r/BuyItForLife • u/elgarfarade • 13h ago
Discussion Can we please stop with the uselessly unspecific recommendations for “good” and “quality” items?
Hear me out (or don’t idgaf)
Half of the posts that come up for this sub are along the lines of “what item did you not cheap out on that you now SWEAR by”. And the answers are almost all:
“a GOOD blender”
“a QUALITY so and so”
WHAT DO YOU MEAN. I’m here for recommendations of specific items that YOU have personally tried and tested. That’s the power and value of a community like this.
I don’t need you to tell me that the good, quality item you bought has, lo and behold, held up over time!
Also, how do I know what “good” or “quality” means to you when you’re providing a grand total of ZERO metrics which I should be looking for, or prioritising over others.
We get it. You’re over the moon your purchase has lasted and/or your research was well invested. But dear lord stop the meaningless bloating of this otherwise useful sub. Give me SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS.
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u/Landstander2600 13h ago
This sub is mostly bots and ads. Sorry, homie
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u/elgarfarade 12h ago
It didn’t used to be. I would say how sad, but it’s more just a numb feeling of “meh” as another thing I once found useful turns into useless slop
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u/RelativelyRidiculous 5h ago
I never see any of the real stuff on here anymore because of the bots. I find out in other weird places like the video from the fashion dude who explains fashion history.
Recently learned the Wollaston company that used to make Doc Martens back when they were of good quality now makes their own brand called Solovair the way that Doc Martens used to be made with quality leather and solid shank which is why they used to wear like iron. Now they're made in random factories in Asia with loose fiber leather and a foam shank so they wear like the cheap knock off of the original they really are now.
Also learned if you were a fan of the old school Converse which also used to be much better quality, purchase Japanese-made Converse. A company there bought rights and patterns, and makes them so much better quality than the ones that are made for sale in the US. .
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u/TingsInMaSocks 5h ago
Even the NPS (I think this may be the Wollaston you're talking about) Dr Martens like Solovair and Gripfast aren't that great.
Better than chinese Dr Martens.. yes.. but that's a low bar.
Get some William Lennon boots instead.
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u/triumphofthecommons 7h ago edited 5h ago
i'm certain these low-effort posts are almost entirely AI bots, which post, then answer the post with XYZ product that they are employed to push, and in so doing populates reddit with "highly recommended" XYZ product.
recently read that roughly 40% of reddit posts are people (bots?) asking for shopping advice.
eta ref: “Reddit interestingly told me that 40 percent of the conversations on the platform are commercial in nature, meaning, what should I buy? Doing research about products, reviews about something I did buy, 40 percent, that is a huge amount.”
From Today, Explained: The last real place on the internet, Aug 17, 2026
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u/elgarfarade 7h ago
Just insane stats. Surely there’s a way to filter them out and ban them. But even if so, does Reddit even want to do that if it drives their traffic
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u/transemacabre 3h ago
Some subs are hit harder than others. Basically all the frugal, poverty, and eating on a budget subs are borderline useless now from how botted they are. Millennials sub, I don’t think there’s a single OP written by an actual human on there. Whereas subs like xmen seem bot-free or nearly. I think a lot of it is mods, whether they care or are capable of recognizing AI slop.
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u/triumphofthecommons 5h ago
here's the discussion: “Often, yes. Reddit interestingly told me that 40 percent of the conversations on the platform are commercial in nature, meaning, what should I buy? Doing research about products, reviews about something I did buy, 40 percent, that is a huge amount.”
From Today, Explained: The last real place on the internet, Aug 17, 2026
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u/wkbz 6h ago
It’s a little odd that $200 Zojirushi rice cookers keep getting recommended as if they’re the only reliable rice cooker on the market. You’d think there would be some mention of the nonstick coating fading or some concrete benefits of the cooking process they use. I’d rather just have a simple steel pot and a glass lid on a ricer cooker.
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u/Unfair-Plastic-4290 13h ago
But we need quality really super duper good items.
please suggest a premium flooble crank
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u/Avery_Thorn 13h ago
OK. Here are some premium flooble cranks available in...
