Wednesday Why: Researching Products

Wednesday Why:  How do I research a product to determine if I want to buy it or not?

My first choice is to always try the product firsthand.  Whether it is an appliance, a book for homeschool, an item of clothing or a garden tool, I like to be able to see, hold, try the product before deciding to buy it.  This allows me to see if it fits, if it will work in the way I want & hope, if it seems durable, if it will be usable, etc.

But, there are many times I am not able to actually try the product--how often does [store name] let you actually use a blender before buying it, not likely.  Clothing can generally be tried on, but most appliances, tools, and anything else aren't likely to be allowed a test-run before you buy it.  So what do you do then?

If you have friends that have used and recommend a product, that is always helpful.  But on your own, you can read customer reviews, read trouble-shooting guides to get an idea of what possible problems the product may have, try to see if there are any recalls or known defects that are common for that product--some of these pop up in customer reviews--like when many customer reviews mention the same kind of problem they had with the product (like a certain type of TV that has issues with the remote that comes with it within a short time period, or a washer that develops problems agitating after only a year, or an MP3 player that stops working after a few months).

Also, besides the actual reviews and such of the product, I try to think about the actual usage of the product.  Is it something I will use often, occasionally or really only once or twice a year?  Is it something that will make life easier with its use, or more complicated--finding space for it, safety issues, increasing expenditures, etc?  Is it something worth storing for the few times it may be used?  Is it going to pay for itself in usage, time saved, sanity saved--some items may not literally pay for themselves like some energy efficient products compared to non-energy efficient products, but because they make life easier or more manageable they pay for themselves in sanity.  An example of this for me is the gamma lid for buckets--more expensive compared to the regular lids that go with buckets, but oh so much easier to use!!!  Many times over have I been happy I splurged on a gamma lid over a regular bucket lid for using to store food storage--I did wait for them to go on sale of course.

I hope these thoughts help to determine what the best value for you money, time, & sanity is when buying or not buying a product as the case may be.  It's true I may not do this thorough of research for every product, but have found it helpful when I do--it has saved me money as I've been able to either determine through the time, effort, and information I found I decided I didn't want the product or been able to find a better deal--meaning a better quality product sometimes for cheaper sometimes not.