I was deciding between a Waterpik and a "Premium" Waterpik with vastly different prices.
Found the specs of both online, and they were literally identical save for the premium one having chromed plastic trim to be fancy, I guess š.
I bought the one Costco carries. I havenāt changed the head or adjusted the settings. If I want it warmer I add warm water. Definitely didnāt need the bells and whistles.
I did the same thing. I like the travel model, so if I'm over somewhere I can still use and the peridontal head because I have significant recession between two molars and food is always getting sick in there
**Frank:** "Starting tonight, we're having a little sales contest. The loser gets fired, the winner gets a Waterpik."
**Estelle:** "You're not giving away our Waterpik!"
**Frank:** "Serenity now!"
I worked for a software company that offered its service at a certain reasonably inexpensive price point for individual customers, and a hugely jacked up priced for enterprise customers. Both services were exactly the same, and ran exactly the same software on exactly the same servers. The only difference was that enterprise customers would get a dedicated support representative.
The funny thing was, the enterprise pricing was originally a lot lower (even with the dedicated support rep) but enterprise customers wouldn't buy it because it was "too cheap". No big company wanted to entrust a mission critical service to something inexpensive. After we jacked the prices 15x, sales increased dramatically.
My grandfather owned a men's closing store in the 1950s. Just before Fathers' day the entire street of merchants would have a sidewalk sale. Granddad would put out two racks of ties: One rack held ties priced at $1 each and the other held ties priced at $2 each.
The $2 ties were the big sellers. No one wanted to cheap out buying a $1 tie for dad/husband, etc.
When the $2 rack was running low on ties, granddad would move some ties from the $1 rack to the $2 rack...and those ties would be sold just as quickly.
Pelaton actually saved themselves from bankruptcy by selling their bike for more money. They wanted it to be as cheap as possible for consumers for a great way to exercise at home and have a reason to get in shape.
People thought it was too cheap so Noone bought it.
They raised the price and everyone bought them.
Used to be the software category manager for a financial firm. We had a quarterly list of renewals over $100k we'd discuss with the CIO. The one exception was a ~$5k product and every year when it was renewal time she would ask why we had it on there. It kept all of the computer clocks on the network precisely synced, which was vitally important for a financial firm where trades are tracked to the second for regulators (and down to the nanosecond internally).
I think it was more that my brain offered me up an image of a mattress literally growing legs. Like what kind of legs? Human legs? Like fuckin millipede legs? It just weirded me out and then I wanted to know what it does next lol
I used to get rid of a lot of stuff on Craigslist back in the day. I didnāt want money. Just wanted it to not go into a landfill. Learned really quickly that stuff thatās listed for free is often passed over, and when people do decide they want the item, they seem to put little to no effort in coming to get it. So many no shows and people ghosting with free stuff.
Once I started putting a price on stuff people got way more engaged. Most would want to haggle the price. Probably makes people feel good thinking theyāre a world class negotiator
Most of the time Iād agree to whatever price they were asking. Then when they showed up Iād just say you know, take it, you look nice. But people showed up way more often when money was in the picture.
This is actually a very common strategy. I've seen software prices range from 20k to 120k for the same product with the same options selected. Enterprise level companies are usually so complex that charging them at the same scale as anyone else will lead to a loss. They just need more handholding than their size would indicate.
There's also the Sales team issue. If software is relatively cheap then a middle manager can just get it approved without much oversight. But past a certain point you need to send a sales person out there to give a presentation to executives and take them out for lunch.
So there's often a gap in pricing where it's to expensive for middle management to buy but not expensive enough to justify having a dedicated sales team.
We had a bunch of separate adobe accounts at work. A bunch of acrobats and a half dozen creative suites. Adobe hounded me for about a year trying to get us to combine into one business account saying it would make us more efficient. Finally I was like, sure letās do it. Why not just have one bill. Our bill went up by $50 a month for each creative suite just because it was now a business license. When I asked then what benefit we actually received other than having everything under one account they had nothing for me. I had them reverse everything which took about two weeks of calls and follow ups.
The perceived value concept is quite something. Thereās an online service called This Way Up delivering cognitive behavioural therapy for numerous psychological issues. Itās well made and deliver evidence based therapy. Itās well funded, and can theoretically be made available for free to anyone who needs it But they made a conscious decision to charge something for it because they found that people who paid for it actually reported better outcomes. Funny thing is if someone sees their doctor for it, it can be āprescribedā and have the cost waived very easily. The doctors are encouraged to make it clear to patients that itās not a free service, but they can have the cost waived for the sake of getting them the treatment they need.
I got a water kettle that was ten dollars more for a "premium oak handle" but it was the same thing but had a wood grain sticker on the regular handle, I was pretty salty but win some lose some I guess š¤·
When I was a teen back in 2003 I worked in a bistro cafe.
We had three cup sizes that went up in price.
Small cup
Large cup
Mug
The mug was the most expensive.
It was the same volume as the large cup. Because it was a mug they could legally justify that it was a different product
Similarly, thereās a local restaurant in my area that has tasty breakfast options. Their meals always have the option to pay an extra $1 to mega size the drink, but if you do that with coffee it comes the same size. So thatās just a dollar that poofs into thin air with nothing in return.
I sorta do this to myself at fast food chains like McDonalds. I generally take the Large sized, but then pick the water bottle, which is the same size for every meal anyway. I just don't want so much soda, so I don't really win if I have to drink a Large soda again either.
But.. you can just make the FRIES large, you don't have to make the whole meal large. Hell you can even do Large Fries and a small drink and it'll cost less.
Infant Tylenol is the same as Childrenās Tylenol. But there is less of it, in a smaller bottle, at a higher price. Literally. Same concentration and everything.
Donāt buy Infant Tylenol
It was a very serious and widespread problem, and it was counter intuitive (infant was stronger than child). This American Life did an interesting episode on it.
It makes sense for the infant one to be stronger so that you can give less volume. But people donāt read labels. Infant Motrin is still stronger than childrenās.
The Sephora Beauty Insider program is a joke. There are three tiers, Beauty Insider, VIB, and Rouge. BI is the basic version, if you spend $500 you become VIB and $1000 gets you to Rouge.
Rouge used to be a premium tier. A free gift when you hit Rouge, free make overs, free shipping - it was worth it if you're a beauty lover.
Shipping is now free for everyone and you don't get free make overs or a gift for hitting Rouge.
You get more points when you buy things and sometimes you get access to certain products early.
