Prices and quality, a misleading guide in shopping and business choices
- Vicent Nemeyimana
- November 22, 2015
- Word of Life
Last month, we were blessed with an opportunity of attending ISO (International Organization for Standardization) trainings at Mulago National Hospital. It happened one morning and the question was; what tells you that something or a product is of good quality? Believe me; we were all grown up intellectuals, but most our answers centered on the price. In our case, many people believed that the higher the price, the higher the quality. They thus deducted that products of cheap price are likely to be of poor quality. I was shocked! I wondered how such people can survive in our today’s business world of con men and non-genuine transactions! So as a motivational and entrepreneurship speaker, here is my take;
While it is generally true that products of high quality will cost highly too, it is more dangerous to enter the business world or shopping situations with such kind of judgment. Actually, I have met so many friends of mine who bought smart phones at high prices, shoes at neck-speed price, shirts and trousers at richly prices, only to be disappointed in days that what they actually paid for a fortune was just a scam. Many business people out here know how to catch our eyes with color, design, and bargaining words that we end up buying products of poor quality at relatively high price, which is not fair. I want you to know that the price of a product should not dictate much on the quality you need.
The other day I went for A Television screen, the shop attendant showed me two screens (not flat, I do not even remember the model). One had 400,000 as the price and the other had 520,000 as the price. I asked the boy, ‘tell, what makes these two TV sets different?’. His reply surprised me, “Look’, he said as he pulled my arm. “The prices are different. Of course, the one with 520,000 shillings price tag is better. Do the purchase nawe”, he totted. I stood speechlessly and then I shot myself out and closed the chapter for the purchase that evening. After two days, I went to town (Samsung TV centre), believe me I bought this medium, I mean, big sized flat screen TV screen of Toshiba Model at almost the same amount as the one I had previously set my eyes on. U to now, my TV screen is still the best.
What is the point? Do not judge the quality of products by their price tags. First find what you want in a product as your quality, then pay the price whether high or low. You see, many people have crammed that Chinese phones, laptops, and other products are not good, but believe me; some of these products beat down those that you trust. I think the focus should be on what you want in a product than the price. And there are these people who think that the world will keep reading the cost of their shirts and watches as they walk by and so they pay a lot in expensive shopping centers only to be surprised by a friend asking, eeeh, by the way, where do you buy these second-hand shirts? In frustration, they fear to be open and say they were cheated and just say, aaah, there are many of these in owino market. Kumbe, a fortune was paid on this shirt that looks like ‘Muvumba’
Well said, look for the quality you want in a product, pay the price whether high or low, that is the best and safest approach to price and quality issues. Truly, there are these products that cost little but look nice and the quality remains for long, that one is known even to Bartholomew, the blind. I do not deny the fact that quality costs a fortune, but this should not be a yardstick. Okay, the order is this: Quality (what satisfies according to you) first, and then Price latter (whatever price). We are done.
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