On 2007-07-03 00:15:52 +0100, "clot" said:


In a less adversarial manner, I was hoping that I might make Andy see
that there are circumstances other than his own which might make them
make decisions that seem quite absurd to another person.

Oh don't misunderstand, I do.

I have simply sought to point out that in the purchasing of products
such as tools there are many potential factors, certainly not just
price or the rate of use.

In all, there are probably at least 10.

The marketing people would have consumers believe that price and
gimmicky features are important and not a lot more. Some customers
seem to be taken in by that.

I can quite appreciate that some people may not be in a financial
position to make choices based on all of the desirable criteria.
However, this does not mean that they can't or shouldn't look at *all*
of the factors.
It is that that the silly suggestions of "it's only for a bit of DIY"
(therefore any old crap will do as long as it's cheap) seek to suggest
that people limit their choices because they don't "need" something
better. The jigsaw is the classic eample of that.

So I think that it's perfectly possible, even for somebody on limited
means, to look beyond what others would seek to apply as limitations
and to make up their own minds. It's also entirely reasonable to say
that if one buys product X it will produce result A, but with product
X+50% the outcome is twice as good as result A. Some people might like
to choose 2A at a cost of X+50%. At least the opportunity will have
been pointed out.

In the end, somebody may be totally constrained by budget and genuinely
only able to buy the lowest cost item. Then the question should be one
of does it make sense at all or is the result going to be so bad that
it's not worth spending even that.

Either way, there is never anything wrong with looking at all of the
issues and options and the results obtainable.

Having said all of that, it is clear to me from hundreds of questions
and decisions concerning power tools that have been discussed in this
NG over many years that the majority of people end up going for the
better mid range to entry level branded professional tools. Not so
many buy the high end products and not so many the bottom end either.
This suggests that people do look at multiple factors when buying.
Which ones varies, but I am quite sure that it's not just about price.