Do you go for brand names or no-name stuff?

[Robert]

My wife likes to get brand name stuff. For cereal, it has to be Kellogg's, General Mills, etc, while I'll happily go for the much cheaper "no-name" brands. Many of my friends do the same with drinks, chips, etc. Even when it comes to cheese macaroni, they must have Kraft and nothing else.

Some people will only play Fenders, and poke fun at someone like me who might just bring a cheap Squier to a gig.

The kids buy the brand name expensive clothes, whereas I get whatever, as long as it fits and I look good in it.

I'm the kind of buyer who believes we overpay for certain things, especially things like cereal, pet food and snacks. The famous brand makes us think the product is better. I often doubt that. I saw a blind test a while ago, where they let people taste different types of cereal, and they had to guess which was the brand name product and which was the no-name product. In this test, the subjects guessed wrong more times than they guessed right.

However, I do believe some brands consistently make some of the best products available. I rarely buy cheap shoes that I'm happy with, but if I go with one of the higher end shoe brands, I do get a much better product. Same often goes for many other things, including guitars, but as we know, there is often small differences in quality, while a being a big difference in price.

So what kind of buyer are you?

 

[Spudman]

Mostly for me, especially with food, I look for high quality at the best price. Some times that means something other than a well known brand and I'm okay with that. Some of the name brand manufactured foods are not very good so I'll skip them. I read and understand most of the ingredients and that is most important to me.

I guess the bottom line is that if I inspect it (what ever "it" is) and if it is of good quality I will then buy it regardless if what the brand name is. A lot of items these days like bike parts are all pretty good quality regardless of who makes it. In some cases many different brands are made in the same plant or factory so I'm assured of good quality no matter the brand.

 

[pes_laul]

it depends for me. I dont shop at hollister or abercrombie or that stuff because thats the prep style and I don't want to fit in with evrybody else I like to be unique. But I do go for the good stuff sometimes

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I am the it depends type. I will buy equivalent bulk cereals, flour, etc., and a lot of other things. TP, whatever is cheapest per sheet, paper towels, etc. Other items, I think it is a "you get what you pay for" thing, like running shoes. Not worth skimping. Feet, ankles, and knees are worth too much and my Sauconys treat me well. I look for values in sporting gear, and music gear, but I shop for what I want, and often it has some sort of brand name, but not always the most popular. ie, a MIM fender was the one I liked rather than an American made, and the Hagstrom turned out to be a great deal, better than trying to find a Gibson 335 for me. Now DVM pedals, there is NO, I repeat NO substitute for those. :rockon: :AOK:

 

[SuperSwede]

I prefer brand name stuff when it comes to food, or even better locally produced stuff (which usually cost more but you know what you are getting).

I dont care much about the brand of my shoes since my constant wet feet makes them unpleasant rather quick anyways ;-)

 

[Jimi75]

I have voted "in between". In the end the quality has to convince me. Best example is the Danelectro pedal series. Great quality for a super cheap price.
Most of the time the more expensive brands invest more in development and science, chose better material. This is valid for all kind of products. You have to decide wether you want/need such quality or if the cheaper stuff is sufficient for you. I usually never judge by a name/brand or price.

 

[MichaelE]

I believe in buying the best you can afford. Even if it means saving awhile longer. This doesn't apply to everything I own, but for important items it does.

Shoes and boots especially, watches, weapons, hand & power tools, some clothing depending upon use, etc.

I've always thought that you can buy the best or you can buy it twice. I've learned that from other's experiences with similar products that I own. It just makes good dollars sense most of the time to buy a quality item the first time. It doesn't neccesarily have to be the most expensive, but it's going to cost a lot more than junk.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

I'm a tweener too. Depends on the individual item. For guitars, I'm all over the map.

 

[Robert]

I dont care much about the brand of my shoes since my constant wet feet makes them unpleasant rather quick anyways ;-)

Solution - get WOOL socks! Merino wool is even better than sliced bread.

 

[Spudman]

Solution - get WOOL socks! Merino wool is even better than sliced bread.

Merino = nirvana

 

[Heywood Jablomie]

Virgin Merino wool from ugly Merino sheep.....

 

[just strum]

I voted this poll sucks only because it didn't have a line for me vote.

I usually purchase based on reviews.

 

[SuperSwede]

Solution - get WOOL socks! Merino wool is even better than sliced bread.

Unfortunately I havent found a place that sells Merino wool socks here in sweden..

