Personally, I find it always difficult to decide whether to buy a cheaper version of something or go for the more expensive one, the one of quality. But is the price always equivalent to quality? Well, it is not so simple at all. Sometimes the higher price does not stand for quality but for a brand. In the end, how is it possible to know whether you are paying for brand or for quality? That is a question I often ponder on.

I am more than ready to pay for quality if I know that the item will serve me years in good condition. I am the least interested in just a brand – in fact, I don’t have any respect for brands that cost a lot but which don’t deliver long lasting products. I have been especially disappointed with some clothing brands, and nowadays I stick to average brands in clothing. In the end, clothes last pretty much the same time and, thus, there is no point to pay more just for the brand. I have also noticed the same applies to some household items, such as toilet paper, tooth paste and coffee mugs.

Where does the quality matter then? In many things actually. To start with the most common one, I would say you can notice the price-quality ratio in coffee. If you buy the cheapest coffee, it is seldom to have a strong taste. If you pay a bit more, the taste and the scent usually increase with the price. I never complain about the price when it is crucial to have something of quality and when the materials used in the item are important. And example of such would be a fireplace. When we decided upon installing a fireplace, we looked into several different options and did quite a lot of research. We found out how crucial the materials used in building a fireplace are and how a big role the engineering plays. Based on this we went to a dozen of fireplace companies. Surprisingly many of them did not use proper materials and they lacked in engineering. Luckily, we heard about a Finnish company Uunisepät that produces fireplaces with premium engineering and materials. Also, the design of fireplaces at Uunisepät was stylish and up to date. We soon understood that considering the mint engineering and materials, the price-quality ratio at Uunisepät was more than good.

Know the things you are buying and make sure you do your market research before buying expensive things.