tankman1989
Active Member
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Due to the fact that the majority of the products which are sold in the US are made outside of the US, there is an ever increasing reason to build products with a shorter life span and some items have what is called planned obsolescence. An example of this may be an electric can opener. Your grandmother may have one which she purchased in the 50's of 60's and it is a solid, heavy appliance. She may have paid $30 (in today's dollars) for this piece of equipment. Now you, being a young adult, may just have purchased a new electric can opener (let's say an Oster Metallic Electic Can Opener, from Target) for $19 + tax. Now this can opener may look a lot nicer than your grandmothers and does the same job but I am willing to put good money on that this device will not last more than 3 years with the same use that your grandmother's can opener endured. When this item breaks, most people don't look to get it fixed, they simply throw it out.
Now what I want to know is why can we not build a can opener that is as good as the one your grandmother had, that will last just as long, for the same price as the one you just bought at Target. With the advances in technology and manufacturing, surly this can be made to last basically forever under normal use (not trying to cut the edge off a car rim or something like that). I think there are a number of factors at play here. First is the use of plastics. While they are great for some applications because they are cheap, light in weight, easy to produce in the shape which is needed, and plastic is somewhat plentiful. The problem with many plastics is that they are not as durable as metal. In the case of the can opener, there are gears and cogs that have teeth on them. When the can is mis-aligned or some other mal-function happens within the machine, these teeth can be stripped rendering the device useless. Now if these were made of metal, the same thing could happen, but it is much more likely that it would cause a built in protection breaker to pop and the gears wouldn't be ground down. Even if there wasn't a breaker, the metal gars can take magnitudes more abuse than the plastic gears.
To make things even worse, the plastic isn't that much cheaper than the metal as steel is very cheap and plastic, which usually is a petroleum based product, can fluctuate with the cost of oil which is manipulated by investment speculators, wars, governments, etc.
Anyway, now that you have a destroyed can opener, you have to dispose of it and buy a new one. You may look for a better one but you are probably going to find that all the good ones still utilize a lot of plastic somewhere within the product. Only when you find a commercial product, which may cost you $150-300 FOR A CAN OPENER! Will you find one that has all metal parts and will hold up to the one that your grand mother had. Why is this?
Let's estimate that a family of 5 will go through one can opener ever 4 years for 30 years (we will say 8 can openers). Now lets figure out how much these can openers actually cost you over the long run, and where the money is going. (I am not figuring in inflation as that is too difficult and doesn't really effect the outcome as we are talking in REAL dollars)
Target $19.00 x state/local sales tax (7.35%) = 20.40 ($1.40 state sales tax)
8 purchases from Target = $152
8 Purchases Tax collected = $11.20
Total for the 8 purchases = $163.20 out of your pocket
(Note avg state sales tax is calculated using a weighted system where the state's population is taken into consideration, eg California's 9.15% is weighted greater than Wyoming's 5.4%
Now compare that to Grandma's 55 year old $30 can opener.
Now, you also have to realize that the government makes a lot more money than the $11.20 on these can openers. I will list what I know of but I am sure that I will miss some. This will be the last list after we figure out the total cost of these pieces of junk.
Unseen expenses in acquiring the can opener
Consumer drives to and from store (15 miles) ¾ gal gas @ $2.75 = $2.06
8 trips = $16.48
Wear and tear on car 21.4 cents / mile = $3.21 (Figures from a government commuting cost site)
8 trips = $25.68
Total gas wear & tear = $42.16
Now the total that is being spent on these can openers over the 30 years is money that is available to you AFTER tax. I am going to assume that the average tax rate is 28% (Fed, State, Local, Social Sec, unemployment, etc)
Total Out of pocket after tax money = $163.20 + $42.16 = $205.36
To buy these can openers, you need to make money. Figuring a 28% tax rate, you would have to make $285.22 at your job, as a 28% deduction would leave you with $205.36. This would take you14.5 hours @ $19.75, or 43.5 hours at minimum wage.
So the actual cost you you is $285.22 (before taxes) for these cheap pieces of crap can openers.
Now you have to factor in your time to acquire these can find and acquire these can openers.
Time spent going to Target, in store, buying, at home unpacking, etc = 50 mins
National median income = $39,509 or $19.75/hr
At 50 mins per trip this equals $16.46 or $131.68 after the 8 trips.
I am also going to assume that many savvy shoppers will look for the best deal and I am going to include 1 hour total for all 8 can openers researching for sales, ad's INTERNET etc = $19.75
The total time lost in this process is 7.67 hours at the median income level of $19.75/hr your out $151.43
At the end, here is what these inferior products are taking from you: $436.65!!!!!
That comes out to $54.58 per can opener! You could have purchased two commercial/industrial quality can openers for this price and they would have worked much better and probably looked nicer. They probably would be much more functional and not leave sharp edges on the opened cans.
