[Byungmin Kim's Science Village] The Trap of Cheapness

Published 10 Mar.2022 14:51(KST)

Low-Cost Miscellaneous and Idea Products Flooding Market to Tempt Modern Consumers
The Perceptual Trap of the Cost-Effectiveness Ratio

Byungmin Kim, Adjunct Professor at Hallym University Nano Convergence School

These days, buying things online is nothing special. Moreover, with a simple identity verification on the Korea Customs Service website, you can receive a ‘unique customs clearance number’ to easily purchase items from overseas. A few years ago, I came across an online shopping mall operated by a massive Chinese conglomerate that everyone has probably heard of at least once, and for a while, I shopped there almost addictively. Before that, I used Amazon or eBay in the U.S. to buy foreign books without translations or parts needed for experiments, but the delivery areas were limited, and shipping fees were burdensome. In that sense, the Chinese shopping mall that delivers anywhere was a whole new world.

Of course, there were shipping fees. But they were quite cheap, and especially if you didn’t need the items urgently, the shipping fees were practically free. It seems many people besides me shopped this way. The phrase “arrives just when you forget about it” became popular. Because of that, even items costing a few thousand won could be purchased cheaper than domestically. That shopping mall had such a wide variety of products that it was said there was nothing it didn’t have. Last year, on China’s Singles’ Day alone, sales through Alibaba-affiliated distribution platforms amounted to about 99 trillion won, so you can imagine not only the scale of consumption but also how many products are traded.

Complex assembly processes and poor finishing often make crap products less innovative and creative than their promotion suggests. Photo by Getty Images

The Short Life of Cheap Products and Our Even Shorter Happiness

Of course, not all products are of good quality. I couldn’t put down my phone as I hunted for items described as “continental mistakes” or “must-haves” like a treasure hunt. Experienced companies that already understand consumer psychology have transformed the platform into a treasure-hunting playground. They know what consumers want to buy and have gone beyond that to make people consider items they didn’t even know existed as essentials. Unknowingly, cheap miscellaneous goods and idea products lure customers like me into an irresistible trap.

Especially as someone working in science, I was particularly susceptible to items operating on scientific principles. Watching introduction videos that worked like magic, I thought these were necessary items. Tools to crack raw eggs beautifully or mix yolks, devices that automatically peel fruit skins thinly, LED-based vehicle contact display devices, motion-detecting night lights, integrated adapters for charging various electronic devices, detergents and products that make bathrooms look like luxury hotels ? all sorts of cheap and crude products began to fill my home.

Of course, these items have their own scientific principles. Physical, chemical evidence or engineering mechanics explained the products. At first glance, they seemed innovative and creative. People take pride in owning such items as so-called early adopters. However, products often do not work as advertised, and the language expressing the highest value of the product, such as “forever,” “durable,” or “convenient,” is often disconnected from reality. Meanwhile, the scientific function of labor-saving is often too complicated, creating more labor. Especially complex mechanisms where parts interlock are troublesome not only during assembly but also for post-use cleaning and maintenance. Poor ergonomics or shoddy finishing sometimes caused injuries. So, it was easier to just crack eggs by hand, and peel fruit skins with a paring knife.

I was simply captivated by the term “science” and failed to recognize the original philosophy of the object’s existence. I even played a role in advertising such products. People tend to boast about “hot items” on various social networking services. Later, I noticed the cheap household scenes I had created and began to look at the entire platform.

I started doubting how items costing less than one dollar could cross the ocean burning fossil fuels and still be delivered to our hands with cheap shipping fees. The reason was that many countries, including ours, are members of the Universal Postal Union. Countries in this union can use various postal services, including EMS, with good quality. Simply put, almost all regions on Earth can use postal services at nearly fixed prices, and under the principle of reciprocity, postal items must be delivered diligently like domestic mail regardless of the postal means or country. So, the post offices of the countries where the companies I used belonged exploited the agreement. The sending post office only bore the cost of transporting the goods to the destination post office, and most of the delivery cost to the final destination was borne by our country’s post office. Ultimately, by indiscriminately increasing the volume of shipments with cheap shipping fees, they did not suffer losses. It was an unfairness born of total excess. If someone profited from obvious logistics costs, someone else must have lost in this zero-sum game.

Since the 20th century, the most commonly used material for making crabs has been plastic, and chemical substances are being discharged into our living environment during the manufacturing process. Photo by Getty Images

Public and Private Goods, Eco-Friendly Named White Noise

Historian Wendy A. Woloson, in her book , describes the present as an era of universal cheapness. She calls these items “crap” and critiques the attitude of modern people surrounded by so-called crap. Ultimately, in an era of total excess, creativity is required to create new types of crap, and science appears as if to prove this. Nowadays, no one disputes something described as “scientific.” The author especially points to fixed-price stores. Fixed-price stores shift the focus of products from quality value to price, producing and supplying more crap. Thus, the culture of variety stores that began in the U.S. was not only part of modern civilization but continues to evolve in various forms today. Crap culture will remain with us for a long time as an immortal materialism.

Of course, among them are good products that provide a “goods life” to some people. It is a kind of democratization of material use. But overall, cheap products are ultimately useless. This is the trap of the perception of “cost-effectiveness.” Since only price and performance size are considered, the quality and value of products are determined by price rather than user demand. Cheap products have a short life, and we enjoy even shorter happiness. The value lost to uselessness is proudly wrapped in minimalism and leaves us. Because they are cheap, there is no hesitation or resistance to disposal. