Always laughed at the $1 tape dispensers until I did the math on that

I used to walk right past those cheap tape dispensers at Dollar Tree thinking they'd break in a week. Then I noticed they're the same basic design as the brand name ones at the hardware store for $8. I grabbed one out of curiosity 4 months ago and it's still going strong on my workbench. Turns out the Ace Hardware one I had before cost me 8 times more and died after 6 months because a spring popped out. So I actually got a sturdier product for less money, which feels backwards but here we are. Anybody else find a dollar store tool that outlasted the expensive version?

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wesleyburns3mo ago

Oh man, I wonder if the cheap ones actually have simpler mechanisms with fewer failure points, so there's less to go wrong in the first place. Maybe the expensive brands are overengineering stuff that breaks easier.

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sam_anderson3mo ago

Right there with you, simpler stuff usually just works longer.

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