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Do your expectations increase as price increases?
Do your expectations increase as price increases? Is it one-for-one?
Yes, definitely. It’s not at all true that you get what you pay for, but my expectation is that the higher price will mandate a high quality product in return or else why am I forking over the money for it? These expectations do not impact the rating in my review, but you’ll see my commentary and/or disappointment when a pricey product really flounders or if a budget-friendly product is good in so many ways that maybe it’s still worth looking at despite one setback. Higher price means there is no room for error, but a lower price means it can be easier to settle for an imperfection or two.
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Yes, I agree, if I pay a lot for let’s say a polish, I expect it to stay on my nails for a while and not chip off the moment I do the dishes etc. 🙂
If it’s a brand and/or product that I buy regularly, I expect the standard price increase, every year or so, but I expect the quality to at least stay consistent. However, if it’s a new brand, and it carries an inordinately high sticker price, I expect the price to be justified by quality, not just because it carries a luxury label. A $48 dollar lipstick has to outperform a $7 one *substantially*.
I definitely think it does. I agree with you that you don’t always get what you pay for, but I do have expectations of a higher-end product that I don’t necessarily of a drugstore product. I tend to buy higher-end for a lot of reasons, but I expect certain things when I buy products as a result. I expect it’ll work the way I want it to, that lipsticks won’t dry out my lips and won’t smell like chemicals (perfume is another matter), that the packaging will be on par with the product, and so on. I’m kind of (okay, really) a lot picky about what I like and what I don’t, so if it’s a case of “well, it’s only $5 and for that I can overlook X, Y, and Z” I’ll probably just avoid it rather than have X, Y, or Z drive me nuts.
I couldn’t agree more!
So ironic that this question pops up now. MAC just raised its prices again. So does it mean my expectations will increase as the price increase? Hi-end brands spends a lot of money on the packaging and advertising and that is often what we are paying for.
I expect good quality products regardless of the price. BUT I also do expect more from a product that costs $40 as opposed to a product that costs $4. And I see absolutely no reason why an incredibly expensive product should be bad quality. I understand that not all products can be magnificent and that there are going to be inconsistencies and imperfections, but generally speaking all products should be good quality, but the higher the price, the less room for error.
Not really. I believe 95% of high-end products are only expensive because of the name that’s attached to them. Even if those products are better, it’s only usually marginally. I’d rather spend 5 dollars on a lipstick that wears three hours on me than 40 dollars on a lipstick that wears four. And I also don’t care about impressing other people with flashy brand names. If that’s your thing, fine. But it’s only makeup, you wash it off at the end of the day, which means you’re essentially throwing your money down the drain every day. I just prefer to throw down less of mine. 🙂
@barcodegirl I agree with you 🙂 The high-end brands just spend so much more on advertising and thus have to account these costs with a higher selling price and increase their profit margin even more, because they are “supposed to” represent social status blablabla
svea @barcodegirl You’re right on. I have plenty of experience with inexpensive, excellent products and pricey but underperforming products to know that there is seldom a correlation between price and quality. Luxury brands know that they can command a high price because people will pay for the name and the “prestige” associated with it. Don’t get me wrong, I purchase my fair share of mid- to high-range products, but I don’t expect more of them than I would a less expensive product. And while I certainly appreciate bloggers’ reviews, I don’t really allow it to influence whether or not to buy a high-end product over something cheaper that works just as well.
@Bear Yup! Same here, I purcahse mid-high end products not because they are expensive and are probably better, but simply because they happen to have the product (color, shade) that I like. Bloggers’ reviews give me more a in-depth information about a certain product but sometimes a product works better on one person than another.
Also, with so many DS brands stepping up their game, I’m finding it harder to justify shopping for the higher end brands. Unless a shade really “wows” me, I’m *strictly* DS when it comes to everything except eyeshadow, and even then, I stay at mid-range and palettes.
Absolutely! Why would I pay twice or more as much for a beauty product, if the quality was not better than with a drugstore product? If I pay $48 for a lipstick (hello there, Gouge G) I expect it to be exceptional quality. I wouldn’t dish out hat kind of money for something lacking pigmentation or longevity, while I wouldn’t mind reapplying a lipstick that cost $10 more often. If you pay for a luxury product (and I consider a $50 lipstick luxury) you should get what you pay for.
I agree, definitely yes. If a ten-euro (or dollar) product doesn’t quite live up to my expectations, it’s a shame but I’ll live with it. And like you set, it makes it easier to settle. But a product that costs 5 or even 10 times that, HAS to deliver. I know that a higher price isn’t always a guarantee for quality, but still.
Yes, indeed. While I don’t like wasting money on a crummy product, even if it’s only 5 or 10 bucks, there is no question that when something costs 50 dollars or more, I do expect better from it than I would from a cheaper or “drugstore” product. It is really disappointing when a high end and costly product turns out not to perform, and it is a big waste of money – and how many of us can easily afford to basically throw away 75 bucks on an eye cream that is dreadful or a foundation that looks horrible once applied and doesn’t live up to its claims.
Yes I completely agree with you!
YES! But, cheap and mediocre isn’t cutting it for me anymore either. I blame you, Ms. Christine Goddess of all things Cosmetic.
