Terry Pratchett's Boot Theory
Terry Pratchett's Boot Theory
Based on the excerpt from this Discworld book, what other items do you use regularly that would fit in this theory? (Boots and shoes are fair game!)
Text transcript for people who want it:
[The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.
Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
This was Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.]
Bonus: suggest ways you can repair/restore your item/other people's items.
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the same concept is true for many other items - ultimately, it comes down to "you get what you pay for".
I had to get shoes last week, the ones I had previously had lasted 9 years and the rubber soles were beginning to crumble. they're now relegated to yard shoes & won't last another year. new shoes are 100% leather, with rubber soles, cost $90 & were on sale (normal price was $140). they'll last at least another 9 years without any issues.
most of the things I buy, I always look for sales but I never buy the cheap/cheaply made products. cheap stuff might last a year & it's just not worth it. expensive stuff is usually cheaper in the long term.
The trick, of course, is figuring out when this holds true versus when the expensive version is just relying on brand name to inflate the price.
The fun part is when you have a brand you trust, but it is bought out or sells out and reduces quality to maximize profits.