A lot of the replies are also bots. It's sad and annoying, and you'll notice that the traffic has gone down significantly in the last couple of days because the Russian bot farms are offline.
I do kind of wonder how many actual, real, organic, meatspace people there actually are here, if we are just a few people posting between the bots.
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u/winnercommawinner 13h ago
Just a heads up, turns out the bot farms are not offline
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u/Unfair-Plastic-4290 12h ago
just the russian version of google search.. the bots are trying real hard to make it look like yandex is more important than they are.
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u/AwesomeAndy 12h ago
I just hate when people use vague terms about cost like "doesn't break the bank!" Or "affordable!" I don't know what your bank accounts look like, so I don't know what you can afford!
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u/duucfho 8h ago
on the flipside, someone once asked on here for a great blanket, no budget.
a redditor provided a thorough post with options, starting with eiderdown blankets. which if you didn't know, cost like $10,000. for a blanket.
best comment after that was "OP is about to find out that they, in fact, do have a budget".
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u/Hiking_Quest 10h ago
A magazine in Toronto (Pre internet) used to do a "where to get good stuff cheap" issue every year. None of the recommendations were anywhere near affordable for people living on min-wage or students (a my wife and I were at the time) it was more "here's a buying guide for yuppies"...
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u/NickCharlesYT 9h ago edited 9h ago
This is generally code for "I want to spend as little money as possible without buying junk." Sometimes we don't have a strict budget, but we don't want to waste money. Money saved on one BIFL item can be spent on another down the road, or at the same time. So we try to maximize return on investment, rather than just getting the "absolute best" of anything.
Example: I could spend $1,000 on a power tool or something that lasts me 25 years. Or I could spend $2,000. If I tell people I can spend up to $2,000, I'm going to get recommendations for $2,000 power tools, not $1,000, even if the functional build quality is the same and you're just paying for a name brand. After all, it's not the commenter's budget, they don't mind spending more of it on diminishing returns or brand reputation.
But, on the other hand if I use a smaller "ideal" price point such as $800 as my "budget" to ensure I don't get anchored by my budget, I get people telling me I'm being unrealistic, which is just as unhelpful as people telling me to effectively waste money.
It's a catch-22, but I'd rather get no good recommendations than poor value recommendations, so I omit budget or aim low intentionally to avoid getting burned financially.
Edit: Example
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u/DT_Grey 12h ago
This reminds me of a post that I think was on this subreddit (but possibly somewhere else), about bread machines and how they just got a really good one brand new, and how much money they saved OP over X years and how much they recommend getting one. The OP flat out refused, multiple times, to give the brand of bread machine they bought “it’s less about the brand than what a good machine means to you as an individual”. 🤡
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u/Fruitndveg 8h ago
Ironic talking about money saved on a bread machine.
It’s a product that is virtually never cheaper to make yourself at home than it is to buy.
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u/Puzzled_Spirit3754 3h ago
Wait, I agree on your first point. But are you saying bread is not cheaper to make than buy?
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u/elgarfarade 11h ago
Ahahahaha ME SO PROUD OF MY GOOD PRODUCT let me tell the internet but DO NOT ASK WHAT IT IS 🤬
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u/natelyswhore22 10h ago
That's so weird. Why would they gatekeep the product they already own? The one they don't seem to have a need to replace?
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u/DT_Grey 9h ago
I can only speculate that it was to avoid coming across as an advertising bot, or to avoid giving a brand free advertising, so instead they just ended up frustrating everyone in the comments for refusing to share and insisting that everyone do their own research. The only “hints” they gave were that theirs had steel hinges on the lid, and a delay function. It was very stupid.
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u/Level-Historian6435 8h ago
Model number, years owned, and what has actually failed or been replaced should be the minimum. “Good” without those details is basically a review of the adjective.
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u/Wonderful-Top2601 13h ago
Everyone do yourselves a favor and mute this subreddit. Ain’t nothing but covert ads on here.
