WHY THE WORSE PRICE NOW?

WHY THE WORSE PRICE NOW!

Have any of you noticed how bad everything is right now?

And I'm not talking about the overall state of the planet.

The things we purchase are just like, even worse than it was ten years ago.

And Kenny, one of my coworkers, talked about how she had to change a bra, which really got me to thinking about this.

So I'm going to do what any sane person would do and purchase the same item from the same store.

After a few weeks, it eventually just kind of... fell apart.

So this kind of set me on the path of, alright, I'm hearing anecdotes from so many individuals in my life that I talk to, everything from coffee makers to phones, PCs, and knitwear...

They all rip, snap, or blow up far more quickly than they used to.

So what is happening?

And is there a way to get out from under this mountain of rubbish left by consumers?

So let's start with the design process and discuss this in the most fundamental terms possible.

There are three key aspects to take into account when a corporation wants to produce something, like, say, a jacket.

Functionality: Is it effective?

Do you think it looks good?

And how easily and cheaply can a large quantity of this product be produced?

A good product will often have a nice combination of these three elements.

However, this process has become out of balance recently.

Consider clothing as an example.

When you wanted a new jacket in the past, you would visit a tailor, get measured, select the cloth, and have it created.

Then, for many years, we bought mass-produced items from department stores rather than going to a tailor for a jacket.

By the 1980s and 1990s, we had a wide variety of options and shops.

And nowadays, a lot of us simply go online, click "add to cart," and purchase something without ever having had it in our hands.

However, it's not just how we buy; it's also how frequently.

And we can sort of put the blame on this man for it.

Ernest Elmo, wow, such a name.

He published a report in the 1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, saying, "Okay, the government should really support this idea of planned obsolescence."

However, he didn't use the term "planned obsolescence."

He referred to it as "consumer engineering."

Recall the jacket you purchased?

Well, it's no longer in style and the season has changed.

Out of buttons.

Zippers are trendy.

You then purchase a new item.

Not, however, because the original had any physical flaws.

It is for this reason that consumer engineering is referred to.

It's up here in the brain, sort of.

And we have been doing it for years.

As a result, we constantly desire the next best thing.

And now the demand has gotten out of hand.

Right now, we are encircled.

The quickness with which some trend cycles change and the way in which these micro groups are catered to.

Like Stanley mugs, which replaced Hydro Flasks perhaps a year ago.

We end up buying a lot as a result.

Nearly 40% of UK consumers, according to a survey conducted in 2021, purchase clothing up to once a month.

According to the UN, between 2000 and 2014, the typical person purchased 60% more apparel, yet they only kept each item for half as long.

As a result, we want to acquire a lot of things quickly, but we also don't want to spend a lot of money on them, which has an impact.

People won't pay extra for something they already paid for in the past.

In other words, if I paid $30 for a bra, it would have been quite difficult for me to pay $50 for one ten years ago.

even if the cost of labour has increased over the past ten years.

What's left is a demand cycle for inexpensive goods that moves extremely quickly.

And this is how that seems.

Manufacturing organisations must either increase employee numbers, change the way products are created, or do both in order to accelerate production.

However, companies must also keep prices low enough so that customers will continue to purchase.

As a result, they might begin substituting more expensive synthetic fabrics for textiles like cotton or silk.

Or choose a simpler stitching design that might not hold up as well.

Therefore, something had to change if, after ten years, you're still paying the same price or a price that's very similar for a product that looks the same.

"Okay, Kim, fashion trends are changing too quickly, and we buy too much stuff," you might respond. I understand. I understand.

But why is my washing machine so terrible?

It's a wonderful question, too.

Let's discuss technology.

It made perfect sense to change equipment quite frequently when things like computers first entered our daily lives.

Actually, there were significant variations between a device that was two years old and one that was just released onto the market.

There were only large leaps.

You know, you probably couldn't do half the fantastic things that the other man could do if you had a 2-year-old thing.

As a result, the replacement cycle was somewhat stimulated because the functional upgrade was substantial.

For instance, when the iPhone was first created, it represented a significant advancement.

Up until a certain point, new phones adapted to significant technical advances.

Take, for instance, the distinction between the 3GS and the 4.

The front-facing camera and resolution of the iPhone 4 were significantly better.

These significant changes between models were the standard for technology for a long.

However, we don't make those significant adjustments as frequently any more.

Instead, businesses continually make extremely little alterations in order to increase our desire to purchase more goods.

So instead of shouting at the end of a cycle, your dryer may suddenly play a cute little tune.

And as technology improved and became more complex, consumers faced still another issue.

All of these things have begun to appear in the globe.

They didn't arrive with tools for repairs.

They arrived to be discarded.

Essentially, when this stuff malfunctions.

It's frequently purposefully impossible to fix.

Because you probably can't construct one in your garage if you buy something that contains a computer chip, a circuit board, or anything else.

You therefore rely heavily on the products the manufacturer will agree to offer.

Additionally, they frequently refuse to give you a diagram or even agree to sell you any components, tools, or diagnostics.

However, there are situations when a fix simply cannot be made due to cost-cutting measures, much like when plastic and glue were used in place of metal and screws in the fashion industry.

These kinds of problems affect many forms of technology, including your phone, toasters, blenders, electric wheelchairs, and vehicles.

I think you'd be astonished at just how many items you actually own that have chips in them if you took a tour around your home or apartment and started keeping track.

I want people to have optimism.

Yes, there are aspects of this that are beyond our control and some that are not.

I don't want you to feel bad about participating in this system because, like so many other people, we've kind of been culturally conditioned to think and act in this way.

We have a remarkable degree of influence over this issue compared to other awful things in the world.

Fighting for the right to repair is actually very successful with technology.

The right to repair law was recently enacted by New York State in 2022; it isn't ideal, but it is something.

Avoid micro trends and rapid fashion as much as you can when it comes to clothing.

Purchase carefully, and become a good steward of what you already own.

Consider your objects as requiring upkeep.

Read the care instructions.

It will take some time for us consumers to sort through all that garbage and slightly rewire our thinking.

However, we may make modest changes to regain command of the situation.

After all, all of this stuff was created with us in mind.

Let's be clear about what we want.

You can locate your state on a map on our website, repair.org, and then click the associated image to access what is essentially a letter-writing tool.

When you enter your address, it reads...

Describe a fix you made.

And if you really want something, you do it that way.

Over 100,000 people have already done it.

They number over 30,000 in New York.

So it comes as no surprise to me that New York was the first state to enact legislation.

Because there was a tremendous groundswell of interest there.