You Get What You Pay For

[gbryal]

Does anyone else feel stabby when they hear this phrase?

It seems to imply that people actually believe quality increases predictably with price. What a terrible, depressing stance for a consumer to hold. We know prices are artificially inflated, and that other intangibles are factored in.

And it seems to imply if you pay less for something, you shouldn't expect that you get something that works. If you sell something that doesn't work and represent it as something that does, a low price isn't an acceptable apology, that's just being a cheat. But if someone makes a product for less and passes along the savings, that sounds good to me, if they didn't have hurt people to do it.

It always sounds defeatist to me. Oh well, that's just how it is, those CEOs know best, you get what you pay for, after all!

Note that if you have a specific thing to say about quality, value, and cost in relation to a particular product, I'm all ears. But shouting a slogan and walking away satisfied that you made a difference irks me.

Now, I'm going to boil a bag of cheap tea, and if it turns out to be sawdust and iron filings and lawn debris, I'll just chuckle to myself and say, well, what did I expect? I got what I paid for, after all? If I paid $20 per gram, I could reasonably expect it to not kill me.

[Robert]

Not to irk you, sir . . . . but there ain't no such thing as a "free lunch," either.

[jar]

Feel better?

[FredRydr]

The saying does not mean that you should always pay a high price to avoid shoddiness.

If you do your research before each purchase (of most anything), I suspect "you get what you pay for" will continue to withstand the test of time.

[gbryal]

Feel better?

Yes, thank you :).

[gbryal]

The saying does not mean that you should always pay a high price to avoid shoddiness.

If you do your research before each purchase (of most anything), I suspect "you get what you pay for" will continue to withstand the test of time.

It does seem to tend to get used that way a lot.

Usually, the only research of any use is ownership of the item in question for a good long time, unless it's something that obviously disqualifies itself immediately.

[gbryal]

Not to irk you, sir . . . . but there ain't no such thing as a "free lunch," either.

And my bathroom scale is thankful for that.

[SIR]

Yes it is a nonsense phrase, usually spouted by those who wish to impose their inferior knowledge on those with superior intelligence... however, as 'they' also say - "buy cheap, buy twice" ;)

[KKay]

In some cases you do get what you pay for. I really don't count most pens in that bunch, since most are very over priced for what you get. There is a certain kind of dog collar that I use for my dogs that seems to be a high price, to me. Before I found this type, I'd buy a new dog collar once a year. That ended up costing me much more in the long run. I could buy the quality collar for the price of two of the cheaper ones. Cat litter, same thing. I buy a brand that has a higher price tag, but lasts much longer than the other name brand litter.
As far as fountain pens, once you get over a certain price, I don't think the quality is worth the price jump. Some pens are just plain junk from the start. Some pens are good workhorse pens that just keep on ticking and taking a licking. I'd say once you spend 150 or 200 dollars, your quality really isn't going to increase too much. I say that but of course there are much higher pens than that price range, that have caught my eye. Just do what makes you happy. If it is a 50 dollar pen, go for it. If a 300 dollar pen is something you must have, go for it. I've seen pens 400 or 500 bucks, that I'd love to have. Not everyone has the same income bracket, nor the desire to have the status symbol of certain pens. I think I've gone for the quantity, and I don't need more. But I bet my pen family grows a little larger regardless of that fact.

[Mori45]

I read "You get what you pay for" as "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". More isn't better, but there's a floor to be mindful of.

[Brilliant Bill]

Since you are obviously in the mood for philosophical discussion of mundane aphorisms, here are some suggestions...

Life is short.

A stitch in time saves nine.

Buy low, sell high.

The early bird gets the worm.

Only the good die young.

It's a long way to Tipperary.

[Sammyo]

But it's absolutely true... you DO get what you pay for...

unless the vendor ships the wrong product, then you don't get want you pay for...

or you are a thief, then you get what you don't pay for!

Sent from my SCV36 using Tapatalk

[SIR]

Had a colleague who's mug read "they pretend to pay me, i pretend to work"...

[Flounder]

Price elasticity of demand, waffle waffle... opportunity cost, drone... diminishing returns, something something.

I didn't do so great at economics :)

[Scooby921]

The saying does not mean that you should always pay a high price to avoid shoddiness.