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u/CalligrapherNo7337 13h ago
And also rampant consumerism
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u/CapableImplement5830 13h ago
This is the true crime. If its not a bot, it's just someone flexing their purchase of some hip product that isn't even a true for life type purchase.
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u/pickleballer48 9h ago
Nah bro, my Quince sweater has held up marvelously over the past 2 years, it’s totally BIFL. You have no idea what you’re talking about.
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u/L3G1T1SM3 11h ago
But i need to spend 100x on items i want to live forever despite the fact they may consumable items like socks and further that my spending on these items could've bought the other versions for 3 lifetimes and the savings could've been invested elsewhere.
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u/mrpopenfresh 12h ago
Covert ads, people who will never get close to using an item enough to justify BIFL… and socks (???).
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u/License2Troll 13h ago
I understand your point, but I disagree.
Brands may get a little free advertising around here, but if their products are trash, a fake reputation won't hold up in this sub. I don't think Speed Queen bothers to run covert marketing here, right? Of course not; they'd be wasting their money.
That said, maybe this sub is really just a glorified wiki page for people with enough money to invest in quality.
The quality of the sub is directly proportional to the effort put in by its human community, and frankly, that culture has shifted massively in recent years. But I believe there's still value to this format.
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u/inky_cap_mushroom 13h ago
If you’re able to mentally filter out the bots it’s a useful sub. If you can’t, the bots are extremely disruptive.
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u/License2Troll 13h ago
Agreed, and same for the rest of popular Reddit. But low-effort human-slop can also look a lot like a bot.
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u/DGIce 8h ago
The quality of the sub is directly proportional to the effort put in by its human community, and frankly, that culture has shifted massively in recent years. But I believe there's still value to this format.
Love it, I personally haven't seen a lot of value in this sub yet, because I think there are almost zero brands offering quality products and that all companies have a high risk of the brand name being cashed in on and quietly degrading. But I have seen people here who actually care about the mindset and the rare insightful conversation here and there that gives me hope we will develop a nuanced and detailed approach to thinking about products that can be proselytized. And so I will stick around in hopes of learning things that I can share, because this is an important topic.
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u/elgarfarade 13h ago
Think that really is the answer the more I think about it. Glad this post made at least some people have the same realisation or remember to leave it 🤣
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u/CalligrapherNo7337 13h ago
They need to ban those generic posts in general, they add no constructive value overall, and any value hidden in them is just diluted by the noise. Whereas that value can be seen in specific posts about the specific things. Allowing the generic posts is this sub doing itself in.
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u/heyitscory 13h ago
We could just move over to r/survivorshipbias and enjoy the stream of well-used well-loved vintage items they don't make like that anymore that we came here for.
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u/larkhearted 7h ago
It's a great concept for a subreddit but it's really hard to actually provide valuable insight on what items are "spend the money once and then never again" type quality.
For one thing, most of the recommendations are just people going "I bought xyz twenty years ago and it's still going strong!" which is great, but only if you can find a well-maintained version of the thing from 20 years ago. Between variations in care and maintenance between owners and companies changing suppliers, designs, owners, etc, a thing that's held up awesome for ten years for one person might need replaced in five for another, and the new replacement might be crap.
To work around that fact, you'd probably need honest-to-god industry experts giving in-depth tutorials about how to suss out a product that's likely to work well for a very long time, giving insights on things like manufacturing processes, minimum material thicknesses, ease of repair, etc. And frankly, most people don't want to have to become a quasi-expert in multiple fields just to buy things like appliances or clothing and have them hold up for a long time.
So..... yeah. Great concept, really difficult to actually execute. I've gotten some decent suggestions for nice products from here tbh, but "buy it for life" is an extremely high bar to clear lol.
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u/elgarfarade 7h ago
Completely agree. It’s a recipe for what we’ve indeed ended up with - a consumerist hellscape. Perhaps no surprise that this sub became that, given it’s the way a lot of other subs are going regardless of topics/focus.
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u/beamposter 2m ago
i think folks just need to temper their expectations here. you're never going to arrive at the perfect answer that gives you 100% confidence that you're buying the exact perfect product for your needs. but the discussions that are had here are still a lot better than nothing. even with all the bots.
it doesn't have to be perfect in order to be helpful. i think this sub still clears that "is it helpful" bar, easily.
