apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I pay more for less all the time. It's not fair.

Mostly, it has to do with economies of scale...companies make standard (read: bigger) sizes because that's what most customers buy, so the higher costs are actually cheaper per unit because so many units are made and sold.

I have found cheaper items in Europe, but I have also found that most companies will not ship to the U.S. When I am able to find the item here, it is 50% more than the one in Europe. The retailer tells me this is due to import duties.

So...I am going to start investigating Canadian companies. Has any ATer gone this route?

quality over quantity.

it is annoying. i've been looking for a small dishwasher or a single dishdrawer style dishwasher and they're stupid expensive.

Ya, I had this problem when I was looking for a fridge, I have a galley kitchen and I wanted it to be flush with the lower cabinets, but apparently only high end manufacturers (with high end prices) make counter depth fridges. So I have a monstrosity of a fridge. And what is the point of a deep fridge anyways? Stuff gets lost and goes moldy.

red.door.read, my parents have an awesome and tiny dishwasher by zanussi. you might look into them. I am not sure where they got it in the US, though...
good luck!

Since I'm single and have no kids, I'm always paying more for stuff. Going to the grocery store is a little bit of an ordeal since they sometimes have good sales on things that require you to buy enormous quantities at once.

Just like buying a designer bikini!

dja, right on about the refrigerators! Why are they so huge and ugly? Cabinet-depth refrigerators should be the standard. The jutting-out refrigerator ruins so many otherwise attractive kitchens.

I run into this dilemma in every aspect of my life. Small = more expensive. I have a tiny apartment, and I am a petite woman. This isn't a problem only in interior decor; try finding a woman's suit in a size 0 petite! Sheesh!

"Just like buying a designer bikini!"

...and Mini Coopers.

As far as furniture, it's the two ends of the sofa that cost the most money (arms, legs, etc) - the space in the middle isn't that expensive, so most 60" or 72" sofas won't cost much less than a comparable 86" or 96" sofa.

It's the same with appliances: compressors, pumps, motors, valves, transformers, buttons and electronics cost the same regardless of the size of the box that they're put into and the labor to assemble the smaller items are the same, yet smaller appliances often have lower tolerances since there's less space to waste, and they're made in lower numbers so that the cost of engineering is spread among fewer units - so the cost to build a 12 cu/ft refrigerator isn't going to be much less than a comparable 15 cu/ft, and an 18" wide dishwasher will often cost as much as a comparable 24" wide unit.

Big Chill Fridge - the studio is only slightly cheaper than the full size model, but it fits under the ceiling of my kitchen. My other option was SMEG, but the word disgusts me, the doors were made of plastic, and the price was around the same.

Hot tub - I didn't want porn-sized, so I went with a two-seater. It cost more than the four seaters from the same company.

Sheet sets - I can always wait to purchase queen or king sized sheets - when they go on sale at Bluefly, Egyptian Peddler, and Company Store. Full-sized sheets are never on sale and rarely available in the style that first caught my eye.

Good rugs - 9x12 seems to be a standard and that size goes on sale frequently. Jump down to 6x9 and the prices/discounts never follow. The turkish antique rugs are brutal in this department. Dealers usually have prayer rugs, runners, or moth food in the smaller sizes.

Yup. It doesn't bother me too, too much, but it can get erksome, when a fridge twice the size cost LESS than your tiny apartment size one.

Yep, I had the same 'problem' when buying a narrow dishwasher. I didn't get why until I read bepsf's comment above... of course!
http://notyourgoddess.blogspot.com/

I'm planning to move to a smaller house this summer and I started looking online to price appliances. Compact models all cost a lot more (sometimes twice as much) than "standard" size ones, which I don't need since I'm just one person (and 2 dogs). The house has a tiny kitchen and I'd gain valuable space by getting slimmer appliances (gas range, refrigerator). Unfortunately, I'm in Texas so whenever I ask for the smallest a store has, I get a funny look.

It isn't just the cost of manufacturing that goes into making things. It's also inventory, marketing, and overhead--most of which are not affected much by the size of the product being sold. Also, smaller appliances tend to be built by foreign manufacturers, whose prices are higher to begin with. It's a lot like cars!

bepsf, I agree those are probably the reasons why smaller appliances would be the same price as larger appliances, but I don't understand why I can buy a regular fridge for $200 but an under-counter fridge is going to be more than a grand.

The fact that these things aren't made standard brings up even more questions: why aren't they? Refrigerators are always hideous! Why don't more people jump on the hidden fridge bandwagon and drive the price lower?

For that matter, where's Ikea when you need them?

Anyone who has ever bought shoes for children knows this phenomena.

waitwait,theres, I would hate having an under the counter fridge. I think the way the fridge looks probably doesn't bother most people (me, for example). But I'd take a bigger fridge anyday. I had one of those smaller fridges in my dorm in college and even for 2 of us it was a pain. You just can't fit that much in it, and forget about leftover boxes. So, if you have kids, I can imagine how much more inconvenient that would be.