paying too little

Below is a quote that has stuck with me for years. I have found it true, over and over again. It is rare to get a bargain. A real bargain. When you get something of value for very little. Normally a "great deal" turns into something else as you have to buy upgrades or repairs to get the thing you purchased at a great price to work as it should have to begin with.

Here is the quote...

 

There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey.

It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little.

When you pay too much, you lose a little money — that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.

The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot — it can't be done.

If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.

— The Common Law of Business Balance, traditionally attributed to John Ruskin.