“Why Pay More.. Shop for Less”

“Why Pay More When You Can Buy For Less?”
When did we start this mentality? Oh, I understand finding that real gem of a deal. They do occur. But usually if it seems to good to be true (are you hearing your mother’s voice yet?)… then it is.

Our business is furniture. One side of it is in custom building and restoration and the other is retail. Right now we are restoring a mahogany dining set that is over 100 years old. Boy, is it going to look beautiful when it is done! The interesting thing is how well it is made. It has held up all of these years because of the craftsmanship. Fast forward to how a lot of the furniture is made today. Think about it. When did we start settling for “planned obsolescence” furniture?

Okay, I get budgets. You don’t have to buy the $15,000 dining set. Do the research. Ask the questions. Inform yourself and buy the best made you can possibly afford. What do you really save, if you buy a “bargain” that starts having major issues within a few years? Let’s move this from furniture.

When you shop for clothes do you check out the seams and hems to see how well it was made? When you are thinking about buying a computer do you grab the first you see in your price range or do you ask about memory, processing speed, software and peripherals? Looking for a good used car? Do you have a mechanic, you trust, look at it and go for a test drive? I will bet that you do a lot of these things when buying a used car, a computer or shopping for clothes. This is because you have taught yourself what to look for.

In this age of little truth in advertising and “secret surprises” inside your furniture, like particle board and “visually enhanced” finishes, doesn’t it behoove you to study up a bit? A surprise is good when you wait for birth to learn of the gender of your baby. It is not good when you pay a bunch of hard earned cash for something that will collapse when Uncle Bill sits on it.

The worth of our money will mean even more to us after we make it through this economic hole. I suggest that we become savvy on how we use it.