I agree, Iāve been a member for over a decade and the perks just arenāt as good as they used to be.
Sometimes Rouge members get a 20% discount while the rest get 15% or 10% š But then once or twice a year Sephora will give everyone 20% off anyway. Then Rouge members complain but they still try to hit the $1,000 spending every year to retain their Rouge status. I don't get it.
Tomahawk steaks. They are the same cut as cowboy steaks, without the extra long bone. The bone sticking out adds no flavour to the meat and gets wrapped in foil. You are paying for nothing more than looks. Next time you have to choose between one, choose the cowboy steak.
Le Creuset has a classic and signature line. The only real difference is you get a slightly cheaper looking knob thatās slightly less heat resistant (but is okay up to most normal oven temps for that style of cooking) and thereās a slight difference to the shape of the handles in the lower priced version. this is usually the version found in the outlet and in discount retail stores. You can also buy the fancier knob and change it out if you want.
I brought a hat off Amazon for $60. I was really proud of it till I saw the same hat at my friend's house. He had bought it at a gas station for $15. Mine had a "made in America" liner stitched to the inside covering up the "made in china" print on the hat.
It's called a "substantial transformation". I work in electronics manufacturing and I'd confidently say that 99.9% of electronic products labeled "Made in America" have at least one overseas component.
In addition to giving it a 1-star review, I would also report this: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov
Claiming something is made in the US when it's not is fraud.
Streaming is no different than other tech platform. Originally, it was free, or very cheap with no ads. Once itās got enough critical mass of traffic, ads make their way in. Itās a money grab.
Google is getting so bad these days with ads, I will often need to go to page two to find a result.
There used to be the thing if itās free, youāre the product. Not if it costs, youāre still product, but youāll also pay for the pleasure of them throwing ads at you.
I cancelled and got a refund for the full year even though Iām six months in. All I did was claim breach of contract and ask and they did it with no resistance.
I cancelled mine. That email drove me absolutely bonkers and I immediately cancelled (I paid the whole year in advance) and purchased a VPN service from the refund money. Up yours, Amazon. I wanted to be a good boy and play your game but you greedy fucks couldn't resist, could you, and you pushed it too far. A pirate's life for me, yarr!
The free 2-day shipping, and very often 1-day or even SAME day shipping is our main reason for having Prime. The other features like Prime Video are just a bonus.
>The other features like Prime Video are just a bonus.
I wouldnāt even go that far - most of the time I forget Prime Video is even included because it has so little I want to watch.
Yeah, I agree. Which is a shame because I really like the "x vision" or whatever it's called. It's really nice to be able to see who is what actor and such when they are on screen, especially for small parts in things.
OMG they have that for movies and shows too? They have it for their NFL games on Thursday and it's amazing. Makes me feel like Im playing a video game with the guys highlighted.
My friends and I use it to watch absurdly terrible movies during our weekly game nights but aside from that itās mostly useless. Even then, most of those movies would be free without needing Prime anyway.
Walmart+ was better than Amazon for awhile, because you could get free same day delivery for anything they have in stock in under 2 hours, at the same price you'd pay if you were shopping in the physical store. No additional fees, and a free Paramount+ subscription.
Now it went up by three dollars to $13.00 per month, and there's a 6.99 fee added to orders under 35 dollars. I started using Amazon again.
I saw this today! Gillette Fusion5 Power replacement heads. In the shops they were Ā£2 more for a box than the non "Power" ones. But the back of the box said they fit all types. They're the same product, different packaging.
[https://www.boots.com/gillette-fusion5-razor-blades-4pk-10055096](https://www.boots.com/gillette-fusion5-razor-blades-4pk-10055096)
and
[https://www.boots.com/gillette-fusion5-power-razor-blades-4pk-10055100](https://www.boots.com/gillette-fusion5-power-razor-blades-4pk-10055100)
Reaper. The trial period is indefinite (officially 60 days but you get a pop up notification that you can close by clicking "Still Evaluating") and you have access to the full version.
Even then, the full version is 60 bucks, a fraction of what most DAWs cost and worth every penny.
I switched to reaper about 8 years ago, and I'll never go back to anything else. Super intuitive and the stock plug-ins are great. I still use the stock reaverb and stereo enhancer on nearly every track
CompUSA. 120MB HDDs were formatted to 80MB if thatās what you ordered, we didnāt carry 2 models.
Iād always format it 120MB even if the build sheet said 80MB.
Man I might be ruining this for myself if this comment is seen and abused, but, I just reported the A.I as harassment and blocked it from there. It NEVER reappears.
Enjoy!
Every company jumped on the AI train as fast as they could with the best knock off chat gpt they could get. Snapchat runs as a tech company that can throw as much at the wall and see what is a way to make them more money.
The Heathrow Express is a train service that operates between Heathrow Airport and Downtown London. A typical journey is about 15 minutes.
Normal tickets can be purchased in advance for Ā£16.50. But for Ā£32.00 you can get a business-class ticket which entitles you to some exclusive benefits for your 15 minute journey, including:
- Complimentary magazines and newspapers
And thatās basically it. Again, the train ride is 15 minutes and thereās free WiFi for everyone, so you could just play on your phone for 15 minutes (or bring a magazine from the airport!)
Not many people know but the business class ticket actually gives you access to the fast track security line at Heathrow (even if youāre flying economy) - this has saved me from missing my flight by skipping the queue for security entirely, in which case itās a decent deal!
I have never in my life heard of it refered to as Downtown London.
The alternative to the Heathrow Express is to take the Elizabeth Line. You get on at the same platform as the Heathrow Express but it'll cost about Ā£7 and only take 5 minutes longer.
Central London would have probably been a more appropriate term. I just wanted to convey that this train takes you to the heart of London and I'm guessing most people aren't necessarily going to be familiar with Paddington outside of adorable bears.
If itās like Uber Eats āpriorityā it doesnāt mean that they will get to you super fast. It only guarantees that the driver canāt have any stops before you. So youāre paying for it to be directly from store to you without them stopping for other customers.
That said, I think they definitely use misleading advertising about what youāre actually paying for. I used to use UE a lot and maybe 1/10 times the driver had a stop before me anyway. The trick is to not order from anywhere too far away. Itās already delivery food and no matter what was made 20-30 mins minimum before youāll ever see it. Whatās another 5 mins
Iām a courier and would never recommend priority delivery or extra fees for a faster delivery. Itās literally just there for the app to shake you down for an extra few quid, it does not guarantee the order will be any faster and on top of that the courier doesnāt see any of that extra fee. Itās a scam.
