I got some shoes a few months ago at Fleet Feet — giving them a shoutout because they have employees who generally really know their stuff — and the guy said he’s seeing running shoes last about 6 months with regular wear, and you could maybe stretch it to a year with some insoles. And these are the good supportive ones, so I can’t even imagine what the Vans and Sketchers are doing to your musculature.
Shoes, almost regardless of price are rated for about 400 miles. That seems like a lot to most people who don’t actually walk or run every day. I do about 400 miles in three months, many people do it much more quickly. Certainly the shoes can last longer, but If you have excessive pronation, like me, one side wears out more quickly making the problem worse.
It does seem to be happening everywhere. I have always wanted a chrome industries messenger bag and finally decided it was time and low and behold they were enshitified a few years ago :/
I came to complain about this too, my new (like 7-8 years) chrome bag breaks all the time while my older (15+) bag stands strong still - same company, completely different quality (and also materials)
I hate to break it to you but are you aware of what kind of dwarf you are…?
I used to be regular dwarf but then the venture capitalists got a hold of me too
I used to be a super bison, same.
Damn, I have a Chrome bag that’s nearly 15 years old that I still use almost every day without ever having to use their lifetime repair garauntee. I wonder if they would still honor that.
As far as I’m aware they’re still doing the guarantee but the new bags are a shadow of their former selves so the replacement might not be quite as durable If it came to that
jansport is that way. i had a backpack that finally started unraveling after my sister used it through college, then i used it through high school then college, then for work for like 15+ years–sent it in for the lifetime replacement and got back a shitty bottom-tier bullshit backpack made shittier than the polypropylene totebags they hand out for free at conferences
God, jansport getting vencap’d still infuriates me. I used the same jansport bag, bought by my mother while she was in college, all the way up through my college career. The modern ones are just fucking pitiful in comparison.
So, the corporations telling us nothing has changed are gaslighting us?
What a surprise.
The dirty truth about Temu is that they’re increasingly selling the same stuff everyone else sells. “Shop like a billionaire” means “billionaires shop here, then resell at a 500% markup”.
That’s not even to say you can’t get quality merchandise anywhere. But you won’t find quality merchandise in storefronts that see a better margin selling disposable crap than durable goods.
Things get worse and more expensive but inflation is only 2% hmmm
Surely the reason life feels suffocating is just my lack of positive attitude!
My secret has been a pepper mill full of Xanex bars - sprinkle a little on your avocado toast in the morning, great little pick-me-up.
Idk I think I just realized that everything is going to be ok if I can just completely sever my emotional connection to the community and landscape around me!
It is my negativity that has been holding me back this whole time!
edit Now that I am happy, looking back what I needed wasn’t material help, rather my survivor bias prefers to focus on my previous lack of work ethic in order to craft a story of redemption from a retconned sudden realization that I could just magically be happy if I let go of the parts of reality that challenged my happiness bubble!
Don’t worry they tweak that inflation calculation every year to make sure that nothing important is taken into account
Is it possible to avoid the continuing decline in quality of consumer products brought on by corporate greed?
Consumers determine what quality is good enough. Not the suppliers.
If consumers were organised, united, disciplined, and smart, the answer would obviously be /yes/. But the answer is /no/ because consumers are none of those.
This is a false concept of capitalism.
People won’t buy higher quality and thus determine what is “good enough”, because good stuff that used to cost $10 is now $100, and the $10 stuff sucks and is crap. People will keep buying the $10 stuff because that’s what they can afford. Period.
There’s no self-correction in the market because people don’t have the disposable income that would drive said correction. The $10 piece of crap, say, a pair of shoes or a backpack, will still sell, BECAUSE PEOPLE CAN’T FUCKING AFFORD A TENFOLD INCREASE FOR THE SAME QUALITY.
(All dollar values are representative only, and are inflation adjusted)
And borrowing on your imaginary numbers, there also used to be good stuff that cost $100 that now costs $200 and people assume it will be good because it used to be, but the brand has been enshittified so that $200 product now has the same shitty quality as today’s $10 product with a fancier label.
I have been telling my wife that many things peaked in the early twenty teens. Some earlier.
There are exceptions of course, but for the most part, you are better off buying used.
I’d say it was more like 2007. The financial crisis lead to a lot of companies cutting costs and then never changing back because it was more profitable.
2008 permanently lowered the bar for everything in the US except average large yacht size.
Buying used is not only more ethical, but frequently you obtain higher durability items both due to the era they are from, a known track record, and survivor bias (the best built last). I hate shopping, but second hand takes the sting out.
Shout out to McKay’s in Nashville. I visited on a recent trip and was not disappointed.
Oh wow… you got me reading about the history of McKay’s. I was familiar with the original Edward McKay’s store in North Carolina and knew they split into two brands at one point, but I didn’t realize the offshoot went to Chattanooga, or that it had expanded to Nashville. And I knew that Ed McKays closed a few years ago and opened as McKay’s in a new location, but I didn’t realize that was done as a part of a reintegration with the former offshoot of the brand. (Or maybe I knew that last part but had forgotten it.)
Anyway, thanks for inspiring me to learn a little more about the store! I miss the original location (it’s currently serving as a Spirit Halloween) and still need to visit the new site sometime!
I often buy used brand name stuff these days on ebay. It’s way cheaper than new, and better quality. Case in point, I’m a guy that needed a nice bag to carry my dance stuff, shoes, wax, water bottle, fan, etc. I bought a nice leather Coach backpack for $50, and it’s awesome. Heavy duty brass zippers, sturdy construction, nice functional layout with a front zipper pocket to keep my phone in, etc. I love it and it will last for years. $50 new would have gotten me a nylon backpack that not only doesn’t look nearly as nice, but would never last as long.
Any tips on buying quality products on eBay?
Know what you want and choose sellers with good feedback. That’s about it. I buy a lot of nice clothing on ebay, especially designer blazers and suits. You can get really nice stuff, e.g. black label Armani, in the $100-200 price range, where something similar brand new would be $3-5K. However, a lot of people don’t know that the diffusion line stuff (e.g. Armani Exchange, Armani Collezioni, etc.) are made from cheaper materials and not as nice, but many sellers price them like the couture lines. I’m not say that some of the diffusion line items aren’t nice, it’s just that the main label stuff is generally better, and you need to know the difference to get a good deal.
