Consumer, what do you think?

Question

Should companies stop making products in which it is more expensive to replace a part than it is to replace the whole item?

I dont know about you, but I get tired of hearing retailers say: "It cheaper to buy a brand new _____."

Answer 1

It would be a great selling point if they did.  It seems that "disposable" items are becoming the norm.  Very wasteful!

Answer 2

I think I'd say that in an ideal world yes, many of us would prefer to pay less to repair broken products than to pay a wee bit more for brand new.  However, that just isn't economically possible.  

I think that it's ultimately up to manufacturers (and retailers) to dispose of, particularly, electrical products and not for the consumer to search around for appropriate recycling facilities, rather than to provide replacement parts and replacement engineers for an inordinate number of products.

The other side of the coin, however, is that if we all had everything that was broken fixed, then factories would close and higher unemployment would occur.  Remember not everything on sale comes from the the Far East - there are still some manufacturing factories in the UK and the US.  

Another point is that the little local man who could fix everything doesn't seem to exist any more.  Possibly just because many consumers prefer to buy brand new rather than repair.

Food for thought?

Good luck.

Answer 3

They don't make things like they used to. Manufacturers today purposely make things to only last so long.

Answer 4

No. I get your point--but I also know how this actually works.  The types of products you speak of are manufactured on highly automated assembly lines--and as a result it's very inexpensive to make them.  But to repalace parts requires tha tan individual repair person check out the gadget to see whats wrong and then manually take the item apart, replace the needed part, and reassemble it.

In other words, the fact that it costs more to replace a part than the whole product comes fromth e fact that the product is so cheap in the first place, not in poor design or inflated repair costs.

Answer 5

YES, it is such a throw away society these days..Look at electronics. People throw away working items because they are out of date..Look at computers and cell phones. It's terrible the amount of garbage we are making.

Answer 6

companies will only stop making stuff if consumers stop buying it...

the answer is DONT BUY NEW!!!

shop at second hand stores.. some of them especially the bigger ones, offer really good stuff...