 

[Robert]

SS - http://www.offtrack.se/recension/rohner-trekking-super-light-socks-merino-wool-strumpor

 

[SuperSwede]

SS - http://www.offtrack.se/recension/rohner-trekking-super-light-socks-merino-wool-strumpor

Your the man with the golden pants (remember that tv-show? )

Thanks for the link, gotta try a pair of those!

"Luktfria i ett par dagar "

 

[marnold]

"Luktfria i ett par dagar "

You eat your lutefisk with a dagger?

 

[SuperSwede]

You eat your lutefisk with a dagger?

no with a spear!!!

 

[street music]

I usually check out both and see which seems to be the better quality, name doesn't mean a lot unless you want to resale something, then name helps.

 

[ZMAN]

Being retired I have lots of time to shop for specials. I compare prices and you can usually get the brand names on special. If not I buy the store brand, Compliments or Presidents choice. You have to watch though. Some of the secondary brands have more fat sugar and salt. Soft drinks are usually on special somewhere so I buy name brand, and I buy the "Buck a Beer" brands (people in Canada will understand that one).
As far as equipment goes I have a pretty good cross section of Fender, Gibson and their lower brands, but that is all I have. My amps are all Fender, Marshall and Vox.
Autos I only buy GM, but I am leaning to the dark side for my next new car (Honda Accord) since they are made in Ontario.
So I guess I am about 80% name brand and 20% other.

 

[Katastrophe]

I'm a tweener, too. Just depends on the item and the quality for the price. I like to compare different brands of the same item to check for quality as well.

 

[deeaa]

Sure

I'm like you I guess. I always buy Heinz ketchup etc. and I have certain clothes I always buy - for work I always wear levi's and a quality white shirt, always the same brand and type (I teach at a college, I only wear white shirts or some band T shirt or a T with something stupid on it like my 'school free drug zone' shirt or some swearword or double-meaning idiotic shirt which makes the other teachers raise eyebrows nicely) and when it comes stuff like shoes, I only buy quality stuff. I still have 3 pairs of boots I bought in the early 90's and the last 4-5 years I've worn the same pair of Haix army boots to work and everywhere. I also usually wear my leather jacket which I bought in '98 and to top of it all my overcoat which I don't wear but in extreme cold, is originally my father's and from 1958 but it's top quality wool and still like new.

BUT when it comes to guitars I prefer no-names and my own projects.
Cars, I don't care what they are or look like as long as they move.
Tools, whatever gets the job done the cheapest---lotsa stuff is fine when they are real cheap too.

I don't think I'll ever spend more than a few hundred dollars on a guitar, for instance. I paid about 800 to have an all-tube amp built for me on order and that's good enuff for me too.

 

[ibanezjunkie]

food - definately branded stuff, im one of those people wh can taste the difference.

guitars - again branded stuff, i dont like playing on/through substandard stuff ('Encore' guitars, 'Marshall (Park) MGs' :whatever: )

clothes - i prefere more expensive stuff, it lasts longer and tends to end up cheaper in the long run aslong as you buy the good quality branded stuff.

 

[deeaa]

Yeah, there are of course all kinds of totally crap no-name guitars, which are better to steer clear from, but IMO also Fender & Gibson etc. charge way too much for the stuff...I won't pay that much just to have a label on a mediocre guitar, when you can get a better one custom built for quarter the money.

 

[ibanezjunkie]

i wish i lived stateside, if i did id have a few Carvin customs by now.

i think a Carvin custom these days ends up less than a 2007/8 LP standard doesnt it? and is much better.

 

[deeaa]

i wish i lived stateside, if i did id have a few Carvin customs by now.

i think a Carvin custom these days ends up less than a 2007/8 LP standard doesnt it? and is much better.

I checked some prices and suddenly it seems Gibsons can sometimes be even cheaper here in scandinavia than in the U.S. now...it seems for instance a '57 goldtop' around costs ~3999 in the U.S....2645€ i.e. 3700 dollars here.

Anyway that's insane. I could order three or four hand-built guitars built to spec from excellent materials for that kind of money from a luthier.

When I bought my Les Paul in '92 it cost a tad over 1200 dollars and even that was very close to being too much to pay for a guitar...would not pay it today.

 

[ibanezjunkie]

there are a couple of custom shops in the UK, the only problem being the majority of them are london based, and i can abrely find my way around hitchin, so forget searching london for a tiny shop.

theres one in somerset, but thats bordering on a 4 hour drive, not counting the time spent in traffic.

http://www.kimwebberguitars.co.uk/