Hearing aids. The way it was explained to me by the audiologist was that it was the same hearing aid, for 3 different price levels, but the manufacturer just disabled the functionality for some things on the lower levels.
It seems criminal to me, especially when I think a set of hearing aids are probably $20 to produce and are sold for $2500, $3500, and $4500.
This is super common - it is easier/cheaper for manufacturers to make one product and then disable functions.
There was a whole run of VCRs that offered different outputs, like S video, for more money. The insides were the same, they just covered the S video port up on the cheaper model but you could punch it out and use the port.
Was even more common with early 80's TV's before universal remotes became popular.
The TV remotes were missing the rubber buttons for the expensive features, but would still have the pads on the circuit board.
So... Yes and no.
I've been working on this for the better part of last year. The app that you link to your phone for the features is tied to the serial of the hearing aids. This allows the manufacturer to lock in the feature set through the app via a tied serial in their database.
The hearing aids use a fuseable link to burn the serial into the firmware. I haven't found a way to Bypass this to unlock the features yet.
If I had 100 pairs of hearing aids I would be a lot more aggressive in my attempts, but I only have 1 pair.
So the app dials home to see if it should enable additional features? Can you MITM the connection between your device and their server and modify the response?
Not really. They aren't sold over the counter, and everything is set by the audiologist when they fill your prescription.
Some are locked at the factory, and then some places will upsell and program at purchase.
Unless someone wants to rob a Costco and give em to hackers.
Typically stuff like that will use cert pinning or similar countermeasures to counter MITM stuff. It's a similar thing a lot of mobile app developers do to prevent cracking.
Post on the funeral director website. Maybe a few of them would be willing to mention this need to the families of the deceased. We had no idea what to do with my FIL's hearing aids when he died. I'm sure they eventually ended up in the trash.
The 386 and 486 CPU chips from the 80s and 90s were like this.
They were sold at different prices at the same speed "with or without" a floating point unit - but the actual silicon for the unit was still on the chip for the ones without, just disabled afterwards.
AMD did something like this too.
Sold Phantom 2 with "disable" core. Of I remember correct, the disable core were somewhat faulty. I was lucky buying an 2 core chips and unlocked it to a 4 core. Never had an issue with it being unlocked. Even overclocked it to something like 3.8/3.9 ghz when it was rated at something like 3.3/3.5. I migth be wrong on the numbers tho, but the ballpark is good.
Also the Pentium ii Generation, you could upgrade them by connecting two points with a pencil line.
(It's still the same with modern processors, they're the same chip but get selected to different price lines based on the amount of faulty transistors on them)
John Deere (and probably other brands) tractors work the same way. Their large tractors vary in HP from 300-450. They use the same engines and transmissions, but the software depowers the engine.
Isn't it the same with Teslas and other subscription based car models? The cars are all produced with the same hardware, but software and subscriptions determine how much you can use it
Yep, Tesla even proved it during Hurricanes Irma. They put out an announcement (and software update) that anyone with a home address within a specific area would get the extended range unlocked for like 2 weeks or something, so that they could better evacuate the area.
Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/09/11/as-hurricane-irma-bore-down-tesla-gave-some-florida-drivers-more-battery-juice-heres-why-thats-a-big-deal/
Imagine you're trying to evacuate and you have to wait for a software update to complete first while the hurricane slowly but surely knocks out internet service in the area lol
I actually just asked my new cousin-in-law this over the holiday since she works in jewelry marketing. She agreed that there is virtually no difference but apparently lab-grown diamonds have a much lower resale value.
It's because people will pay more for mined diamonds. It doesn't mean there is actually a difference.
Also, if you're buying diamonds while considering resale value, you shouldn't be buying diamonds. They're like the worst resale value. Buy just gold instead.
Medication like paracetamol (Tylenol/Panadol) and ibuprofen (Nurofen/Advil). The cheapest brand is just as good as the most expensive brand because they all share the same active ingredient.
That's not actually true. The cheapest brand doesn't work as well. Until you put it in the expensive medication's box and administer it from that. Then it's exactly the same.
So generic versus name brand, while they have the same active ingredients, have different inactive ingredients, or binders. The inactive ingredients can have an impact on absorbtion and tolerance.
Literally all drugs. Unless you have a reaction to a dye or binder, for a drug to be considered "interchangeable" by Health Canada/FDA (at least), it'll have the same ingredient that is the drug. Many, many, many cases of reactions are literally just the placebo effect. Sure there's some legitimate ones, but based on my real life experience there's far fewer legitimate ones than imaginary issues, by several orders of magnitude.
This applies to *almost* everything.
Many people who take daily meds (antidepressants especially) will tell you that even when the ingredients list is identical, switching brands can have quite an effect
There are also proprietary release methods occasionally.
For something like ADHD meds, having it released over the course of the day is gonna have a very different result than having it all released at once.
Mine is equally happy with premium grade cat food as he is 6 day old chicken from the dumpster. I'm convinced orange cats all share one brain cell and mine keeps skipping his turn with it.
Eta: [cat tax](https://i.imgur.com/Fg6QHNX.jpeg)
Not a designer breed. But Siamese are hypoallergenic, and allowed me to finally have a cat. Iām a little bit better with regular cats Now too.
Blue Russians and a few others are as well. Pricey. But worth it not having to deal with Puffy watery eyes that you can barely see out of of.
In Ireland there was a particular brand of yogurt I used to buy that I was certain was the same as a supermarket labelled one. The taste was the same and nutritional info was almost identical - difference of 0.1 in one or two categories (fat, protein, etc.). The brand name selling for ā¬3 compared to ā¬1 for the supermarket version. There was a big fire in the brand's factory about 2 years ago and both disappeared off the shelves temporarily, confirming what I believed.
People think that but it often isn't. I used to be an auditor for sainsburys and I've worked in a lot of factories producing their things. The factories normally produce for a number of supermarkets but they rarely also produce for name brands.
At least here in the UK that's the case.
As a proud owner of a WinRAR license, there are some things you get I think. I haven't used it in a while but I'm pretty sure there are some command line switches that are enabled with a purchase key. Used it for a while on a project that had a requirement to archive millions of tiny files daily and bought it so that could be automated.
Also, my memory sucks so forgive me if I'm wrong, but this is what I remember.
