CHEAP BUT NOT NECCESSARY GOOD

“Wow…there is this offer here and there and the price is so cheap!” This is what most people will remark when there are offers going around during year end or stock clearance sales. Have you ever wonder whether these products are suitable for you? Do you really need to buy so many of those untested or low quality products which you might not even finish utilizing them for ages? Can the products last long enough before the expiry date?

I frequent hypermarket a lot to get the best deal on certain products which I really need. Sometimes, I will bump into some families with 2-3 cartloads of products that made my eyes wide. Toilet papers are on sales at $1.72 (RM5.69) for 10 compact rolls pack. I saw quite a few times some with more than 10 packs in their carts. I was wondering whether they eat and shit a lot or they have a football team in their family. Malaysian families are really thrifty when it comes to saving more especially on toilet papers. Each time when there is an offer on, you can practically see lots of shoppers with at least 2-3 packs in hand.

What many do not realized is that they are reasons why the products are going off so cheaply. The manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors are aware of it but do we really know why? Let us look at the case of the toilet papers. I was also curious about the reasons why people would want to get so many and decided to check on the product. Well, it is surely cheap but the roughness of the toilet paper is enough to make any users sore for ages. Who would want to use sandpaper on whatever sensitive part of the body? Moreover, a better quality and softer ones are less than $1 (RM3.30) more.

Another product that many would go for is the slippers or flip-flops. There are many around the market. Some even cost as low as $1.50 (RM5). Sometimes our body and sweat are sensitive towards certain plastic products. When we go to the beach with the salt from the sea water, it might even create some chemical reaction. Thus, our feet get affected by the reactions causing blisters and scales which could be rather painful. Moreover, these flip-flops are suitable only for short distance usage. The soles are rather slippery too when in contact with grease and water.

Buying is easy. Buying cheap stuff is even easier for most of us but we have to be smart in identifying how practical a product is and how safe it is for the usage on our body.