\u00a0 <\/span>I reached back and discovered that the shorts had ripped again.<\/span><\/p>\nThe shorts had now ripped in two different places, and were clearly of inferior quality and as cheap as they looked.\u00a0 <\/span>I wore the shorts less than 10\u00a0times and they were already headed for the trash.\u00a0 <\/span>I had taken a chance on a cheap product, and in this case it didn’t work out.<\/span><\/p>\n4 Tests Before Buying<\/h2>\n Before buying a new product, I usually apply the following 4 tests:<\/span><\/p>\n\nTrust Your Eyes : <\/b> If the product looks cheap, then it probably is. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nThe Label Isn’t Worth It : <\/b>Many generic or store brand items are made in the same manufacturing facility as their brand name counterparts.\u00a0<\/span>A brand name is not necessarily an indication of the quality.\u00a0<\/span>Thus I typically don’t let the brand influence my decision unless I’ve had experience with it in the past.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nMore Than A Feeling : <\/b>I thought the shorts felt thinner than other shorts I own and felt cheap.\u00a0 <\/span>This should have been a red flag that the shorts were not well made.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\nThe Price is Right : <\/b> Price is the one of the biggest factors when I’m contemplating a purchase.\u00a0 <\/span>If the price is within how much I’m willing to pay, I’m willing to think about buying it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nCheap in every aspect<\/h2>\n I don’t rule out purchasing a product just because of the brand, but I do ask myself these four questions before making a purchase.\u00a0 <\/span>In the case of the shorts, the product looked fine, and the brand name was one I was familiar with, and the price was definitely right. For those reasons I overlooked the cheap construction of the product.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis cheap purchase didn’t work out, but it was worth the gamble. I’ll be storing this experience in the vault and drawing from it when presented with another opportunity to purchase inexpensive clothing. \u00a0<\/span>Next time I might choose differently.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This guest post on how to avoid cheap products that aren’t made well comes from Brock at Clever Dude. I don’t put a whole lot of value in a brand name.\u00a0 I don’t assume that a product is of lesser quality just because it’s generic, store brand, or missing the label of the latest fashion …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[231,278],"tags":[292,288,14],"class_list":["post-7295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-money-2","category-shopping","tag-brand","tag-generic","tag-shopping"],"yoast_head":"\n
If It Looks Cheap, It Probably Is<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n