wrote in message
oups.com...
"I think a big part of the problem is that it's often cheaper to buy a
new one made in China than it is to fix things."

Being able to now buy mass manufactured things so cheap that it's not
worth fixing a lot of things that were repaired in the past isn't a
problem, in most cases, it's progress. If you look at what it would
cost to repair many things today, it's not worth it. Even if you do
the labor yourself, after you take it apart, lots of times it requires
a part and they usually aren't cheap, you have to figure out where to
get it, etc.

Often the case. I had an $80 drill and needed one part. It cost $26 for a
new switch. Relatively new, it was worth fixing, IMO, but if anything
breaks again, it will probably be trashed.

Bought a toaster for $50. Works well, but it honestly does little more than
one that sells for $8. How much time can you spend on an $8 toaster if it
breaks?

I also buy household irons, but I use them for an industrial purpose. I
buy 4 to 6 at a time. Only specification is that it must be Teflon coated so
the sole plate does not stick in our use. When I first started buying them,
I paid about $22 each, 15 years ago. That same quality iron I now pay $13.
In all the years we've been using them, (Black & Decker, FWIW) not one has
stopped working because the heating element broke. They run 5 days a week,
16 to 24 hours a day. They only break when dropped or knocked over.