Recent comments in /f/BuyItForLife

thecaitlynaffair t1_j1l8c07 wrote

Reply to I'm looking for dress shoes by CanadianAviator94

Expensive, but I have had a pair of Gucci Jordaan loafers for 5 years and they still look new. I’ve pounded the pavement with them. For a couple of years they were my daily workhorse.

No need to break in, fit and comfort was perfect right away. Gucci has a repair service and they’ll send and assess for free. They also have a bespoke service if you really want to splurge and get something custom to you. Don’t see myself needing another loafer for at least the next 10 years but I suspect a lifetime.

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APersonWithInterests t1_j1l5obb wrote

Reply to Infomercial Products by extra_broccoli

Generally there are two reasons something is sold through infomercials imo.

Either

A.) They're made by someone who has a great idea and is trying to break into a market, and usually pretty good to great quality and have some useful features. They are solid because they haven't been through several cheapening iterations designed to bring down cost while capitalizing on the good name the product held.

B.) They're utter crap that they can't sell in retailers and need someone to hype it up and make it look good because any store that holds them stops after having to process too many returns.

In my experience B is much more common than A and it can be hard to tell which you're getting without looking up reviews before purchasing.

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APersonWithInterests t1_j1l4ngq wrote

Reply to Online Stores Reliability by [deleted]

There are retailers and there are marketplaces. Marketplaces are always going to have a chance to be fake some other fuckery. You can also check any brands website.

Retailers will almost always sell the authentic product. Walmart will carry the brand they advertise because if Walmart sells a counterfeit of that brand then they're not distributing the product they're contractually obligated to. Any store with a brick and mortar counterpart is generally going to be a retailer and thus you'll have that assurance.

Marketplaces invite other sellers to come in and sell via their store, and some massive brands might have some guarantee you can get scammed on some other products. Marketplaces include Amazon, Newegg, Ebay, Etsy and most other online only stores that carry multiple brands. Marketplaces are nice because you can quickly search product types and compare options, and sometimes they have really easy and hassle free return policies.

The best assurance you can get however is find and buy directly from the brands website. This is good to do for many reasons. It rewards good brands because they don't have to pay a cut to the marketplace, reseller, and/or retailer, you might get additional warrantee protections, and you KNOW you're getting the real thing. Downsides of this is you're might not going to get as fast and/or completely free shipping and sometimes return policies on sites like Amazon are so hassle free that they can be preferable if you're iffy about a product you're buying.

Unless I can find a much better price from a retailer or marketplace I will generally buy directly from the brands website if that's an option, barring that if you must buy from a marketplace there are ways to see if it's being offered through an authentic dealer or a potentially shady reseller.

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jmp242 t1_j1l355t wrote

Reply to Online Stores Reliability by [deleted]

As far as I know, only Amazon does the insane comingling and online marketplace thing that makes counterfits so easy to get. It is frankly insane imo, even AliExpress and eBay have a seller linked to the individual sale so reputation matters to some extent.

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jmp242 t1_j1l2wp9 wrote

Reply to Infomercial Products by extra_broccoli

I think it depends. There's Freaking Reviews on YouTube that tests a lot of these and the quality is all over the place. I have had excellent luck with the Nuwave oven over I think 6 or 8 years. The only issue is don't use the stand for the lid it comes with. Always set it down flat and it seems to go for years and years.

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jinxintheworld t1_j1l1g4l wrote

Reply to Aran wool sweater question by doomaflotch

I'm going to add my two cents as a knitter. If you want something for casual use, merinos going to be ok, but how the merinos spun is going to make a big difference. That's going to be hard to tell if you don't go with a know quality brand, and I wouldn't trust amazon for that. Merino's going to be softer, and it may pill easier, as it has a high micron count (is a thinner fiber).

If you are looking for day in day out out door wear, and you have a high itch tolerance for the places where the sweater may touch your skin (wrists and neck), a rougher wool may be a better option. Be aware that this type of sweater may actually smell a bit sheepy, it's not a bad smell and is mostly the lanolin still present in the wool, which is a good thing.

Most new sweaters not from specialty retailers are not going to fit this description, as the export market doesn't support it. Even the made in Ireland sweaters are mostly high micron count imported Australian and new Zealand wool from what I understand.

Either way a good quality wool sweater is a great investment, and should be viewed as such. Taking good care of it by hand washing and laying flat to dry, and only washing when the garment really needs it. Many sweater knitters I know only wash their hand knits once a season, even in cold climates where they are being worn frequently.

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