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Price vs. Performance: What do you choose?

Which Do YOU Prefer?

  • Mediocre Performance (Lower Quality/Undetermined Reliability) but Priced Lower?

    Votes: 11 9.5%
  • Higher Performance (Better Quality/Reliability) Product but Priced Higher?

    Votes: 105 90.5%

  • Total voters
    116

Bender1

Banned
Many people in any market segment will try to maximize quality for a given price point.

There are still some people who just want the cheapest of things though. Which I can't even understand.

My mind has melted as we agree on something!


That said, price does not necessarily denote quality and quality is not necessarily dependent on price.

For me, there is a point on the scale where quality and price intersect in a way that makes me warm and fuzzy on all fronts. I can't ignore either.
 

nouse4aname

Go Kart Champion
i mostly buy Monster cable. that doesnt mean i walk into Best Buy to buy it. I find it online and pay half price. Probably, the same price the cheaper cables would be at Best Buy...

That's a good example. I would never buy something like a Monster HDMI gold plated cable when a $2 cable with great reviews meets the same HDMI standard. There is no value there other than a brand name.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2385272,00.asp
 

Gunkata

Drag Race Newbie
The problem with this question is the lack of subjectiveness to each individual part/type of part, and the companies involved with making them. There are varying degrees to the quality of these parts, thus that kind of throws a wrench in the way this poll is worded/conducted.

I've bought the "best" type / brand of part for a few things, and then I've bought the lower priced (and assumably less performing - but to what extent?) product for another part on my car. I believe that a truly informed customer will have a mix of parts on his/her car to indicate actual research and cost effectiveness of their purchasing. Fanbois to any one product or company, imho, indicates otherwise.
 

Gunkata

Drag Race Newbie
Price surely does not necessarily = quality
 

C4L

Banned
The problem with this question is the lack of subjectiveness to each individual part/type of part, and the companies involved with making them. There are varying degrees to the quality of these parts, thus that kind of throws a wrench in the way this poll is worded/conducted.

I've bought the "best" type / brand of part for a few things, and then I've bought the lower priced (and assumably less performing - but to what extent?) product for another part on my car. I believe that at truly informed customer will have a mix of parts on his/her car to indicate actual research and cost effectiveness of their purchasing. Fanbois to any one product or company, imho, indicates otherwise.

Also the subjectiveness in peoples perceptions of 'quality'. There is no hard and fast rule for what defines 'quality' and how one perceives it. Its very gray...
 

C4L

Banned
Price surely does not necessarily = quality

It is a good, general rule of thumb. A guideline at the very least.

While there is no guarantee that the most expensive will also be the highest quality it is a near guarantee than the least expensive won't be the highest quality either...

Also depends on how you evaluate quality as well. For me, it is all encompassing, aesthetics, performance, brand image/reputation, reliability/durability, customer service even. All of it.

A high quality product, to me, is one that is good looking, performs well, from a good/respectable brand, that will exceed my expectations for longevity. Not simply a product that does one of those things best but all well.
 

Gunkata

Drag Race Newbie
Also the subjectiveness in peoples perceptions of 'quality'. There is no hard and fast rule for what defines 'quality' and how one perceives it. Its very gray...

Also agree.


Additionally, price can = perceived quality, no doubt.
 

grambles423

Automotive Engineer
Which is?