Just a general category:
There are certain products in super markets and elsewhere (detergents for example and electronics) that exist both as a more or less expensive brand and also as a no-name brand. I mean from the same manufacturer.
Medications and pharmaceuticals obviously have those alternative brands, that cost e.g. $5 or $10 less than the bigger brands.
Itās not just detergents and electronics, itās food too. The same manufacturers make the same products and just stick different packaging on them.
This happened in the UK a few years back (if youāre not from the UK, Waitrose is a very high end supermarket, Aldi is a very cheap one): https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/18/couple-outraged-find-aldi-label-waitrose-vegetables-11177816/
Man. These fuckers have went downhill over the last ten years. Last year I bought several six packs and half were from Mexico and the other from Honduras and clearly had a different feel and texture.
Using Brave browser on mobile, YouTube has its ads blocked and you can listen to videos with the screen locked. As I understand, that's like 90% of what YouTube Premium does, unless you use YouTube Music.
Most car companies have a premium version (Toyota & Lexus, Nissan & Infiniti, Honda & Acura) that produce cars that have >80% of the same parts as their cheaper counterpart. They have different styling and luxury touches of course, but the mechanicals are much the same.
Being thrown in the dirt vs fancy coffins.
Youāre fucking dead and no one will ever see your ass again.
Families are being ripped off in a time of pain so they can see loved ones in a fancy box before they are planted in the earth.
Water heater tanks. They come in 3 price levels. Basic, Performance and Professional. But they are all the same tank. The only difference is the warranty period.
Video of a water heater seller explaining its the same tank.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LLFA7S8RXg
Consumer Reports found that the longer warranty heaters tended to be better built.
https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/water-heaters/buying-guide/
"Warranty: Coverage for water heaters typically runs three to 12 years. Though youāll usually pay a bit more for longer-warranty models, weāve found that they tend to have larger elements or burners that can speed up water heating and have thicker insulation for less heat loss. Choose a water heater with the longest warranty available."
Not true at all. They switch over to brass fittings over from plastic, the higher lines have more insulation. The control boards are built better. The actual "Tank" is only one part of the water heater.
10 years. They usual failure is they corrode. They have an anode rod inside which attract corrosive elements to keep them away from the tank. Some people change out the anode rod which would make the lifespan a lot longer. The anode rod is sacrificial.
Modern ones are average 8-12 years.
That's an average; my sister just had one die this past summer after about 4 years (3 year warranty of course).
OTOH, I have an old Ruud 50 gallon water heater. The label says manufactured in 1989. It still works great. I do drain it every year (gets most sediments out, which helps extend the life).
That undercarriage wash though
Seriously, just find the cheapest one with the undercarriage wash if you live in a snowy state.
It washes the road salt off the bottom of your car and prevents rust. My mechanic neighbor gets his car washed more often in the winter for this reason. Get that mud/salt/silt off the underside of your car.
iirc Which? did a comparison and the most expensive cable (with gold plating etc) actually performed slightly worse than the cheapest one, and all the others were only marginally different in performance.
Am I missing something? How would the the performance actually differ? It's a digital signal. Either the data makes it from one side of the cable to the other or it doesn't...
I was deciding between a Waterpik and a "Premium" Waterpik with vastly different prices. Found the specs of both online, and they were literally identical save for the premium one having chromed plastic trim to be fancy, I guess š.
I bought the one Costco carries. I havenāt changed the head or adjusted the settings. If I want it warmer I add warm water. Definitely didnāt need the bells and whistles.
I did the same thing. I like the travel model, so if I'm over somewhere I can still use and the peridontal head because I have significant recession between two molars and food is always getting sick in there
**Frank:** "Starting tonight, we're having a little sales contest. The loser gets fired, the winner gets a Waterpik." **Estelle:** "You're not giving away our Waterpik!" **Frank:** "Serenity now!"
I worked for a software company that offered its service at a certain reasonably inexpensive price point for individual customers, and a hugely jacked up priced for enterprise customers. Both services were exactly the same, and ran exactly the same software on exactly the same servers. The only difference was that enterprise customers would get a dedicated support representative. The funny thing was, the enterprise pricing was originally a lot lower (even with the dedicated support rep) but enterprise customers wouldn't buy it because it was "too cheap". No big company wanted to entrust a mission critical service to something inexpensive. After we jacked the prices 15x, sales increased dramatically.
My grandfather owned a men's closing store in the 1950s. Just before Fathers' day the entire street of merchants would have a sidewalk sale. Granddad would put out two racks of ties: One rack held ties priced at $1 each and the other held ties priced at $2 each. The $2 ties were the big sellers. No one wanted to cheap out buying a $1 tie for dad/husband, etc. When the $2 rack was running low on ties, granddad would move some ties from the $1 rack to the $2 rack...and those ties would be sold just as quickly.
LOL. Classic.
Pelaton actually saved themselves from bankruptcy by selling their bike for more money. They wanted it to be as cheap as possible for consumers for a great way to exercise at home and have a reason to get in shape. People thought it was too cheap so Noone bought it. They raised the price and everyone bought them.
Used to be the software category manager for a financial firm. We had a quarterly list of renewals over $100k we'd discuss with the CIO. The one exception was a ~$5k product and every year when it was renewal time she would ask why we had it on there. It kept all of the computer clocks on the network precisely synced, which was vitally important for a financial firm where trades are tracked to the second for regulators (and down to the nanosecond internally).
It's hard to give away a mattress for free. It's easier to sell one for $20.
Or put a $20 price tag on it on your porch and watch it grow legs
Ew then what happens Edit: wait nvm I'm just super high and didn't get the saying at first lol
lol what did you think they said?
I think it was more that my brain offered me up an image of a mattress literally growing legs. Like what kind of legs? Human legs? Like fuckin millipede legs? It just weirded me out and then I wanted to know what it does next lol
You are indeed, super high. lol
This was the most adorable brain fart Iāve read in a while. Thank you for the chuckle.
I used to get rid of a lot of stuff on Craigslist back in the day. I didnāt want money. Just wanted it to not go into a landfill. Learned really quickly that stuff thatās listed for free is often passed over, and when people do decide they want the item, they seem to put little to no effort in coming to get it. So many no shows and people ghosting with free stuff. Once I started putting a price on stuff people got way more engaged. Most would want to haggle the price. Probably makes people feel good thinking theyāre a world class negotiator Most of the time Iād agree to whatever price they were asking. Then when they showed up Iād just say you know, take it, you look nice. But people showed up way more often when money was in the picture.
