My tuppenceworth
(Hello, by the way - I've not been around here much recently).

If you draw a graph of cost on the y-axis versus quality on the x-axis for pretty much any product, you'll get a curve that is sort of exponential in shape. Yes, you can get some distortion towards the bottom, if you're careful and end up buying good quality goods for little money. But generally there's a sort of linear bit, then the curve accelerates upwards as the law of diminishing returns kicks in.

My personal take on things is, if you can afford it, look to buy stuff which is at the upper end of the linear part of the graph. That way you're getting very good quality without spending silly money. Above that point, you're spending more than you need to, and not seeing much improvement for it.

Vipros's example of the £100 shirt is by my reckoning well up the 'silly' part of the graph, whereas the £45 shirt is at the top of the linear region. You can buy a pretty good shirt for that kind of money. Anything more is just wasting money.

Of course, one can always argue about the exact points on the graph as quality is often a matter of personal perception rather than something which can be quantified, but you get the drift.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 14 Apr 2009, 15:53, Reply)