Why Investing In Good Brands Makes Sense for Your Wallet

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Whether you’re shopping for clothes, furniture or personal care items, most shoppers are taught to look for sales and deals and prioritize these purchases before reviewing their options. These other options are generally high-quality brands that do tend to be more expensive. 

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Continually purchasing cheap or poorly made goods can be more ROI-negative for your bank account than you might realize. Investing in good, high-quality brands, though pricey at first, can pay off in the short and long term. Here’s why investing in good brands makes sense for your wallet.

Angela Denae, a sustainable personal stylist at Angela Denae Style Studio, teaches her clients to buy the best clothes they can instead of shopping just for good deals. This is because higher quality purchases, especially clothes, last longer. 

For a shopper to best determine how long items from a clothing brand will last, Denae recommends understanding cost per wear before making a purchase. This is the cost of the item divided by the number of times you can wear it. In addition to the number of times you can wear the garment, shoppers will need to consider other factors. These may include the cost of dry cleaning, repairs of the clothes and how long the garment lasts in the wash cycle.

“Your intention is to only purchase once, instead of replacing the same piece every other season,” Denae said. 

When purchasing a high-quality brand, Denae said you should be able to wear this item with at least three different outfits in your existing wardrobe. Understanding which item to buy, like a high-quality pair of dress pants or jeans, will decrease the cost per wear and allow shoppers to know if it will mix and match with the clothes they already own.

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When it comes to purchasing any kind of seating, be it a chair, stool, bed or couch, opt for high quality first because you will sit on it almost daily, said Stephanie Bertha, owner of Barstool Comforts, a company that sells high-end bar stools made to last for decades of daily use. 

Shoppers who invest in high-quality brands are gifted with furniture built to last. Typically, this type of furniture is made with better-quality materials and uses fewer chemicals. It’s a better investment for your home, your wallet and the environment. 

Bertha cited a recent article from The New York Times about mass-produced “fast furniture.” Not only does poorly constructed furniture not last in the long term, but it continues to clog up landfills in the short term. Cheap furniture that cannot sustain five years or less of use is thrown away by consumers. 

“I always tell my customers quality is an investment,” Bertha said. “Try splitting up the cost by the total years you’re expecting to get use from it and think of it that way.”

When making a purchase of a good brand, pay attention to any warranties or guarantees that come with the product, said Ryan Mckenzie, co-founder and CMO of Tru Earth, a leading manufacturer of eco-friendly household products committed to eliminating plastic from landfills and oceans.

“If they are long-term and comprehensive, it may indicate a higher quality product overall,” Mckenzie said. 

He uses the example of lifetime warranties and satisfaction guarantees. This not only indicates high-quality materials used when making the product, but it may be a sign of trust from the company to its customers that its product is built to last.

If you’re trying to determine a high-quality brand, do a bit of research before making your purchase. 

Take a moment to read some of the customer reviews. You may be able to find these reviews and ratings on the same page as the product for sale. See what people have to say and if you can find a running theme in five-star reviews such as proper fit, comfort or ease in everyday use. Mckenzie also recommends crowdsourcing on social media platforms and forums to get honest feedback from other customers. 

At the core, Mckenzie said it’s more cost-effective to pay for a higher quality product that lasts the owner several years of usage versus purchasing inexpensive options every year. 

There is a domino effect of wins associated with investing in a high-quality, good brand instead of a cheap or poorly constructed brand. Ultimately, less money is wasted on the consumer’s end and there are fewer trips made out and about for replacements. 

It’s also possible to experience joy. “Investing in high-quality products may result in an increased sense of satisfaction due to the product’s performance,” Mckenzie said.