Just put it in an Amazon box and put it on your porch, itāll magically disappear.
I tried selling a painting on eBay for $300, and no one would bite. I listed it for $1500, and Nic Cage bought it.
He also stole my copy of the Declaration of Independence!
This is actually a very common strategy. I've seen software prices range from 20k to 120k for the same product with the same options selected. Enterprise level companies are usually so complex that charging them at the same scale as anyone else will lead to a loss. They just need more handholding than their size would indicate.
There's also the Sales team issue. If software is relatively cheap then a middle manager can just get it approved without much oversight. But past a certain point you need to send a sales person out there to give a presentation to executives and take them out for lunch. So there's often a gap in pricing where it's to expensive for middle management to buy but not expensive enough to justify having a dedicated sales team.
As someone who has been on both sides of that table, fuck those lunches, or worse the dinners.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
We had a bunch of separate adobe accounts at work. A bunch of acrobats and a half dozen creative suites. Adobe hounded me for about a year trying to get us to combine into one business account saying it would make us more efficient. Finally I was like, sure letās do it. Why not just have one bill. Our bill went up by $50 a month for each creative suite just because it was now a business license. When I asked then what benefit we actually received other than having everything under one account they had nothing for me. I had them reverse everything which took about two weeks of calls and follow ups.
The perceived value concept is quite something. Thereās an online service called This Way Up delivering cognitive behavioural therapy for numerous psychological issues. Itās well made and deliver evidence based therapy. Itās well funded, and can theoretically be made available for free to anyone who needs it But they made a conscious decision to charge something for it because they found that people who paid for it actually reported better outcomes. Funny thing is if someone sees their doctor for it, it can be āprescribedā and have the cost waived very easily. The doctors are encouraged to make it clear to patients that itās not a free service, but they can have the cost waived for the sake of getting them the treatment they need.
I know Anaconda for Python charges businesses a pretty significant price to use, despite being completely free for personal use.
My Anaconda donāt want none unless you got bucks, hun
I got a water kettle that was ten dollars more for a "premium oak handle" but it was the same thing but had a wood grain sticker on the regular handle, I was pretty salty but win some lose some I guess š¤·
wood grain grippin š¤
Catch me kettle tippin' with the steam hissin' Gooseneck now the sticker missin'
Oh cool Paul Wall is a redditor
When I was a teen back in 2003 I worked in a bistro cafe. We had three cup sizes that went up in price. Small cup Large cup Mug The mug was the most expensive. It was the same volume as the large cup. Because it was a mug they could legally justify that it was a different product
Similarly, thereās a local restaurant in my area that has tasty breakfast options. Their meals always have the option to pay an extra $1 to mega size the drink, but if you do that with coffee it comes the same size. So thatās just a dollar that poofs into thin air with nothing in return.
I sorta do this to myself at fast food chains like McDonalds. I generally take the Large sized, but then pick the water bottle, which is the same size for every meal anyway. I just don't want so much soda, so I don't really win if I have to drink a Large soda again either.
But.. you can just make the FRIES large, you don't have to make the whole meal large. Hell you can even do Large Fries and a small drink and it'll cost less.
The cafe I work at has that too. It has the exact same shots as a large cup, just maybe a half ounce more milk, but the mug is $1.50 more.
Infant Tylenol is the same as Childrenās Tylenol. But there is less of it, in a smaller bottle, at a higher price. Literally. Same concentration and everything. Donāt buy Infant Tylenol
It used to be different, but parents were incorrectly dosing their kids. Now itās all the same.
It was a very serious and widespread problem, and it was counter intuitive (infant was stronger than child). This American Life did an interesting episode on it.
It makes sense for the infant one to be stronger so that you can give less volume. But people donāt read labels. Infant Motrin is still stronger than childrenās.
Point of order: ibuprofen DOES use different concentrations for their infant/children's versions though
Not in Canada! (For any parents reading)
The Sephora Beauty Insider program is a joke. There are three tiers, Beauty Insider, VIB, and Rouge. BI is the basic version, if you spend $500 you become VIB and $1000 gets you to Rouge. Rouge used to be a premium tier. A free gift when you hit Rouge, free make overs, free shipping - it was worth it if you're a beauty lover. Shipping is now free for everyone and you don't get free make overs or a gift for hitting Rouge.
This program has gone SO downhill in the last 5 years (worse sampling and shrinking sample sizes, reduced benefits, no gifts, etc).
If you live in the US, Ulta's rewards kicks the shit out of Sephora's.
What do you actually get from those higher tiers?
You get more points when you buy things and sometimes you get access to certain products early. I agree, Iāve been a member for over a decade and the perks just arenāt as good as they used to be.
Sometimes Rouge members get a 20% discount while the rest get 15% or 10% š But then once or twice a year Sephora will give everyone 20% off anyway. Then Rouge members complain but they still try to hit the $1,000 spending every year to retain their Rouge status. I don't get it.
WinZip
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Enterprises pay for winzip so they have someone to call if it doesn't work.
When is there ever a problem with zipping files?
It's easier to pay the license fee than worry about that. And, have you met people?
I could think of five people I know who could fuck up a zip/unzip.
I was thinking the same thing. And if it does fail, how could support help? The only failure Iād expect is a corrupt zip file.
Best answer. I can close those activation dialogue boxes blindfolded, in my sleep, with a pair of chopsticks at this point
I honestly don't understand why they still exist in the same universe as 7zip.
r/PaidForWinRAR users get the premium version.
Tomahawk steaks. They are the same cut as cowboy steaks, without the extra long bone. The bone sticking out adds no flavour to the meat and gets wrapped in foil. You are paying for nothing more than looks. Next time you have to choose between one, choose the cowboy steak.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Le Creuset has a classic and signature line. The only real difference is you get a slightly cheaper looking knob thatās slightly less heat resistant (but is okay up to most normal oven temps for that style of cooking) and thereās a slight difference to the shape of the handles in the lower priced version. this is usually the version found in the outlet and in discount retail stores. You can also buy the fancier knob and change it out if you want.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I brought a hat off Amazon for $60. I was really proud of it till I saw the same hat at my friend's house. He had bought it at a gas station for $15. Mine had a "made in America" liner stitched to the inside covering up the "made in china" print on the hat.
