I have come across instances where a cheap item turns out to be substandard, counterfeit or not durable. This is the general rule of the thumb. But I have also encountered other instances where two items have a big price range despite being similar in every aspect. Some generic items resemble the original and are passed off as such. This vice is rampant in some products like phone batteries and medicines.
It depends on what you are buying. Some products which might be cheaper because cheaper materials were used to make it might not be of the same quality as the more expensive product. However if the same materials are used to make the product there's a high likelihood that there won't be that huge a difference between the products. But you have to be careful when you are buying cheaper products. Only buy from companies which have a good track record making cheaper products which are almost as good as name brand products.
I remember a friend who bought a brand new pair of shoes for a very low price but one thing I've noticed is the way the shoes were put together. They were just glued together so if they would get wet, the probability of the soles separating from the main body of the shoes is great. I have immediately proven myself when she wore her newly bought shoes on a rainy day, they indeed separated from their glued portions. So I told her to bring her shoes to the local shoe repair shop and have them sewed up for a sturdier effect. She did buy a very cheap pair but she still ended up paying more for the repair so yes, sometimes cheap could turn out to also be expensive at times.
There is a hidden cost to counterfeit goods that most people are not talking about. Well two actually. They go hand in hand. A lot of counterfeit goods are produced by organized crime. Take a walk down Canal Street in NYC and you cannot go a few feet without being harassed by the hawkers pushing fake Fendi glasses and Coach purses. They use the same tactics they use to push drugs because they know it works. Organized criminals care only about making a quick buck, so they will use cheap and sometimes toxic and dangerous materials. There is no one making sure that these products are half decent and safe. When you buy things from them they take that money and reinvest it in all sorts of nefarious types of activities, things like narcotics production and human trafficking. Please just stay away from counterfeit goods.
Not always, no, but it can take a fair amount of experience before you are able to tell what is a saving and what really isn't. For example, if you buy some things cheaply such as electronics, they will be poorly made so you will have to have them repaired more often, which can lose you a lot of money in the long term. Occasionally it is better to pay more for something just for the peace of mind that this can bring you.
Hmmmm... I'm quite undecided on this issue. For instance, we have a generic merchandise store here called CD-R King. The store has all kinds of gadgets and accessories. We bought a speaker from this store a few years ago which up to now still works great. And it cost us super cheap to buy that laptop or cellphone speaker. But then we've also bought generic iPhone chargers which turn out to be total wastes of money. Since they're not compatible with the gadget, it ended up that we weren't able to use the chargers. The original iPhone chargers are quite expensive that's why we resorted to the cheaper options. So it really is a case-to-case basis. I cannot say that all cheap items are not worth it. Buy at your own discretion.
When I buy medicines I look for generic for they are always cheaper and are the same as name brands. Other things like food generic is also a good bargain and tastes the same. I did come across some french fries though cheaper and is a store brand, they had a lot of black parts to it that you got to cut off from the french fries, so these fries although cheap you don't get the quality as the band name fries. It's best to check reviews first especially for electronics, because you'll spend money, so electronics are things you'd like to last and not blow up on you, so reviews are helpful before you buy electronics.
The generic phone batteries that I bought are quite durable, the oldest one is on the last "chapters" of it's life, since it's already 3 years old, the expected durability of cellphone batteries. It costs around $8. I think you should gauge the price if it's too cheap or not before you purchase, since if the price is very low than the original then the product must be substandard. Like the mp3 player that I bought from China via Ebay. The buttons stopped working properly after like 2 to 3 hours of INITIAL use. The mp3 player costs only around $3. So use your common sense when buying things.
I think the lack of risk is what you ultimately pay for when you buy something branded. When it comes to cheap goods there is always an element of gambling unless you have already tried out that particular product. For the most part I think buying cheap deals a lot with experimentation and exploration which I think is part of the appeal of why people like it. I have some friends who always buy cheap and they have so much fun in digging for the right bargains and they get so much fulfillment out of succeeding. I just mostly sit on the sidelines and wait for the recommendations of both my cheap and extravagant friends.
If a thing is cheap enough is because of its durability, quality and reliability. The best point when shopping anything is to just focus on your money because the more the money you have the better will be the chance of getting something great in quality and durability.
