Hedge Shears

Day 125: Hedge Shears

I understand the reason to purchase higher cost, higher quality goods: invest in quality, and you'll save money and time in the long run. These hedge shears are an excellent example of going cheap in the short run, and wasting money in the long run. I got them at Meijer's. Even fresh out of the package, they weren't sharp or powerful enough to do the job well. The high quality pair I got for my birthday this year has convinced me that these aren't even good for back-up.

Theoretically, I would show Amish thoughtfulness with regard to introducing new objects into my home. I'd make careful decisions about what objects are truly going to improve my quality of life, and careful decisions about which specific brand of object to purchase. Hedge shears vs. pruning shears? Fiskars vs. Meijer's?

There are many barriers to this kind of careful decisionmaking. I'm simply not willing to devote the time and energy needed to figure out which items I need, and which are better. The connection between price and quality is tenuous. There are some exceptions, like nutrition information, but generally the package itself is the last place you want to look for information about your purchase. Consumer Reports can't evaluate everything, and it's not easy to connect what you're trying to decide to Consumer Reports research anyway.

Our system is not at all what Adam Smith had in mind when he wrote about the invisible hand. His whole premise for the capitalist system was predicated on the idea that citizens would have access to perfect information about the products they were choosing, and that they would use that perfect information to make rational choices. Two obvious flaws with that thinking. First, advertising is the opposite of perfect information - it's a high cost, concentrated and focused attempt to fool us all into choosing one product over another based on emotion. And second, nobody makes rational decisions. We are creatures of emotion.

So I bought these cheap shears, not based on data but based on emotion. I looked at the packaging. They looked fine. Maybe there were exclamation points, or a gold star. Maybe there was a testimonial. Maybe they were on sale.

Off they go, to the reuse center, where the next sucker will only spend $2 instead of $20. Meanwhile, I can only hope the Fiskars will last a lifetime. They were certainly pricier.