Now, here is where the money goes:
Gas tax
transport from china (shipping)
Shipping from docks to warehouse distribution center for manufacturer
Manufacturer distributes to retailer
Retailer distributes to Local store/outlet
Consumer drives to/from location
Import Tariff
Tax that goes to the Fed to bring product into country
Federal Corporate Income Tax
Retail store pays cooperate income tax on product sold
State income tax
Retail store pays cooperate income tax on product sold
Local Income Tax
Retail store pays cooperate income tax on product sold
Now, tell me, is it in the GOOBERMENT's best interest to create products which last a VERY long time and are the best quality?
Now what I want to know is why can we not build a can opener that is as good as the one your grandmother had, that will last just as long, for the same price as the one you just bought at Target. With the advances in technology and manufacturing, surly this can be made to last basically forever under normal use (not trying to cut the edge off a car rim or something like that). I think there are a number of factors at play here. First is the use of plastics. While they are great for some applications because they are cheap, light in weight, easy to produce in the shape which is needed, and plastic is somewhat plentiful. The problem with many plastics is that they are not as durable as metal. In the case of the can opener, there are gears and cogs that have teeth on them. When the can is mis-aligned or some other mal-function happens within the machine, these teeth can be stripped rendering the device useless. Now if these were made of metal, the same thing could happen, but it is much more likely that it would cause a built in protection breaker to pop and the gears wouldn't be ground down. Even if there wasn't a breaker, the metal gars can take magnitudes more abuse than the plastic gears.
To make things even worse, the plastic isn't that much cheaper than the metal as steel is very cheap and plastic, which usually is a petroleum based product, can fluctuate with the cost of oil which is manipulated by investment speculators, wars, governments, etc.
Anyway, now that you have a destroyed can opener, you have to dispose of it and buy a new one. You may look for a better one but you are probably going to find that all the good ones still utilize a lot of plastic somewhere within the product. Only when you find a commercial product, which may cost you $150-300 FOR A CAN OPENER! Will you find one that has all metal parts and will hold up to the one that your grand mother had. Why is this?
Let's estimate that a family of 5 will go through one can opener ever 4 years for 30 years (we will say 8 can openers). Now lets figure out how much these can openers actually cost you over the long run, and where the money is going. (I am not figuring in inflation as that is too difficult and doesn't really effect the outcome as we are talking in REAL dollars)
Target $19.00 x state/local sales tax (7.35%) = 20.40 ($1.40 state sales tax)
8 purchases from Target = $152
8 Purchases Tax collected = $11.20
Total for the 8 purchases = $163.20 out of your pocket
(Note avg state sales tax is calculated using a weighted system where the state's population is taken into consideration, eg California's 9.15% is weighted greater than Wyoming's 5.4%
Now compare that to Grandma's 55 year old $30 can opener.
Now, you also have to realize that the government makes a lot more money than the $11.20 on these can openers. I will list what I know of but I am sure that I will miss some. This will be the last list after we figure out the total cost of these pieces of junk.
Unseen expenses in acquiring the can opener
Consumer drives to and from store (15 miles) ¾ gal gas @ $2.75 = $2.06
8 trips = $16.48
Wear and tear on car 21.4 cents / mile = $3.21 (Figures from a government commuting cost site)
8 trips = $25.68
Total gas wear & tear = $42.16
Now the total that is being spent on these can openers over the 30 years is money that is available to you AFTER tax. I am going to assume that the average tax rate is 28% (Fed, State, Local, Social Sec, unemployment, etc)
Total Out of pocket after tax money = $163.20 + $42.16 = $205.36
To buy these can openers, you need to make money. Figuring a 28% tax rate, you would have to make $285.22 at your job, as a 28% deduction would leave you with $205.36. This would take you14.5 hours @ $19.75, or 43.5 hours at minimum wage.
So the actual cost you you is $285.22 (before taxes) for these cheap pieces of crap can openers.
Now you have to factor in your time to acquire these can find and acquire these can openers.
Time spent going to Target, in store, buying, at home unpacking, etc = 50 mins
National median income = $39,509 or $19.75/hr
At 50 mins per trip this equals $16.46 or $131.68 after the 8 trips.
I am also going to assume that many savvy shoppers will look for the best deal and I am going to include 1 hour total for all 8 can openers researching for sales, ad's INTERNET etc = $19.75
The total time lost in this process is 7.67 hours at the median income level of $19.75/hr your out $151.43
At the end, here is what these inferior products are taking from you: $436.65!!!!!
That comes out to $54.58 per can opener! You could have purchased two commercial/industrial quality can openers for this price and they would have worked much better and probably looked nicer. They probably would be much more functional and not leave sharp edges on the opened cans.
Now, here is where the money goes:
Gas tax
transport from china (shipping)
Shipping from docks to warehouse distribution center for manufacturer
Manufacturer distributes to retailer
Retailer distributes to Local store/outlet
Consumer drives to/from location
Import Tariff
Tax that goes to the Fed to bring product into country
Federal Corporate Income Tax
Retail store pays cooperate income tax on product sold
State income tax
Retail store pays cooperate income tax on product sold
Local Income Tax
Retail store pays cooperate income tax on product sold
Now, tell me, is it in the GOOBERMENT's best interest to create products which last a VERY long time and are the best quality?
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