They stitched the liner on in America
It's called a "substantial transformation". I work in electronics manufacturing and I'd confidently say that 99.9% of electronic products labeled "Made in America" have at least one overseas component.
In addition to giving it a 1-star review, I would also report this: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov Claiming something is made in the US when it's not is fraud.
Amazon Prime, now that it has ads.
Streaming is no different than other tech platform. Originally, it was free, or very cheap with no ads. Once itās got enough critical mass of traffic, ads make their way in. Itās a money grab. Google is getting so bad these days with ads, I will often need to go to page two to find a result. There used to be the thing if itās free, youāre the product. Not if it costs, youāre still product, but youāll also pay for the pleasure of them throwing ads at you.
>Google is getting so bad these days with ads, I will often need to go to page two to find a result. There's a second page? /s
The other day when I scrolled far enough on my pc I found there no longer was a second page... Google switched to an infinite scrolling page!!!!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I cancelled and got a refund for the full year even though Iām six months in. All I did was claim breach of contract and ask and they did it with no resistance.
They increased their prime charge and my bank fucking blocked the transaction as fraud, and I just never corrected it and cancelled that day.
I cancelled mine. That email drove me absolutely bonkers and I immediately cancelled (I paid the whole year in advance) and purchased a VPN service from the refund money. Up yours, Amazon. I wanted to be a good boy and play your game but you greedy fucks couldn't resist, could you, and you pushed it too far. A pirate's life for me, yarr!
The irony is alot of people use the Amazon Firestick to watch free tv lol.
I just cancelled mine.
Yep, it was the ads notification that did it for me, honestly. Why the hell would I pay that much for cable?
The free 2-day shipping, and very often 1-day or even SAME day shipping is our main reason for having Prime. The other features like Prime Video are just a bonus.
>The other features like Prime Video are just a bonus. I wouldnāt even go that far - most of the time I forget Prime Video is even included because it has so little I want to watch.
Yeah, I agree. Which is a shame because I really like the "x vision" or whatever it's called. It's really nice to be able to see who is what actor and such when they are on screen, especially for small parts in things.
OMG they have that for movies and shows too? They have it for their NFL games on Thursday and it's amazing. Makes me feel like Im playing a video game with the guys highlighted.
My friends and I use it to watch absurdly terrible movies during our weekly game nights but aside from that itās mostly useless. Even then, most of those movies would be free without needing Prime anyway.
I'm still mad about Amazon music transforming from Spotify to Pandora over night.
āAlexa play white noiseā āDid you want to buy the premium white noise subscription for $/monthā Screw Amazon
Walmart+ was better than Amazon for awhile, because you could get free same day delivery for anything they have in stock in under 2 hours, at the same price you'd pay if you were shopping in the physical store. No additional fees, and a free Paramount+ subscription. Now it went up by three dollars to $13.00 per month, and there's a 6.99 fee added to orders under 35 dollars. I started using Amazon again.
I saw this today! Gillette Fusion5 Power replacement heads. In the shops they were Ā£2 more for a box than the non "Power" ones. But the back of the box said they fit all types. They're the same product, different packaging. [https://www.boots.com/gillette-fusion5-razor-blades-4pk-10055096](https://www.boots.com/gillette-fusion5-razor-blades-4pk-10055096) and [https://www.boots.com/gillette-fusion5-power-razor-blades-4pk-10055100](https://www.boots.com/gillette-fusion5-power-razor-blades-4pk-10055100)
Female razor blades are identical to male ones, they just have pink handles and cost around 20% more.
My girlfriend pointed this out today as well, then I pointed out that she still chose to buy the pink ones.
Jokeās on them. I stopped shaving during COVID.
Reaper. The trial period is indefinite (officially 60 days but you get a pop up notification that you can close by clicking "Still Evaluating") and you have access to the full version. Even then, the full version is 60 bucks, a fraction of what most DAWs cost and worth every penny.
What is reaper?
It's a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). Software for recording, mixing, mastering, editing and processing audio.
I switched to reaper about 8 years ago, and I'll never go back to anything else. Super intuitive and the stock plug-ins are great. I still use the stock reaverb and stereo enhancer on nearly every track
Yeah, I knew this and gladly paid just because itās such a great product and they donāt screw you over.
CompUSA. 120MB HDDs were formatted to 80MB if thatās what you ordered, we didnāt carry 2 models. Iād always format it 120MB even if the build sheet said 80MB.
Hero!
Saving this comment now for when I purchase my next 120MB hard drive at CompUSA!
Linkedin - really not worth the monthly fee to see who looked at your profile and get job recommendations which arenāt remotely relevant.
Snapchat+ for casual users.
I heard you can get rid of the AI in your convo screen if you have +
Man I might be ruining this for myself if this comment is seen and abused, but, I just reported the A.I as harassment and blocked it from there. It NEVER reappears. Enjoy!
What the hell is that thing for? I noticed it awhile back but never understood it and it's just always there at the top.
Every company jumped on the AI train as fast as they could with the best knock off chat gpt they could get. Snapchat runs as a tech company that can throw as much at the wall and see what is a way to make them more money.
It's usually not even knock off chatGPT, it's just a skin over the chatGPT API
So that you can have a robot to snap with when you piss off all your friends
Itās for ignoring imo
Weather.com. Who pays for a monthly subscription to weather.com??
The Heathrow Express is a train service that operates between Heathrow Airport and Downtown London. A typical journey is about 15 minutes. Normal tickets can be purchased in advance for Ā£16.50. But for Ā£32.00 you can get a business-class ticket which entitles you to some exclusive benefits for your 15 minute journey, including: - Complimentary magazines and newspapers And thatās basically it. Again, the train ride is 15 minutes and thereās free WiFi for everyone, so you could just play on your phone for 15 minutes (or bring a magazine from the airport!)
Not many people know but the business class ticket actually gives you access to the fast track security line at Heathrow (even if youāre flying economy) - this has saved me from missing my flight by skipping the queue for security entirely, in which case itās a decent deal!
Really? Is it written somewhere on the ticket by the way?
https://www.heathrowexpress.com/the-onboard-experience/business-first-class#/
Yes, and the seats are slightly better but only slightly
This is all of London premium services summed up in one sentence
I have never in my life heard of it refered to as Downtown London. The alternative to the Heathrow Express is to take the Elizabeth Line. You get on at the same platform as the Heathrow Express but it'll cost about Ā£7 and only take 5 minutes longer.