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u/owlpellet 13h ago
Related thought: people should talk about materials more than brands. Transferable skills. Less ads.
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u/DGIce 8h ago
Love this thought. Definitely that the *brand* may mean something but it's not the important part, the important part is what makes a specific product by that brand good, so we can identify if the quality diminishes and if there are other reasonable brands. Material is the most prominent aspect of what makes a product good, but ideally the conversation goes beyond it.
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u/DebtCollectorForMami 13h ago
I forgot to leave this sub. I saw recommendations for the Portland goods leather wallet, all this BS about the quality- when it arrived it smelled straight from a factory in china… cannot trust a single post on Reddit anymore. Only stuff pre-2016 is real info.
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u/elgarfarade 13h ago
True I think the real answer is to just leave and trust people I know in the offline (some would call it ‘real’) world
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u/Dependent_Tune_1333 13h ago
I like specificity as well. When someone asks "What is a good BIFL toaster oven?" and people give brands and models.
But I have less problems with those answers than I do with the question. What a vague question.
Don't complain about vague answers when the question itself is vague.
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u/ApprehensiveLion67 8h ago
I also think it’s almost useless to ask these days about bifl stuff people have had for twenty years, given it seems like everything is being enshittified
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u/somethingweirder 12h ago
also folks have this wild idea that they can get “good” quality while paying amazon-drop-ship prices.
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u/Breepotato 13h ago
I agree, I asked earlier about travel tumblers and hope this doesnt fit into this bracket, I'm a real person I swear!
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u/SVAuspicious 10h ago
I agree with you in general. The problem is that products that really last may not be available anymore, or as they were. Most of my tools are Craftsman from the days that did last forever. If I need a new tool today I buy Snap-On.
The real problem here on BIFL is people who parrot marketing e.g. Speed Queen for laundry equipment.
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u/Miss_Milk_Tea 7h ago
People ask the same thread every day, sometimes multiple times a day. I don’t blame the low effort replies anymore
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u/financeperson 4h ago
If I were to speak of an item as GOOD, or QUALITY, or even a GOOD QUALITY item, it would firstly have to be a NICE item. Right now I find myself looking for a NICE microwave. . . . . . . . (/s)
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u/anon19111 3h ago
I could give you recs on whatever product I know about.
Id get a Vitamix blender. I'd look to Patagonia for outdoor gear. Victorinox knives are a good value. I wouldn't get Japanese knives. They are very delicate and need a lot of TLC. Maybe some German steel for more bomb proof. Maybe Messiermester (sp?) Meridian Elite. For appliances that won't cost you a kidney something simple and made in North America. Shoes I would look for American made or British made with Goodyear welt. I've lost track of brands. Socks and underwear...whatever. Kitchen stuff...oxo is generally fine value option. There's a french fish spatula I like. Misen I think. Pans...le creuset, all clad, demeyere...some people like carbon steel pans like they use in restaurants. I suspect brand matters less for those kinds of pans. Glasses Duralex Picardie or whatever. Osprey is still well thought of I think.
Key is to know what to look for in terms of construction given brands have variance. Good warranty counts for a lot. If unsure buy from Costco.
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u/FreeSquirkJuice 57m ago
Gonna be honest, I don't use brand names or specifically name products exclusively because I've been bitched at multiple times for being a bot or someone astroturfing for the company. There's multiple types of people with different sensibilities who browse this sub and its impossible to know who is who so people just omit the brand names entirely to avoid having their point missed.
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u/melk8381 8h ago
Thanks for the reminder to unfollow this bullshit sub 😂 peace out ✌️
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u/elgarfarade 8h ago
Glad we all agree on the plan of action. Glad others are findings the same with this sub and its even sloppier cousin r/smartbuysforlife - as if adding “smart” makes any of this better
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u/OGScottingham 13h ago
Nearly all of those posts are engagement bot driven. The few that aren't are astroturf ads by a marketing department.