Why Is It So Hard To Get Good Stuff These Days

[Munkyb0y]

you're all wankers. especially you nismoid, with your common sense and logic!!

OP. we've all done it. it's a calculated risk you take when you want a bargain.

the reason no one cares is coz it's nothing new. ebay, half price, turned up in the mail, dissapointed buyer. its a very old story.

i bought a gear knob off a guy here. the photos looked a little suss. i asked him about the condition. he said it was just reflections/lighting in the photo. it was so cheap, i didnt care.

it arrived, was worse than i expected. put it in the bin. moved on.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

Awesome see even you guys are so used to having people supply you with shit stuff that your happy to accept it now.

errr... no... i dont buy cheap shit from ebay

when something looks too good to be true... it is

Why thank you, I'll remember that whilst I'm wanking over my perfectly good flange.

fkn rofl

[waxracing]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320622096492#ht_500wt_1156

[Tony de Wonderful]

There is a lot of shit on ebay that is for sure.

I'd think twice about precision or critical parts. Things like rads maybe ok but dodgy manifolds etc I dunno.

[BoyWhoCriedWolf]

Ok so I must be a whinger for getting something shit and talking about it here

Man what a pack of wankers you guys turned out to be

From what I can see everyone was trying to help.

Only a wanker would take that the wrong way.

[Kinks]

$20 buys you something. $200 buys you something that was done right.

if you want to piss and moan and complain and return things and try and get an item that actually works then great, pay $20 and expect something that was done half-arsed. If you spend the money for quality then everything will line up first go.

People expect the world for pocket change these days, it's not hard to get good stuff it's just that nobody wants to pay for it because cheap crap is so enticing.

[bozodos]

Come on guys this is a METAL FLANGE we're talking about here, not a turbocharger or something like that.

For example, 3 inch exhaust flanges were like $17 each from an exhaust shop for nice big thick ones last time I was modifying an exhaust! How hard to make or expensive does a manifold flange need to be!? I'd be more worred about the quality of the metal used lol.

Think ya'll are being a bit harsh on the OP, and yes sometimes there is a bit of a typical GT-R owner attitude of "oh if you're not dropping insane amounts of money on name brand Japanese parts you're a f**king idiot"

For the record I always use Japanese second hand bits rather than cheap new stuff unless it is things like exhaust flanges, hose clamps etc.

[ClutchBurndout-:(]

i havnt read the whole thread, but im agreeing with the OP...

whether its cheap or expensive, it should work, because its cheap dosent mean it should be utterly useless...

Edited December 9, 2010 by Clutch

[wolverine]

It should work and when it doesn't you get in contact with the seller and organise a return.

I sent laptop power supply back to a chinese company for a full refund including postage. It was really hard to get the smoke back into the box but I did my best to return it to them in the same condition. Cheap and cheerless purchase that one.

Have you contacted the seller?

[mickey]

ooh harsh feedback there wax

I think we've all become accustomed to the crap on ebay...half the stuff on there is crap and you can tell just by looking at it, 1/4 is genuine and good stuff that costs a packet and another 1/4 is said to be genuine or 'as good as' and turns out to be crap...this is the worse category of all as you end up paying good money for crap.

Ebay don't care because they get the selling fees for you buying rubbish at top dollar, only thing you can do is paypal dispute get your money refunded and go elsewhere. The feedback system hurts big sellers because they pay higher fees if their feedback drops, that's the only thing saving you.

[Kinks]

i havnt read the whole thread, but im agreeing with the OP...

whether its cheap or expensive, it should work, because its cheap dosent mean it should be utterly useless...

I agree that things should be accurately described and fit for the purpose they claim. But reality is that people will try and flog anything, so at what point do you start taking the hint that you're buying shit? I'm idealistic too, but ideals mean nothing to others.

Say you saw a buy it now auction for a turbo. At what point would you go "nah there's something wrong with that" and not buy it?

$200?

$20?

$2?

If you buy a turbo for $2 off ebay and expect it to make good boost then, my friend, you are dumber than a suitcase full of rocks. But hey, at least you only pissed $2 up the wall. My point is that if you buy at the bottom end of the market you expect to get something that's not as good and possibly doesn't work at all.

[warps]

To the OP - no need to get upset or abusive.

You're right though. Just because something is cheap doesn't mean it's OK if it doesn't work. Unfortunately too many people take the attitude of "oh well, I only paid $xx for it - not worth fighting for it. I'll just cop the loss and learn from it". That's why the world is rife with this sort of crap.

If you buy something, no matter how cheap (unless it is clearly stated as being sub standard, non working etc) then you MUST do something about it. It's the only way we will be able to get rid of these dodgy kents. But then again, that would require action and possible conflict, and that's just too hard for most people.

If you're unhappy with the product, and genuinely feel that you've been misled, then take it up with the seller until you are satisfied. Whinging about it here will clearly not win you a lot of sympathy.

Remember, some of us are proud of being uncaring wankers and arseholes. It makes life interesting.

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

I think it comes down to a "what did you expect" attitude.. I don't buy cheap shit because i expect it to be sub-standard.. The only way to get rid of these "dodgy kents" is to not purchase their items when they are clearly too cheap..