Loaded question. Loaded Answer

Quality in business, engineering and manufacturing has a pragmatic interpretation as the non-inferiority or superiority of something; it is also defined as fitness for purpose. Quality is a perceptual, conditional and somewhat subjective attribute and may be understood differently by different people. Consumers may focus on the specification quality of a product/service, or how it compares to competitors in the marketplace. Producers might measure the conformance quality, or degree to which the product/service was produced correctly. Support personnel may measure quality in the degree that a product is reliable, maintainable, or sustainable.
There are five aspects of quality in a business context:
Producing - providing something.
Checking - confirming that something has been done correctly.
Quality Control - controlling a process to ensure that the outcomes are predictable.
Quality Management – directing an organisation so that it optimises its performance through analysis and improvement.
Quality Assurance – obtaining confidence that a product or service will be satisfactory. (Normally performed by a purchaser)
Quality applied in these forms was mainly developed by the procurement directorates of NASA, the military and nuclear industries from the 1960's and this is why so much emphasis was placed on Quality Assurance. The original versions of Quality Management System Standards (eventually merged to ISO 9001) were designed to contract manufacturers to produce better products, consistently and were focussed on Producing, Checking and Quality Control.
The subsequent move of the Quality sector towards management systems can be clearly seen by the aggregation of the product quality requirements into one eighth of the current version of ISO 9001. This increased focus on Quality Management has promoted a general perception that quality is about procedures and documentation. Similar experiences can be seen in the areas of Safety Management Systems and Environmental Management Systems.
The emergence of tools like Asset Optimisation and 6 sigma is an interesting development in the application of quality principles in business.
Managing quality is fundamental to any activity and having a clear understanding of the five aspects, measuring performance and taking action to improve is essential to an organisations survival and growth

Price surely does not necessarily = quality

In what field? VW Aftermarket or beyond?
 

NYCSuits

Go Kart Champion

Muskie

Go Kart Champion
i mostly buy Monster cable. that doesnt mean i walk into Best Buy to buy it. I find it online and pay half price. Probably, the same price the cheaper cables would be at Best Buy...

Even half price Monster Cables are a ripoff. I work for the worlds largest wire and cable distributor. We have a lab that we test these things. a $10 mono price cable has the same if not less bit loss than a monster cable. I think they know a few things about testing cables as well as the created CAT X ratings....

I have no problem buying the least expensive product that meets all my requirements.
 

rblgti

Go Kart Champion
I'm sure a few of you know where I stand on this. I'm big on quality, and that's evident in almost everything that I buy. Shoes, cars, appliances, car parts, food, etc. I am also a firm believer in "you get what you pay for" because it's proven time and time again to be the truth. If I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it right the first time so I never have to look back at it and wonder why I didn't wait a little longer and get what I really wanted, and what I really knew would work best for ME. Some people are okay with "average" quality because they like the "average" price. They're getting what they pay for, and that's all they need. It's all based around value. I want the best of the best because the best of the best is gonna give me the quality and value and comfort that I will be satisfied with.

If I go "average" just to save a few bucks, I'm always gonna look at what I really wanted and wonder why I couldn't have waited just a little longer. I'm never gonna look at something of lesser quality/value and wonder why I didn't decide to save a few bucks and go with something I knew I wasn't gonna be completely happy with.

And quality goes past just the product. The quality of service from the company matters too. The whole "snake-like" attitude that comes from some companies is a HUGE turn off for me from their product, and their company in general. You have to sell yourself *alongside* your product. If you have to speak for your own product by doing massive amounts of giveaways and never throwing yourself up against your competition, then that's not attractive to me. I want something that will speak for itself and have the company back it up WHEN NECESSARY.

To me, the price should reflect the quality of the product AND the quality of the company that sells/produces the product. THAT is real quality.

And this is all going past just aftermarket VW product, of course. I apply this with anything.
Kinda makes me wonder why I'm still with AT&T :thumbdown:
 

C4L

Banned
Even half price Monster Cables are a ripoff. I work for the worlds largest wire and cable distributor. We have a lab that we test these things. a $10 mono price cable has the same if not less bit loss than a monster cable. I think they know a few things about testing cables as well as the created CAT X ratings....

I have no problem buying the least expensive product that meets all my requirements.

monoprice.com folks. I get ALL my cables/wires from there. Haven't let me down yet.

But the difference here (and with the internet) isn't the quality of the goods but rather the way it is sold. The internet has presented a unique exception to the 'you get what you pay for' theory as many times removing any of the distribution process drastically cuts costs which lowers prices to the consumers many times while the quality of the product is unchanged.

Electronics being the largest of this exception.
 
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