayo and no other will do. Or peanut butter. Jiff is for me. Choosy moms and grandmas choose Jiff. I can handle walmart clothes. However i usually wear sarongs so i shop for those on ebay. But tops and most everything else is either walmart or avon. Im a rep. I cant afford to be very picky so there only a few things that im choosy about.

Hi doran, I'm afraid so, yes. Most of the time, I settle for what's cheap in spite of its not-so-good quality. It is quite popular here in the Philippines - those bargain stores. There are actually neat and handy stuffs you can find in there without having to spend so much. Well some don't last that long but at least they serve the purpose which you bought them for even for just a few uses. Thing about expensive ones is that they too don't last for eternity either which will be very disappointing. At least with bargain stuffs, you don't expect much from those, right? However, when it comes to medicine, I try to go for the branded yet more effective ones.

Funny enough, I settle for lesser quality on my children's clothes. I also get them from Wal-Mart and other cheap stores. If they are of lesser quality, I don't really notice because they outgrow it before it gets too worn out. One other thing I think I settle in quality is gas. When I was young, and my car was new, I only put in the high octane gasoline. With the high prices of gas lately, I've settled at whatever runs my car.

I prefer spending for the Quality since based from my experience most of the time in the long run the cost of buying the cheaper product is just the same as buying the more expensive one. I noticed that if I'll buy a cheaper diaper for my baby the price in the long run would just be the same. Let's say for example with the cheaper brand I have to change my baby's diaper 6 times but with the more expensive one I just have to change his diaper three times. It's also the same with their milk. Buying the more expensive milk I just have to use 4 scoops in 200 ml of water but with the cheaper one I have to use 6 scoops plus the baby gets hungry easily. With the more expensive brand my 1 year old baby ends the day consuming just 3 - 4 bottles of milk but with the cheaper one he can consume up to 6 or 7 bottles. That's the reason I always settle for the quality even if it means I have to spend more.

For most things, it doesn't really make a difference to me. I usually go for the lower price unless there is a clear difference in quality. For kids' clothes, I wouldn't worry about it because they will play in them or grow out of them anyway.

It really does depend on the product and what I'm planning on doing with it. For groceries. I'm all for cheaper. But if I did buy the cheaper and didn't like the taste, then I'm not buying it again. For clothes...yes...especially for kids, the cheaper the better sometimes. My son was going through shoes twice a year though, and my husband found a good deal on some VANS shoes. I was always the Wal-Mart/Payless kind of girl, but since my son was pretty rough with his shoes I let him buy it. Those shoes are still lasting and it's been a whole year. We just need to replace the laces but it's done better then his other shoes which used to have holes in it. That's something you need to decide on the quality over cost. But for the most part, cost would be my biggest concern.

Well, with regard to food, most store brands are actually the name brands with a store brand label on them. But most people see a store label and think "poor quality" and they buy the name brand instead. When it comes to clothes, I agree that walmart (and target) clothes tend to be a lesser quality material, but they last just as long as the stuff my son's been given from stores like Carters and Gap. So why spend twice the money on something that he's going to get dirt, paint, food, etc all over? I'd rather spend half the price on something and really not worry about that spaghetti sauce being wiped all over his shirt (I can usually get it out). But when I can get 4 shirts for $20 at walmart or 1 (maybe 2) shirts somewhere else for $20... I'll opt for 4 shirts.

Hello! Interesting question and I shall try to answer it the best way I can. For our food shopping we tend to have a mixture of branded items and own-brand food. For example, I really like Heinz beans for the simple fact that I prefer them to other brands. So I will not compromise on beans lol. It's the same with Heinz Tomato Ketchup, I have tried other brands but always go back to Heinz, simply for the taste. However, as far as fish products goes..we used to buy Bird's Eye frequently but chose Morrison's own brand for a change and now we actually prefer theirs to Bird's Eye, saving money in the process. As for shoes; you are right, the quality of leather has definitely decreased. The price has gone up though which is strange isn't it? If I wanted to buy shoes I would try to get the best I could (preferably in a sale) but I would not buy them from a supermarket. Having said that, though, I have an ace pair of ankle boots from ASDA that is owned by Wal*Mart and they were only about £20. Real leather too! Some shoes will look like they are made of leather when in actual fact they are made of plastic. It takes a while to figure out (from the label underneath the sole) what they are made of. I would object to paying about £50 for plastic shoes that, only a few years ago would cost that and be made of leather. You see what I mean? Gone are the days where I can buy leather shoes or boots that are made in the UK. I find this frustrating but if I trawled the internet, no doubt I would find some British-made footwear somewhere..but at a premium, unfortunately.

HELLO! WELL, sometimes, I also shifted to low quality product with a lesser price provided that its not really basic but secondary neccesity that i could sacrifice the quality because it could help me much with my budget. For example, im using a not so expensive fabric conditioner that could also soften and gave my clothes a fresher smell but its cheaper than the leading brands so it really help me with my budgeting. For me its just okay for as long as you choose the products well enough and there are really some products with good qualities but less known. I just find and support them so they could help me too. Good night!

It depends on what stuff you will buy. Personally, I prefer buying cheaper clothes than buying expensive clothes that are a bit alike to each other. Sometimes we need to be practical in life, I guess, settling for a less quality at less price is not bad after all.