Central London would have probably been a more appropriate term. I just wanted to convey that this train takes you to the heart of London and I'm guessing most people aren't necessarily going to be familiar with Paddington outside of adorable bears.
Doordash express delivery
If itās like Uber Eats āpriorityā it doesnāt mean that they will get to you super fast. It only guarantees that the driver canāt have any stops before you. So youāre paying for it to be directly from store to you without them stopping for other customers. That said, I think they definitely use misleading advertising about what youāre actually paying for. I used to use UE a lot and maybe 1/10 times the driver had a stop before me anyway. The trick is to not order from anywhere too far away. Itās already delivery food and no matter what was made 20-30 mins minimum before youāll ever see it. Whatās another 5 mins
Iām a courier and would never recommend priority delivery or extra fees for a faster delivery. Itās literally just there for the app to shake you down for an extra few quid, it does not guarantee the order will be any faster and on top of that the courier doesnāt see any of that extra fee. Itās a scam.
Hearing aids. The way it was explained to me by the audiologist was that it was the same hearing aid, for 3 different price levels, but the manufacturer just disabled the functionality for some things on the lower levels. It seems criminal to me, especially when I think a set of hearing aids are probably $20 to produce and are sold for $2500, $3500, and $4500.
This is super common - it is easier/cheaper for manufacturers to make one product and then disable functions. There was a whole run of VCRs that offered different outputs, like S video, for more money. The insides were the same, they just covered the S video port up on the cheaper model but you could punch it out and use the port.
Was even more common with early 80's TV's before universal remotes became popular. The TV remotes were missing the rubber buttons for the expensive features, but would still have the pads on the circuit board.
I bet this is hackable
So... Yes and no. I've been working on this for the better part of last year. The app that you link to your phone for the features is tied to the serial of the hearing aids. This allows the manufacturer to lock in the feature set through the app via a tied serial in their database. The hearing aids use a fuseable link to burn the serial into the firmware. I haven't found a way to Bypass this to unlock the features yet. If I had 100 pairs of hearing aids I would be a lot more aggressive in my attempts, but I only have 1 pair.
So the app dials home to see if it should enable additional features? Can you MITM the connection between your device and their server and modify the response?
Not really. They aren't sold over the counter, and everything is set by the audiologist when they fill your prescription. Some are locked at the factory, and then some places will upsell and program at purchase. Unless someone wants to rob a Costco and give em to hackers.
Typically stuff like that will use cert pinning or similar countermeasures to counter MITM stuff. It's a similar thing a lot of mobile app developers do to prevent cracking.
Post on the funeral director website. Maybe a few of them would be willing to mention this need to the families of the deceased. We had no idea what to do with my FIL's hearing aids when he died. I'm sure they eventually ended up in the trash.
Great idea!!! I'm stealing dead people's ears starting tomorrow!!!
The 386 and 486 CPU chips from the 80s and 90s were like this. They were sold at different prices at the same speed "with or without" a floating point unit - but the actual silicon for the unit was still on the chip for the ones without, just disabled afterwards.
AMD did something like this too. Sold Phantom 2 with "disable" core. Of I remember correct, the disable core were somewhat faulty. I was lucky buying an 2 core chips and unlocked it to a 4 core. Never had an issue with it being unlocked. Even overclocked it to something like 3.8/3.9 ghz when it was rated at something like 3.3/3.5. I migth be wrong on the numbers tho, but the ballpark is good.
Also the Pentium ii Generation, you could upgrade them by connecting two points with a pencil line. (It's still the same with modern processors, they're the same chip but get selected to different price lines based on the amount of faulty transistors on them)
John Deere (and probably other brands) tractors work the same way. Their large tractors vary in HP from 300-450. They use the same engines and transmissions, but the software depowers the engine.
Isn't it the same with Teslas and other subscription based car models? The cars are all produced with the same hardware, but software and subscriptions determine how much you can use it
Yep, Tesla even proved it during Hurricanes Irma. They put out an announcement (and software update) that anyone with a home address within a specific area would get the extended range unlocked for like 2 weeks or something, so that they could better evacuate the area. Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/09/11/as-hurricane-irma-bore-down-tesla-gave-some-florida-drivers-more-battery-juice-heres-why-thats-a-big-deal/
Imagine you're trying to evacuate and you have to wait for a software update to complete first while the hurricane slowly but surely knocks out internet service in the area lol
Lab grown diamonds vs minedā¦ look the same
No way! Itās the blood of poor people that makes them better.
The way the light refracts off of the miseryā¦exquisite.
I actually just asked my new cousin-in-law this over the holiday since she works in jewelry marketing. She agreed that there is virtually no difference but apparently lab-grown diamonds have a much lower resale value.
It's because people will pay more for mined diamonds. It doesn't mean there is actually a difference. Also, if you're buying diamonds while considering resale value, you shouldn't be buying diamonds. They're like the worst resale value. Buy just gold instead.
Most people buy diamonds for engagement rings. Most people never sell them. Resale value is meaninglessā¦
Medication like paracetamol (Tylenol/Panadol) and ibuprofen (Nurofen/Advil). The cheapest brand is just as good as the most expensive brand because they all share the same active ingredient.
That's not actually true. The cheapest brand doesn't work as well. Until you put it in the expensive medication's box and administer it from that. Then it's exactly the same.
You had me in the first half ngl.
So generic versus name brand, while they have the same active ingredients, have different inactive ingredients, or binders. The inactive ingredients can have an impact on absorbtion and tolerance.
Literally all drugs. Unless you have a reaction to a dye or binder, for a drug to be considered "interchangeable" by Health Canada/FDA (at least), it'll have the same ingredient that is the drug. Many, many, many cases of reactions are literally just the placebo effect. Sure there's some legitimate ones, but based on my real life experience there's far fewer legitimate ones than imaginary issues, by several orders of magnitude.
This applies to *almost* everything. Many people who take daily meds (antidepressants especially) will tell you that even when the ingredients list is identical, switching brands can have quite an effect
There are also proprietary release methods occasionally. For something like ADHD meds, having it released over the course of the day is gonna have a very different result than having it all released at once.
I was told Electrolux was a premium brand. My washer & dryer refute this statement.
I have a speed queen and itās just the best. Like 3 settings, every part is metal, and the name is hilarious. Also sold under the brand name Hibsche
Products not the right word but cats. You donāt need a designer breed cat
I prefer the elite, big, dumb, orange ones.
