Buy It For Life: Why Choose Quality Over Price?

If there is one defining ethos here at Durability Matters, it is that you should pay for quality. Cheaper products may seem like a bargain, but when you factor in replacements and repairs, that bargain slowly creeps up in price over time. With a “buy it for life” (BIFL) product, you only pay once.

Choosing quality over price means saving money. It means less hassle. It means that your time is spent doing what you want to do instead of worrying about the product which has just broken. Spend more to save more.

So, how do you do that? Read on and find out why you should buy a ‘BIFL’ product:

You Save Money

I had a friend who was in the market for a new car. I recommended a newer model, which would have set him back over $10,000 but he had other ideas. He was onto a good deal and had found a cheap used car which would only set him back a couple of thousand. You can guess where this is going.

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Not long after buying it, he had to spend on repairs. That car lasted just over a year before it was too far gone. Now, he was still convinced that a cheap car was the way to go. He bought cheap again, saving himself some money (he thought) and went through the same problems. Over the next six years, he spent a lot more than he would have if he had bought the quality car at the outset.

When it comes to any product, durability matters. A ‘BIFL’ product is expensive for a reason, but that reason comes with a lot of benefits. Spend more once and never spend again.

Cheap Stuff Breaks

There is a reason why some products are cheaper than others. The savings which are passed onto you are usually because of the material and construction. Cheaper materials are, well, cheaper. It costs a lot less to spend less time crafting the product. We all love a bargain, but we hate when things break.

Why do we continue to opt for one and hope that the other does not happen?

Not only will a quality product save you money, but it will also save you time and energy.

There are some people who argue that you can fix things yourself. While this is true, is it usually worth it?

Should you have to spend the time repairing an item? Should you have to go off in search of a replacement? Should you be contributing to waste by throwing away cheaper items which are broken?

A ‘buy it for life’ product saves your most precious thing: time. It also saves you from frustration and headaches.

Quality Can Affect Your Happiness

When you purchase quality ‘BIFL’ products, you are not only saving yourself money, but you are also contributing to your mental well-being.

Think about it. You spend your hard-earned money on a cheap product, and it breaks down after a few uses. That is frustrating. It can make you feel as if you have worked hard for nothing. When you buy a quality product and use it over and over, you get a feeling of satisfaction, knowing that you worked hard for this product and you are getting the best out of it.

It’s scientifically proven, that when you buy products that are matched with your personality, you’re actually going to be happier.

Quality can also be good for our confidence. It may be tempting to but five shirts when they are on sale instead of that one really good one. Not only will the high-quality shirt outlast the five cheap ones, but it will also look good while doing so.

Realted: 18 High-Quality Clothing Brands That Are Affordable

High-quality clothes can make us feel great when we are wearing them. The same goes for having a quality car, living in a quality house, and eating quality food.

High-quality products are about so much more than just saving us time and money.

‘BIFL’ products can directly affect our happiness and bring us more joy.

It should also be mentioned that buying less and shopping for quality means a less cluttered life and cleaner planet. No matter how you look at it, you win.

How Do I Find Quality?

The first step on your journey to quality is to find it. I have talked a lot about price, but that does not mean that you are guaranteed a quality item or a cheap item. While the price is usually indicative of the quality of the item, you can often find poor products which are expensive and cheap products which have some quality. The key, when making an investment in quality, is to do your research.

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The first place to start is with the brand. There are some brands out there which have been trusted for years, and you know that they have a track record of producing quality products. There are also brands out there who sound like they know what they are doing but are really cheap brands with a fancy name. If you are ever in doubt, go with the trusted brand name.

If you really want to know if a product is good or not, check the reviews. A buy it for life product should have a lot of reviews (unless it is new to the market). The one and five-star reviews can give you a lot of information, but I find that the three and four-star reviews are the most informative.

Use a large sample size and do not rely on the reviewers who are biased by their hate or love for a product. Pay particular attention to those people who have come back and added to their review after using the product for some time.

Budget For Your BIFL Product

There is no point going out looking for quality if you cannot afford it. Remember, you are buying this product for life, and will be saving money in the long run, so you should be prepared to spend a little more at the outset. If you cannot afford to buy the product, then maybe it is not the right time to do so.

What you should not do is find a stopgap. It may be tempting to buy the cheap product while you save for the expensive product, but who is to say that you will have the money by then. You may find yourself in a downward spiral of buying stopgap after stopgap.

When you are shopping for a buy it for life product, you should be aware of how much it will cost and how much you can spend. However, that does not mean that you need to overspend.

Set your budget and then shop around for the best possible price.

Quality products are more expensive on average, but that does not mean that you should purchase the most expensive product.

If you buy quality at a lower price, you are saving yourself money multiple times.

Quality Over Quantity

I have been guilty, in the past, of buying quantity over quality but that habit is a thing of the past. There was a time when I would buy two pairs of cheap shoes that I really liked and have them fall apart a few months later. I would gasp at the prices of high-quality shoes, but, when I finally took the plunge, I found that they not only saved me money in the long run, but they were also more comfortable and looked better.

You cannot put a price on how you feel but, with a buy it for life product; you can save yourself money and boost your happiness.

Take the time to do your research and buy a product which will last. Always choose quality over price, and you will never look back.