On Sat, 7 Dec 2013 18:59:43 -0800, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:


"Jeff Mazur" wrote:

Seek out builders of quality goods, and spend the little (or even not
so little) to get that quality. Starve out the rats and they'll go
away. It is consumers who are, ultimately, more price-conscious than
value conscious that allow this garbage to remain economically viable
for its producers.

I'm not saying that you had lots of options with the brakes, but when
you do have options, consider them carefully, and look to the
long-term.

Just my two cents' worth.
------------------------------------------------------
As a representative of suppliers of premium goods and services,
I always had competitors who had a lower price on their side.

Somehow, managed to make a living.

The old adage still applies:

Only the seller knows the true value of the goods or services in any
transaction.

Lew


John Ruskin had it right in is "common law of business balance" :

There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a
little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider
price alone are that person's lawful prey. It's unwise to pay too
much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you
lose a little money – that is all. When you pay too little, you
sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable
of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business
balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can't be
done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something
for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay
for something better.