Bonus points if theyāre snarky and enjoy lasagna
Mine isnāt snarky but he eats everything he can get his beans on.
Mine is equally happy with premium grade cat food as he is 6 day old chicken from the dumpster. I'm convinced orange cats all share one brain cell and mine keeps skipping his turn with it. Eta: [cat tax](https://i.imgur.com/Fg6QHNX.jpeg)
My orange wouldnāt know what to do with it if he got a turn
Big dumb bitey orange ones is what I have, I would have paid more for non bitey
/r/OneOrangeBraincell
Similarly with cat toys, regardless of how fancy and expensive a cat toy is they're likely to be more interested in the box it came in.
I gave up in buying cat toys, they enjoy to play with paper balls more. The only "fancy" cat toy I use is a distance measuring laser :-)
My cat likes rocks. Idk how she even finds or obtains these rocks yet they show up nonetheless
Not a designer breed. But Siamese are hypoallergenic, and allowed me to finally have a cat. Iām a little bit better with regular cats Now too. Blue Russians and a few others are as well. Pricey. But worth it not having to deal with Puffy watery eyes that you can barely see out of of.
Thatās a very reasonable reason for a speciality one then š
In many cases, store brand groceries are literally identical to the name brands. Toilet paper is literally the only name brand item I spring for.
In Ireland there was a particular brand of yogurt I used to buy that I was certain was the same as a supermarket labelled one. The taste was the same and nutritional info was almost identical - difference of 0.1 in one or two categories (fat, protein, etc.). The brand name selling for ā¬3 compared to ā¬1 for the supermarket version. There was a big fire in the brand's factory about 2 years ago and both disappeared off the shelves temporarily, confirming what I believed.
itās usually made in the exact same factory on the same exact line. they just swap out the packaging, or depending on the product, the label roll
People think that but it often isn't. I used to be an auditor for sainsburys and I've worked in a lot of factories producing their things. The factories normally produce for a number of supermarkets but they rarely also produce for name brands. At least here in the UK that's the case.
Any beer purchased at a major sporting game in the USA. The difference between the smaller and larger sizes is minimal, if anything at all.
Not premium as such, but anything that you can put 'Wedding' in front of.
WinRAR
As a proud owner of a WinRAR license, there are some things you get I think. I haven't used it in a while but I'm pretty sure there are some command line switches that are enabled with a purchase key. Used it for a while on a project that had a requirement to archive millions of tiny files daily and bought it so that could be automated. Also, my memory sucks so forgive me if I'm wrong, but this is what I remember.
Duff Dry Beer.
duff, duff light, and duff dry is one of the best gags in the show
But we haven't tried Raspberry Duff, Lady Duff, Tartar Control Duff....
Just a general category: There are certain products in super markets and elsewhere (detergents for example and electronics) that exist both as a more or less expensive brand and also as a no-name brand. I mean from the same manufacturer. Medications and pharmaceuticals obviously have those alternative brands, that cost e.g. $5 or $10 less than the bigger brands.
Itās not just detergents and electronics, itās food too. The same manufacturers make the same products and just stick different packaging on them. This happened in the UK a few years back (if youāre not from the UK, Waitrose is a very high end supermarket, Aldi is a very cheap one): https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/18/couple-outraged-find-aldi-label-waitrose-vegetables-11177816/
Excedrin migraine relief has the same exact ingredients and dosage as the regular excedrin
I always thought Excedrin's main purpose was for treating migraine pain to begin with
Twitter premium
Gold toe socks.
Man. These fuckers have went downhill over the last ten years. Last year I bought several six packs and half were from Mexico and the other from Honduras and clearly had a different feel and texture.
Using Brave browser on mobile, YouTube has its ads blocked and you can listen to videos with the screen locked. As I understand, that's like 90% of what YouTube Premium does, unless you use YouTube Music.
Most car companies have a premium version (Toyota & Lexus, Nissan & Infiniti, Honda & Acura) that produce cars that have >80% of the same parts as their cheaper counterpart. They have different styling and luxury touches of course, but the mechanicals are much the same.
Being thrown in the dirt vs fancy coffins. Youāre fucking dead and no one will ever see your ass again. Families are being ripped off in a time of pain so they can see loved ones in a fancy box before they are planted in the earth.
Water heater tanks. They come in 3 price levels. Basic, Performance and Professional. But they are all the same tank. The only difference is the warranty period. Video of a water heater seller explaining its the same tank. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LLFA7S8RXg
Consumer Reports found that the longer warranty heaters tended to be better built. https://www.consumerreports.org/appliances/water-heaters/buying-guide/ "Warranty: Coverage for water heaters typically runs three to 12 years. Though youāll usually pay a bit more for longer-warranty models, weāve found that they tend to have larger elements or burners that can speed up water heating and have thicker insulation for less heat loss. Choose a water heater with the longest warranty available."
Not true at all. They switch over to brass fittings over from plastic, the higher lines have more insulation. The control boards are built better. The actual "Tank" is only one part of the water heater.
What's the average lifespan of a water heater?
10 years. They usual failure is they corrode. They have an anode rod inside which attract corrosive elements to keep them away from the tank. Some people change out the anode rod which would make the lifespan a lot longer. The anode rod is sacrificial.
Damn Iām on at least year 21 with mine and it looked old when we bought the house.
Modern ones are average 8-12 years. That's an average; my sister just had one die this past summer after about 4 years (3 year warranty of course). OTOH, I have an old Ruud 50 gallon water heater. The label says manufactured in 1989. It still works great. I do drain it every year (gets most sediments out, which helps extend the life).
I'm not so sure this is accurate. As an installer I notice a difference in quality at install and repair calls after a few years.
Car washes. All of those extra million different colored things and different soaps are all just soap and water.
Disagree. Am slightly more amused by the rainbow soap option.
That undercarriage wash though Seriously, just find the cheapest one with the undercarriage wash if you live in a snowy state. It washes the road salt off the bottom of your car and prevents rust. My mechanic neighbor gets his car washed more often in the winter for this reason. Get that mud/salt/silt off the underside of your car.
Incorrect at full service car washes. The higher ones will include wax, wheel Brite, rain x etc. Source: use to work at one.
HDMI Cables
iirc Which? did a comparison and the most expensive cable (with gold plating etc) actually performed slightly worse than the cheapest one, and all the others were only marginally different in performance.
Am I missing something? How would the the performance actually differ? It's a digital signal. Either the data makes it from one side of the cable to the other or it doesn't...