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bthny's review against another edition
3.0
It was interesting enough but I got caught up with school. Whoops. Will maybe finish someday.
lsneal's review against another edition
2.0
Not a lot of new information about the causes and effects of Walmart/Big Box style discount culture. A few interesting tidbits here and there, but the writing style didn't hold my attention very well.
jwhyteappleby's review against another edition
2.0
it seemed like the author couldn't decide if this was a philosophical meandering on the moral problems of discount culture or a journalist exploration of globalisation and its discontents. in the end it didn't really satisfy in either category. if you have literally ZERO idea how global supply chains work then you might find this interesting but if the fact that WalMart pressures its suppliers is not news to you, this may be kind of a slog.
lbw's review against another edition
4.0
I'll think about what I buy more thoughtfully now that I've read this book. Sure, sometimes I'll buy cheap stuff, but "knowing that our purchases have consequences, [I:] can begin to enact change." (p.231)
sstallryan's review against another edition
4.0
This is a must-read for every American. It gives history and insight into our current consumer/economic trends and encourages us to change our course. I will never again buy a product or walk into a store without thinking of this book. My only difficulty with this book is that she gave more criticism than solution . . . I would like to know how I can help improve my consumer choices and vote with my wallet. The author gave very few suggestions. After all, not all of us live near a Wegman's.
voraciousreader's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this - it made me think about how we shop, and how I approach my own shopping. Even though my wardrobe is filled with things that I wear until they fall apart, I still think that I could still do more about how and why I shop. This was a thought provoking read, and if you're interested in fashion ,you should add it to your reading list.
johnmarlowe's review against another edition
3.0
All about why it's not good for us, and the world, to buy cheap, cheap products from places like Ikea, Walmart, etc, etc.
purplemuskogee's review against another edition
4.0
Very good - written in 2009, but I don't think the book has aged this much. It's very comprehensive, and I enjoyed learning more about the rise of big corporations. It is quite bleak... will make you want to stop buying anything altogether, including essentials - toothbrushes shipped from China, workers paid less than $30 a month for 50 hours weeks... It's despairing.
flicken's review against another edition
2.0
The book's central thesis, Gresham's Law applied to consumers goods (i.e. bad products, when seemingly indistinguishable from good products, will quickly dominate the market).
However, the book often veers into side topics, meandering into rants about, inter alia, IKEA's fall-apart furniture, the Levittown houses, and the perennial favorite for bashing: Wal-Mart's low prices/wages.
The book is undeniably biased and one-sided. Shell points out the social ills brought about by discount pricing, but ignores or belittles any social benefits.
The good: the history of discount stores was interesting, and informative. The central thesis is, IMHO, well-founded and fascinating.
The bad: Shell fails to focus on the main thesis, jumping from topic to topic within a chapter, often with side stories or unrelated subjects. For example, a large part of a chapter was devoted to summarizing Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational" research, but not properly tied into the chapter's topic.
However, the book often veers into side topics, meandering into rants about, inter alia, IKEA's fall-apart furniture, the Levittown houses, and the perennial favorite for bashing: Wal-Mart's low prices/wages.
The book is undeniably biased and one-sided. Shell points out the social ills brought about by discount pricing, but ignores or belittles any social benefits.
The good: the history of discount stores was interesting, and informative. The central thesis is, IMHO, well-founded and fascinating.
The bad: Shell fails to focus on the main thesis, jumping from topic to topic within a chapter, often with side stories or unrelated subjects. For example, a large part of a chapter was devoted to summarizing Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational" research, but not properly tied into the chapter's topic.
slipperose's review against another edition
3.0
I read this book just a few days after finishing the fantastic The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard, and Cheap suffers a bit in comparison. Ellen Ruppel Shell stays at surface level, never truly digging into any one component of pricing. Over and over again, she returns to obvious targets, such as Walmart and IKEA, while avoiding the unpleasant task of prompting readers to take accountability for their own role in the system as consumers. An interesting read, but not life changing, particularly if you are already well-read on the topics of consumerism and discount culture.