Knock-Offs Are Just As Good

@porwest I have a Panasonic mixer (now over 20 years old) and a Panasonic TV (now over 10 years old), a J C Penney freezer (now over 40 years old), washer and dryer from Whirlpool (now over 16 years old). There's something to be said for some of the older brands. I have a lot of faith in them. If you've had luck with off-brands, good for you! Go for it!

@LindaOHio Well, they USED to make things last. I think at some point someone figured out there was no money in making things last. lol

Even when it comes to appliances I think a lot of it is more hype than anything else. My sister bought a really expensive washer and dryer and it went kaput in three years. I still have a washer I bought used 6 years ago for $225.

I used to. For example, it had to be Miracle Whip for me. But generic stuff has been so perfected... All a brand is is something to charge you more for. Anyone nowadays can copy pretty much anything right down to the final stitch.

@CarolDM Like all things, there is an exception to every rule.

@porwest Most of the time that is correct.

I remember someone coming into my house once, walking through the door, taking in a very deep sniff, and asking me, "My God. What are you cooking? That smells awesome." I smiled and said, "I just took a dump." That is a true story by the way.

@porwest Better than what Donald Trump thought HE could go around doing!

@mythociate What Donald Trump THOUGHT he could go around doing was probably way better than what Bill Clinton DID go around doing.

And generally speaking, I tend not to go around sniffing people. I'm not Joe Biden, you know. lol

@porwest I do not like to regift things to others (hopefully I never got a regifted gift). That aside, perfumes/colognes are tricky. I have no way of knowing if what I received has a great scent or not. Nor do I know if the other person will like it or if they may be allergic to it. I don't wanna end up giving them a crappy, and perhaps a harmful, gift.

@lovebuglena I guess where I come down on it is this. A gift is a gift. I really don't put much thought into where it came from. If someone gifts me, I am just happy they thought of me at all. I actually would be fine if no one gave me anything at all. It just doesn't matter to me.

I definitely made up the name Verplocky. lol As for throwing away those colognes, I'd just regift them. Obviously not to the same people who gifted them to me. But someone might get some use of them. As for people in general, too many people work very hard to impress on people that they have more money than they usually do, and while THOSE people think they are impressive and sophisticated, the people they are trying to impress usually are NOT impressed and do not think they are sophisticated at all. lol

I am not sure it matters one's income. I have no trouble in that area at all. But part of the reason I have money is probably directly related to my not wasting it.

@porwest that's it but life is more important than everything and people associate with those who care about themselves, but anyway people are different...

@Belexhanns I hear people say all the time money doesn't matter. It isn't true. Life is not just about getting by. It's about the challenge and achieving things, and sometimes those things bring fortunes. I also like to be able to go places and do things, and experience things. Sometimes there are things you can't do if you are broke. It is often funny to me that you can ask anyone if money matters, and they will say they don't want it or need it... But offer them a ton of it and they'll fall over themselves to get at it. lol

I am right there with you. I'd rather impress someone with the good deal I got as opposed to how much I shelled out for something. Money is easily spent but much harder to earn, so I try to do my best to save whenever and wherever I can.

@RebeccaFarm Most people can not tell the differences.

@jstory07 Right Judy

Nope. People can't. Even in many taste tests people get it very wrong.

It's like my truck when I think about it. I have a few bucks in the bank. I don't care if anyone thinks it or knows it, and I feel no need to show it off. I drive a Ford F-150 XLT with cloth seats. But I have some bells and whistles too. I got a GREAT deal on the truck. I can afford a King Ranch. But I like my truck just fine. I don't care what others like or what others have, and I don't even care about what I can afford to have... I just figure if what I have suits me and I am happy with it. It's all I need to worry about.

@porwest I agree. Perception and presentation are everything.

True. But keep in mind "quality" is more of a perception than a reality. Is an Izod shirt better than an Old Glory shirt? Nope. But people will pay for that alligator emblem. Is a Cadillac better than a Hyundai Genesis? Nope, but if people think it is they will pay more for the Cadillac. I go back time and time again to an episode of Bullshit that Penn and Teller used to do. They went into a very high end, fancy New York restaurant and poured New York City tap water through a garden hose into a fancy bottle. They then went around the tables and offered up free samples of the water. This one is from the Swiss Alps. This one is from some spring in the jungles of Algongua. (I am making up places the water was said to have come from, but you get my gist). They then offered prices. This one is $50 an ounce. This one is $100 a glass. People lapped it up like it was the best thing since sliced bread. They talked of waterfalls and cool springs, and fresh mountain air when they drank it. Yes. YES! Of course I would pay whatever amount for this fine water, people would proclaim. ALL of them were shocked to know they were drinking nothing more than a glass of New York City tap water run through a garden hose and poured into fancy bottles. Quality is defined by your perception of it. It is rarely based on true quality. Marketing, let me tell you, is an awesome thing, and is key to any business wanting to sell its products at a premium. And even when that quality is sold at a deep discount... You are still paying too much 99.9% of the time. Oxy Clean is a another good example. It was NEVER the best cleaning product on the market. But sell it on TV and claim that it is? You can get $20 a bottle for it. Granted, now it is sold alongside other cleaners in stores for a more normal price. But if it was the BEST cleaner it was marketed as? It would have replaced all other cleaners rather than sit among them on the same shelves today, and there would be no Old Glory shirts to put out there because Izod would still be the leading brand to buy.

@1creekgirl You know it. I use it everyday in my sales job. lol

@porwest I don't need high end brands. I am ok with lower end brands. But if the bag says Coach on it, for example, it better be the real Coach and not fake Coach made in the back alley somewhere.

For me, I couldn't care less if something is real or fake. Do I like it? Does it serve my purpose? Do I get personal satisfaction out of it? Is it the thought that counts? That is all that matters to me. Everything else is immaterial.

@lovebuglena I may actually be with you on this to some degree. In the case of my cologne, I am not trying to tell someone it's Versace and not Verplocky. But someone carrying out a fake Coach definitely wants people to THINK it's Coach. I actually knew a guy who bought an Avalanche who redressed the truck as an Escalade. They looked similar, but even with his best effort everyone knew it was not an Escalade. Granted, he spent some money to change the grill and other markings. But it was clearly not what he was wanting people to think it was.

@porwest

There you go. That's a great price. Especially in Hawaii. lol