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Comment by kevincox | Hacker News Reader

This is my problem. I am happy to pay more for a product that will be durable, reliable and last longer. But finding this (if it exists) is impossible. You try to look at old companies with strong reputations but across the board they have switched to selling low quality shit. You see comments like "don't buy any X from Y manufactured after 2010".

It seems really stupid to me. These established companies have made their products indistinguishable from no-name overseas brands but can't match the price. They may temporarily cash their good name for profit but what are they going to do when consumers catch on.

Pair this with the difficulty of finding honest reviews these days and it is impossible to find new quality brands. Not to mention that half of reviewers pick up an object and say "it's heavy so it must be well-made".

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> These established companies have made their products indistinguishable from no-name overseas brands

In a lot of cases, those "established companies" no longer actually exist. Their name is just licensed out for other companies to use. Often those other companies are same manufacturers that produce cheap crap.

That's why you sometimes see things like people saying not to buy a particular brand after a certain date. That date is usually the time that the brand started to be licensed out.

Long story short: it's a mistake to trust an established brand name automatically. You need to know if the company you think is behind it is really behind it.

> They may temporarily cash their good name for profit but what are they going to do when consumers catch on.

The folks who gobble these companies up and streamline them for maximum profit don't care about the future. They only want to maximize the immediate value of their stake and cash out. The same dance keeps playing out.

Plus, if you inherit a perfectly functional Kitchen-aide stand mixer from Mema how are they ever going to sell more stand mixers which was the conclusion of the folks who bought Instapot and realized after the hype cycle died you just don't have a large recurring Instapot purchase market.

Something I have started doing when looking to purchase new things, is look for genuine made in America companies[1], as that generally correlates with a higher tier of product. Biggest downside is, I can't find a backpack for less than $100 now that pelican doesn't make them anymore and this dilemma is often repeated across most categories of purchases.

[1]https://www.madeindex.com/

It's way more than $100 but I bought a backpack from GoRuck[1] in 2012 or 2013. The cost was difficult to justify, but I always had issues with backpacks and their zippers turning to shit followed by the straps. I carry 20lb bags of clay and generally put it through some rough usage, and 12 years later nothing has broken or gone wrong. I could see myself using this another 10 years or more.

The only thing I regret is buying it in khaki as it's got a definite dirt patina that makes it a little harder to use in any sort of office situation.

[1] https://www.goruck.com/products/gr1?variant=32978334711908

Relatively new father here. Had no idea what had happened to children's game. Candyland, for example, is composed of a box,plastic player pieces, colored cards, and a board. I had no idea that a company could create such a shit product from such simple parts. The vintage game I found will continue to be passed to generations. The new Candyland board ripped apart after playing several times and is in the trash.

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