The risks of buying cheap products

Take it from someone who bought a lot of cheap stuff in their life that buying cheap isn't worth the money. The risks are often associated with the quality of the product. Whether your buying a bike or a cell phone, the risks are the same. With lots of imported products from China and other third discount producers consider how quality impacts the product.

There is one thing Americans do well and that is create quality products. Chinese quality just isn't there yet. The prices seem right but the products don't seem to do well when compared to higher quality and higher priced products from the U.S.

Consider an example, I bought a cell phone from overseas. Once I received it the initial reaction seemed to be that it operated just fine. However, I also noticed that it quickly ran out of memory, the operating system was clunky, and the screen scratched in a few days. Saddened, I returned the product and went back to my old phone.

If you do this a couple of times you will learn your lesson. The same thing can be said for some American bikes. I bought a bike in the U.S. that was on sale and cheap. Clunky, brakes didn't work well, rusted out quickly, and while it still functions it is generally only good for short distances. I then opted for a higher quality used bike. The differences in speed, comfort, weight and function were remarkably different.

There are times when when can buy a cheap product and that is when it is used as disposable. You need it only for one or two times and then plan to throw it away. In this case, you are better off getting cheap. However, it is much wiser to look for high quality products, or used high quality products, than to find lower cost alternatives. The products function better and you spend less money and time overall.