[mad082]

i don't think it is just the "it's cheap so it must be crap" mentality in here. in this case, at least for me, it's more "it's cheaper than buying something made buy a company that makes these thing professionally and could have just been knocked up at some random workshop by a guy who has a bit of spare time and thought he could make a bit of money out of it because he once made one for a customer who didn't want to pay to buy a professionally made one."

[warps]

I'm not talking about products that aren't up to the same high standards as the expensive items (generally speaking here - price doesn't always dictate quality). One should expect that if they buy new stuff for a fraction of its retail cost, then it will be substandard, but still should be fit for purpose (and in fact, a business can not legally sell anyting not fit for purpose, regardless of the cost). What I'm talking about is the cheap stuff that people buy, which does not do its job at all, or arrives broken, or would clearly never have worked, ie is not fit for purpose.

This is where people need to take the seller to task (specially a business as I stated earlier, as they are obliged to offer statutory warranty). There will always be people selling cheap stuff, and people buying cheap stuff. Nothing wrong with that, and you'll never stop it.

I've bought cheap tools from time to time for various reasons, and have never been under any illusion that they would be to the same standard as the name brand stuff I normally buy. I've broken plenty of these cheap tools too, but always when I abuse them (even though I know that the name brand stuff tolerates the abuse fine). I fully accept this as I have paid a fraction of the price for the cheap tools, and they have done everything I have expected. Only when I use them outside the normal operating parameters have they failed - so I can only blame myself. However, if I ever bring a cheap tool home only to find it is broken or will not work, then I will immediately take it back for a refund and let the seller know that the merchandise is unacceptable.

There's a big difference.

[BoyWhoCriedWolf]

What I dont understand is this.

Amount of time invested to remove said hardware to install said gasket without having thought about the consequences of having your cheap arse product fail, not line up etc and then going through the process all over again or having the vehicle in the shed, not on the road in quick time.

Warps, you say price doesnt dictate quality. In brand new products this is not the norm you must admit.

Like Ive said to the OP. Go to a local shop where the owner cares about their business and rep, pay the right amount of money for the right product and be happy in the knowledge that you will get face to face support + you have supported a local business.

Its pretty fkn simple.

[warps]

Warps, you say price doesnt dictate quality.

No.

I said price doesn't always dictate quality. Most of the time you get what you pay for - I agree, but just because something is expensive doesn't mean it is necessarily good. How much better is a $500 t-shirt than a $30 one? We've all come across products that are way overpriced, yet muppets continue to shell out for them. The fashion industry is rife with it, and some "name brand" car parts fall under that category as well but that's harder to pick these without experience.

Some of the cheapo tools I've bought from your typical dollar warehouses have lasted me over 15 years of abuse. I desperately needed some allen keys on a Sunday when nothing else was open apart from a rejects shop type place (Was Mackay 15 years ago - no such thing as 24 hour trading back in those days) so I bought a set for $2. As none of them have broken, despite me doing horrible things to them, I still use that same set today.

Granted, that's probably the exception rather than the rule

Edited December 10, 2010 by warps

[waxracing]

I didn't think this was cheap

I was getting a flange to make my own exhaust system 59 is what it cost I could have bought one up the road for 80.

Both made in Australia from steel so I could make my own manifold

Its just easier here well i thought it was because it got sent to my business and i wasn't in a hurry.

It wasn't an exhaust system or a turbo just a laser cut flange made by some one in Australia.

I'm happy to agree that you normally get what you pay for. I build performance jet-ski engines for a living and am not one to skimp on stuff, you cant afford to.

I didn't think I was trying to be tight in this instance.

Edited December 10, 2010 by waxracing

[ARTZ]

To the OP - no need to get upset or abusive.

You're right though. Just because something is cheap doesn't mean it's OK if it doesn't work. Unfortunately too many people take the attitude of "oh well, I only paid $xx for it - not worth fighting for it. I'll just cop the loss and learn from it". That's why the world is rife with this sort of crap.

If you buy something, no matter how cheap (unless it is clearly stated as being sub standard, non working etc) then you MUST do something about it. It's the only way we will be able to get rid of these dodgy kents. But then again, that would require action and possible conflict, and that's just too hard for most people.

If you're unhappy with the product, and genuinely feel that you've been misled, then take it up with the seller until you are satisfied. Whinging about it here will clearly not win you a lot of sympathy.

Remember, some of us are proud of being uncaring wankers and arseholes. It makes life interesting.

Exactly the same could be said for police fines..

[ARTZ]

I didn't think this was cheap

I was getting a flange to make my own exhaust system 59 is what it cost I could have bought one up the road for 80.

Both made in Australia from steel so I could make my own manifold

Its just easier here well i thought it was because it got sent to my business and i wasn't in a hurry.

It wasn't an exhaust system or a turbo just a laser cut flange made by some one in Australia.

I'm happy to agree that you normally get what you pay for. I build performance jet-ski engines for a living and am not one to skimp on stuff, you cant afford to.

I didn't think I was trying to be tight in this instance.

personally i would have got the one up the road for 80$

but you are right you have been ripped off, but have you taken it up with them??