Once Upon a Time
Once upon a time, there were great kettles, for a relatively high price. More affordable alternatives with less integrity were created and higher priced kettles were forced out of the market because they generated smaller margins. 🔸
It's similar to undercutting prices with neighborhood coffeeshops: with all the other coffeeshops gone, the remaining one gets all the business. Coffee has short-term value that is about the same no matter the cup of coffee; in my opinion a cup of coffee does not have a long-term value in economic-terms. ☕
A kettle has short-term value and long-term value, but consumers are judging the price of the kettle not on a pro-rated per annum value for how long the kettle actually lasts, but on the immediate pricetag. ⌛
If a kettle is $200 and lasts 20 years, that's $10/year. 📉
If a kettle is $20 and lasts but 6 months, that's actually $40/year. 📈
Just-in-time construction meets disposable-goods culture, and all the good kettles are gone. 🍵
Price Per Now vs. Price Per Year
PPN (Price Per Now) for a great kettle: $200
PPN for a mediocre kettle: $20
PPY (Price Per Year) for a great kettle: $10
PPY for a mediocre kettle: $40
For consumer goods that will last you multiple decades, choosing the higher PPN (Price Per Now) can actually show large savings in PPY (Price Per Year).
Buy For Life
The creator of the Buy For Life project said
A few months ago, I began developing the Buy For Life platform. It started as a simple list where people could add brands that manufacture durable products. It now evolved into a full platform with aggregated product reviews from all over the web, discussions, and various metrics to calculate a score for each brand and product.
I want to help people finding the most durable and sustainable products in the world. It should become the Rotten Tomatoes for products, almost like you check the trustworthy rating of a movie before you watch it, people could check a brand or product before they purchase it.
A metric I am working on is the average cost per month of ownership. That feels like a great metric that shifts consumer mindset - the longer you own something, the more you save. I still don't have enough data, so please submit your favourite product.
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