I generally look on it as there is no ‘free lunch’. Buy cheap, buy twice is a good maxim.
Alas, too simple! Vendors making their products “reassuringly expensive” is also a common sales tactic.
The world has changed. A hundred years ago, most production was labour intensive and therefore costly. However, it created a fairly clear relationship between retail price and how well-made the product was. Not how production works today! Far more automation and a plethora of new materials and techniques that reduce the link between price and ‘quality’.
Whilst in the past ‘Buy cheap, buy twice’ was sensible, the advice is suspect today. For example, a carpenter buying a wood saw in 1924 was well-advised to buy the best he could afford, because cheap usually meant too cheap; rapidly losing their edge and hard to sharpen. Today, unless doing something special, it’s more economic to buy mid-range wood-saws and replace them when worn out.
Does a pensioner getting into a genteel hobby at age 65 really need tools that will last 50 years? Twenty five years after buying my mid-range wood-saw, it’s still going fine. Reason: I’m not a full-time wood-worker!
Dave