Declining Product Quality

The cluster focuses on complaints about falling quality in both cheap and established brand products like tools, appliances, and clippers, with debates on fake reviews, corner-cutting by brands, and challenges finding durable items.

📉 Falling 0.4x Hardware
4,214
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#3272
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
2
2008
11
2009
27
2010
34
2011
39
2012
77
2013
70
2014
77
2015
114
2016
161
2017
232
2018
217
2019
372
2020
371
2021
377
2022
556
2023
587
2024
435
2025
425
2026
30

Keywords

DeWalt KitchenAid IKEA IDK McMaster CVS DSC TV OEM brands quality products cheap buy stuff brand pans expensive reputation

Sample Comments

bubba1236 May 25, 2020 View on HN

can you mention some brands that were high rated but crappy?

number6 Dec 23, 2023 View on HN

Yes the cheap stuff isn't good anymore and the good stuff isn't cheap

eternityforest Aug 7, 2023 View on HN

I have not noticed that. All I ever need to do is look at a the first few Google results and the big brands I already know, and read then one-star reviews on Amazon. They all have the same 4.9 star rating, but some will say "Feels cheap and plasticky", while others will say "Started smoking after a day".I've had a lot of bad results with anything niche and unusual, now I try to stick with really popular products that are so well known that someone would have told me

Y-Bopinator Dec 31, 2019 View on HN

Depends which brand you buy. Not everyone produces garbage.

josefresco Jul 16, 2020 View on HN

You overestimate the quality of your "trusted" brands.

sjg007 Apr 2, 2018 View on HN

Works great until the brands start cutting corners.

vasco May 16, 2024 View on HN

You make it sound like it's either Amazon or chinese crap made to last 2 minutes.

nevster Feb 8, 2013 View on HN

Have you ever tried some of the competing brands - the quality is terrible!

pipodeclown Nov 16, 2022 View on HN

The thing is, the quality is not that high and the look not that great. It's just extremely well known and you people know what they are getting. If you know where to look and especially if you are willing to go online, you can het the same quality and look for half or a third of the price.

Isamu Mar 21, 2023 View on HN

Well I’m sold, I am tired of crappy clippers, and have plenty of complaints.There’s categories of products where the market is flooded with minimum quality choices because most people are satisfied with the cheapest option.And if I find more expensive options I hesitate to purchase because I suspect that it is just a repackage of a minimum quality product.Even in this case I am wondering if I order these, will I get the real deal, or a cheap knock off? I will order these though.