Food for thought

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little bit worse and sell a little bit cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey.

It is unwise to pay too much... but it is also unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought is incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do.

The common law of business balance prohibits paying alittle and getting a lot... it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."

-John Ruskin, 1819-1900


The above was spotted framed up at a small German shop in Cologne specializing in traditional wooden crafts.

Basically what is being said is that there is plenty of room for cheap versions of a product to be made, all with some sort of compromise. Hence if you choose to purchase a cheap product because its cheap, then its your fault and not the trader's. Also a cheap product might not be able to perform what is expected of it, hence you might lose all your money as opposed to losing a little bit extra when purchasing a quality product.

Truely enough, in reflection of that little piece of thought, the prices of the items on sale at the store were a bit more painful on the wallet than usual, but the craftsmanship impeccable and oh so delicate.