If you do your research before each purchase (of most anything), I suspect "you get what you pay for" will continue to withstand the test of time.
I agree. The phrase goes further than just the price paid for the item. It doesn't say, "you get what you're sold". It accounts for conscious choice. If you don't research the product and buy it just because it's cheap, or just because it's a fancy expensive brand name, don't go complaining when it doesn't live up to expectations. No one forced it upon you, you got exactly what you chose to purchase. If you put in the effort to research then I suspect it's more often, "you got more than you paid for".

[Jon Szanto]

You don't just pay with monetary units, you pay with the time you invest in considering the purchase and understanding the item(s) for which you are considering owning. Your investment in the process is, more often than not, reflected in the final purchase and any satisfaction you might receive. On balance, I think the phrase has merit.

[sharmon202]

I don't generally pay attention to this saying. I think things like this are very individual and a lot depending on your level of experience with what you are buying. If you are very knowledgeable about the product and decide it is worth it and you pay it, then its worth it. To someone else it would not be. If my Mom knew what I paid for some of my pens she would say the saying, then tell me how stupid I am. I stand there and smile and say nothing. Thank goodness she lives a plane ride away.

[myu]

It's a stupid phrase, because it's terribly ambiguous. On the surface, it's dumbstruck obvious. But if you dig deeper, you can end up NOT getting what you paid for -- good or bad. From the bad -- either you were deceived at the start and influenced to believe what you were paying for, but got something different, or the deception came later when hidden terms came into action. You got less than you paid for. From the good -- you paid for something only to discover it was either better than advertised (like a more expensive model, or an accessory that wasn't disclosed) or you got a greater quantity than selected. In that case, you got more than you paid for.

[amk]

I dislike "you get what you pay for" as it seems to be quite commonly used by people who think that you shouldn't be able to depend on a basic level of competent execution in cheaper goods. It's even a bit snobby - "if you can't afford a MB then you should put up with scratchy nibs that skip and hard-start".

Contrast the very great care that Lamy and Pilot take to deliver a great writing experience even in entry-level and school pens.

[Jon Szanto]

I dislike "you get what you pay for" as it seems to be quite commonly used by people who think that you shouldn't be able to depend on a basic level of competent execution in cheaper goods. It's even a bit snobby - "if you can't afford a MB then you should put up with scratchy nibs that skip and hard-start".

This is what is known as "projecting".

[Scooby921]

I dislike "you get what you pay for" as it seems to be quite commonly used by people who think that you shouldn't be able to depend on a basic level of competent execution in cheaper goods. It's even a bit snobby - "if you can't afford a MB then you should put up with scratchy nibs that skip and hard-start".

Contrast the very great care that Lamy and Pilot take to deliver a great writing experience even in entry-level and school pens.
When you use an entry level Pilot Plumix or Pilot Metropolitan and then use a Pilot Vanishing Point you understand why the entry level pens are priced under $20. When you use a Lamy Safari and then use a Lamy 2000 you understand why the Safari is so affordable. Yeah it's snobby to say that anything short of a Montblanc is garbage. Those are the folks who blindly pay $800 for a $300 pen. I don't think it's snobby to have or use the more expensive pen and then feel the entry-level pen provides a writing experience befitting of its price tag. To use more wonderful phrases...

You don't know what you don't know.

Hindsight is 20/20.

[Jon Szanto]

One funny addendum to the "MB/snob" responses: I own three bottles of MB ink and precisely zero MB writing instruments. The funny part I allude to is that, by coincidence, just yesterday I set foot for the first time in my life inside a MB boutique store. I have been writing with fountain pens since 1966.

[lsmith42]

I own three bottles of MB ink and precisely zero MB writing instruments.

I can fix that...

[Jon Szanto]

I own three bottles of MB ink and precisely zero MB writing instruments.

I can fix that...

Fixing is for feral cats.

[Marsilius]

The one I learned form my pre-school kids (mostly growed up now) was, "You get what you get and you don't get upset." Yeah, right.
I always associate "you get what you pay for" with something said after you did NOT get what you wanted.

[landrover]

So, the more you pay for ink the better the ink is?

[SIR]

So, the more you pay for ink the better the ink is?

to a degree, mostly...