Absolutely! I’m so sick and tired of forking over tons of money for a product that just doesnt deliver! Especially when it comes to pigment in eyeshadow!
Yes but not way too much because I am totally aware of the fact that sometimes we are paying for a brand’s name.
Of course!
Yes. It should be better
I expect good quality so I’m even more disappointed when something pricier isn’t that exciting. I also am quicker to return poor performing more expensive items.
*Absolutely* I am not a label whore – so if a product is particularly costly, it needs to be worth the price. As you can imagine, there are very few high end products in my kit – most I have tried are simply not any better than mid-level or even drugstore products.
Am I more upset if I spend the money and it’s a dissappointment? Certainly it hurts to lose the money, so the more money I lose the more it hurts, but I guess I find the idea, that you should expect less from a brand or product because it costs less to be sort of patronizing and elitist. I don’t really expect better because something is more expensive. I will pay for high end if it’s something I want, but I don’t go in having higher expectations in regards to the quality. I expect good quality no matter what I pay.
I totally agree with Christine on this one! The more I spend on a product, the more I expect the product to deliver EVERYTHING it’s supposed to as claimed by the company. I also am less likely to “work” with an expensive product to make it work for me. However, when it cones to cheaper makeup, my default mindset is to have low expectations because of the price. This concept works well for me because I’m never disappointed in a bad product that was cheap, and I’m pleasantly surprised when the product works as stated. And no matter whether it’s high or low end, if it’s a bad product that doesn’t work for me, it’s returned!
Darn straight! Although I love makeup, it is usually a luxury item for me. If I spring for the expensive stuff, I want it to work perfectly! It’s the same with clothes or art supplies or anything, you expect more $ to equal better quality.
Yes, definitely. I expect longer wear, smoother texture, easier blendability, better application. Pigmentation appropriate to the name claim “sheer, pigmented, whatever” For shimmer products I expect the shimmer to be more refined, or complex.I also expect the packaging to be better, sturdier, that will hold up for travel. Lettering won’t wear off. A Sleeker look.
yes absolutely however not all expensive makeup item are good. I have bought items that were pricey and they just didn’t work for my skin.
They most certainly do! Though as time goes on, collections roll out and prices rise and rise I find myself predictably disappointed. I am now willing to pay more then I ever was in the past and yet find some of these HE products completely lacking in quality & originalty. I’m becoming quite gun shy and really should just shop my own ridiculously large stash. It’s not nearly as in as it once was to feed this addiction, and for me it most certainly is one. Maybe it’s time to start working the steps, because now I’m out a lot of money and not receiving the satisfaction that once fed my Monster.
A friend of mine only wears the cheapest drugstore makeup, I’m talking Wet n’ Wild and NYC, and her face always looks like a million bucks. Some women buy expensive makeup for their names, like Chanel and Guerlain, and they still look like your average gal. It doesn’t matter how much you pay for it or what you expect from it, if you’re buying it purely for the brand, the snobbery will somehow show through. It’s like another commenter said…what’s the point of spending 60$ on a lipstick that you will wipe off anyway when you can get the same thing from a 7$ one that will do the same job?
It is quality…..not just the name….though I admit some high end products is crap.
Abso-fricking-lutely. One of the reason I still haven’t forked over the cash for Chanel or Guerlain eye shadow is because I don’t see the quality as being better than Urban Decay’s.
Yessss
Yes, of course 🙂
I would say so. If I purchase a lower end product and I’m not happy with it, I am going to be far less disappointed than if it were a higher end product. I expect the same level of customer service from any brand, though!
Hella YES!! I’m one of those people who returns cosmetics if it does not perform well. If a company is going to make a claim, it had betterlive up to that claim!! I try not to buy an item and return it because I hate that ‘look’ CS gives. LOL!I feel that if a lipstick is already $20 and it increases to $23, it had better perform better than it did at $20. I know that does not happen all the time.I have no issue paying more as long as that product performs better than the original price it had. I don’t mind spending more for a label name (I’m not a label whore LOL! but I have a couple of companies I have been loyal to for many many years) but it had better perform 100xs better than it’s drug store counterpart. Drug store cosmetics have come a very long way lately and the more I visit Wam-Mart, Walgreen’s and CVS’s cosmetic areas, I am more and more impressed with what I see and what I buy. I know paying $1 for a cosmetic item probably won’t perform that well, though I have become ever so surprised with ELF’s products.
I have a problem with mid-range brands having prices that get into HE territory, and this is rampant in the country where I live. It is to the point where I have no reason to buy MAC when Chanel and Dior are only a few bucks more- it isn’t worth saving money if the price of skipping a coffee will get me HE. I don’t buy HE for the price, but I do buy for packaging. Quality wise, for example, I think Bourjois and Chanel are reasonably close to buy Bourjois if you wanted to save a few, but the Bourjois packaging is so cheap that the Chanel will withstand a ride in my purse better. Regardless of price, drugstore mascara here is not sold in a sealed package, so if I am in the US I buy drugstore, and here I am forced to buy something that hasn’t been sitting in a display, open.
Of course!
Yes!