Cheap thrills

My wife and I come from different worlds. She comes from the “Shopping Planet” while I come from the “I-Don’t-Wanna-Go-Anyplace-That-Has-Pricetags” Galaxy. And since we come from different worlds, our habits are obviously different — particularly when it comes to buying stuff. To her, shopping is a sport that she can indulge in 24/7. To me, shopping is, at best, purgatory on earth. It’s the period where I am in limbo — waiting patiently for the time my wife finally says, “Okay, I’m done,” so I can finally ascend to my heaven on earth: my lazy chair.

I don’t know what it is. I can’t quite grasp it. But there is something about shopping that mesmerizes women — something that hypnotizes them and turns them into credit card-swiping zombies. They seem happy doing it, too, even if afterwards, they tend to regret it and moan, “Oh, no, I maxed out my credit card!” They get into depression mode after that. But when they get their credit card bill, they smile again and shout, “Yipee, I can afford to pay the minimum payment required! Woohoo! More shopping!”

Even if I live to be a hundred, I will never, ever get the logic behind women’s love of shopping. But it’s like the law of gravity — it’s a universal truth. Even the simplest girls I know love to shop. However, there is one positive thing I can say about women’s knack for attacking shops and malls — they certainly have a keen eye for picking the right things to buy. Why? Well, because of their relentless shopping, they’ve become experts when it comes to merchandise. When they buy, they scrutinize every little detail.

Men are different. When I buy something, say a shirt, if I like the way it looks, it fits okay and the price is acceptable (which is rare, by the way), I buy it. But with women, it’s a different story. They have to check the fabric closely. They have to check where it’s made. They check if there’s a run. They check if there’s a stain or any form of damage — even the slightest microscopic imperfection. And, they check what brand it is. When it comes to quality control, nothing can beat women.

It is for this reason, I think, that women tend to go for more expensive things rather than cheap things. To them, an item is expensive for a reason, and that reason is quality. I mean, sure, women flock to “Midnight Madness” sales promos and discount bazaars. But they only rush there because they want to be the first to get the good, quality stuff (a discount doesn’t hurt, either). You can’t convince a girl to go to Midnight Madness five hours after it has started. They’ll say, “Nah, all the good stuff’s been taken by now.” When it comes to buying items on sale, they still tend to go to the most expensive shops, and they still go for the most expensive brands.

My wife and I sometimes have discussions with respect to things I buy… and the things she buys. When she buys something — say, a bag — I’ll say, “Why did you buy that? Isn’t that other one bigger and cheaper? That other one can hold more stuff, plus, you have money left to put in your bag.” She’ll then reply, “But honey, this is made from genuine leather, and it’s made in Paris, no? They don’t make cheap stuff in Paris.” I’ll then reply, “But a bag is a bag is a bag!” She’ll just shake her head and say mockingly, “Excuse me, this is not a bag. This is an LV.” End of discussion.

When you analyze it, choosing the cheapest option seems to be most logical choice in a lot of situations. Companies often invite suppliers to bid and most of the time, the deciding factor is which one gave the lowest bid. But the truth is, when it comes to buying merchandise, price should be just one of the factors we consider. It’s an important factor, for sure. But it’s not the only factor that’s important. At the end of the day, you’re looking for a quality product that will last you for quite some time.

One example that best demonstrates the principle that “price is not everything” is the situation that’s currently plaguing the toy industry. As we all know by now, giant toy company Mattel has recalled millions of toys from the market, such as the “Sarge” die-cast toy cars (from the movie Cars), Barbie and Tanner play sets, various Polly Pocket dolls and accessories with magnets, and Doggie Daycare made between May of 2003 and November of 2006. Mattel is recalling more than nine million toys that may be hazardous to children because of lead paint and/or defective magnets. Now, we all know the reason why Mattel and other top brands in the world have their goods manufactured in China: cheap labor and cheap manufacturing costs. And, of course, they then have these toys shipped to the US, stamp a Mattel logo on them and sell them at Mattel prices (read: high). Sure, they get a nice profit out of it. But now look at where this has put them.

Of course, I am not saying that everything made in China is of poor quality. A lot of the high-quality fake stuff is made there (Grade A, too!) No, but seriously, the Mattel situation does make you think, right? When Americans were surveyed recently about whether they would still buy toys made in China, more than 50 percent said they wouldn’t. In the end, whatever Mattel saved on cheap labor and cheap quality control is going to the fees they have to pay for the recall (not to mention possible lawsuit settlements). So in the end, buying cheap probably cost them more (and we’re not even talking about the loss of goodwill here).

A similar thing happened to me recently but on a smaller scale. I bought a pair of walking shorts in the bargain area of a department store. My wife suspected they were cheap because I was smirking as I tried them on. She asked me, “How much did you pay for those shorts?” I proudly said, “Got them for a song! P249 only!” My wife gave me a “haven’t-you-learned-yet?” look, and said, “Hay, naku.” After fitting the shorts, I pulled down the zipper… and heard a disheartening sound: “grrkkk!” The zipper had ripped apart. I looked at my wife, embarrassed, and she smiled at me and said, “Aren’t you glad I’m not the type who says ‘I told you so’? By the way, nice boxer shorts.”

Anyway, the moral of the story is: There are no shortcuts in life. What you reap is what you sow. If you put in a little, you also harvest a little. So if you buy cheap, you get what you pay for. When something is much cheaper than you think it ought to be, beware!

You just might get caught with your pants down.

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Thanks for your letters, folks! You may e-mail me at rodhnepo@yahoo.com.