I’m looking over a new pair of shoes I recently bought. My feet hurt after walking a few miles in them, so I inspected the insole area, and it was the cheapest 5mm foam imaginable with no other structural support. Below that is basically just the rubber sole. This shit cost $100.

This isn’t my first rodeo with overpriced, shitty shoes, so I always have a set of superfeet inserts on standby. Huge improvement, but fuck, why does everything have to be a rip off? Those inserts are $50 for some nicer foam and a simple sliver of molded plastic.

This brings me to the thread title: When was the last time you felt like you got your money’s worth for an item?

  • SpiderFarmer [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    17·
    3 months ago

    My local Chinese restaurant today. They upped the prices a bit, but it’s still dirt cheap for some of the best food in town. The owner (who loves me to bits, as I’m a generous tipper), went so far as to throw in a free cookie on today’s meal.

  • D61 [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    11·
    3 months ago

    Etnies sneakers, definitely. Bought a pair … shit… its got to be over 5 years now and they’re still in serviceable shape for something that I would wear for 10+ hours doing receiving/stocking work. Spent something like 50$ US for them. Bought another pair last year for about the same price, hope they last at least half a long.

    Currently thinking that buying a cast iron tortilla press last December as my “christmas” present to the house will probably be another one of my “good value purchases”. Been making soft tacos once a week for the last month or so. I think I finally found the cast iron model I had been eyeballing for years, priced around 50$ after shipping.

      • D61 [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
        3·
        3 months ago

        Never being a skater but having heard of a few brands… found some at Walmart or Payless Shoe Source and they all were garbage.

        I gambled years ago at buying blind from an online vendor and eventually found the Etnies website. One of the few times that I actually “won” when gambling on something.

  • Bigoldmustard@lemmy.zipEnglish
    9·
    3 months ago

    I bought some red wings for work because I needed steel toe to occasionally move pallets and they’re just over a year old now and still awesome. Just need new insoles every few months. I average 5 miles of steps a day in them.

    Before this I was buying running shoes every 3-4 months.

    I think nearly any boot could provide this longevity for light duty stuff, it’s the foam that fails first on shoes in my experience.

    • radio_free_asgarthr [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      5·
      3 months ago

      I bought a pair of Red Wings over a decade ago when I was still doing agriculture work. I kept using them as rain, winter, and hiking boots and only a few months ago had the layers of the sole delaminate. Though I was told their quality has gotten significantly worse over the last decade, so I wasn’t sure if I should buy again. I’ll check them out again.

    • NeelixBiederman [he/him]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      3·
      3 months ago

      I have several pairs of Kodiak work boots, and they are fantastic with inserts, definitely more comfortable than most regular shoes, and plenty durable

  • oscardejarjayes [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    9·
    3 months ago

    Having one really good mechanical pencil and one really good pen is so useful. It doesn’t really cost all that much, and you’ll never need to buy another one.

    Used computers is probably the most recent time I felt I got my moneys worth. Quite decent ThinkPads can be had for below $200, even. I’ve also probably spent more time tinkering around with my homelab (all very old hardware) than playing videogames.

  • dudes_eating_beans [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    9·
    3 months ago

    I got a first gen kindle like 7 years ago from a thrift store for $5. Definitely would’ve paid upwards of $20 for one. (I have no idea how much they actually cost)

  • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    9·
    3 months ago

    I managed to snag a refurbished Optiplex 7050 for 90 bucks on ebay during Black Friday. It had its hard drive, RAM, and power adapter. It didn’t come with a wifi antenna, but I just used an antenna from a broken network card I had lying around. Pretty solid deal all around, especially considering it wound up being more powerful than my decade old mid-tier-for-its-time gaming PC.

  • Poogona [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    8·
    3 months ago

    People have said weed already in this thread and I hadn’t considered that, but it’s true

    I bought 300 bucks of legal weed at a shop and it is over a year later and I am not even 2/3rds of the way through it, it’s so strong I only need a little bit for a whole evening

  • happybadger [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    7·
    3 months ago

    I pay about $180 for my hiking boots with insoles. My last pair survived well over a thousand miles of harsh mountain terrain. My current ones have maybe 300mi and they’re barely scuffed. I would wager that both were produced before COVID and the latest round of shrinkflation though.

  • MineDayOff [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    6·
    3 months ago

    Bought a very expensive pair of danners many years ago and I was very unsure. But I can confidently say that these boots are the best that I’ve ever had. Takes a while to break them in sure, but no complaints.

    • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      5·
      3 months ago

      100% agreed I felt ridiculous buying mountain lights off eBay 2 years ago but now would happily pay full price if I ever lost them, because that’s the only way I’ll ever need to have these boots replaced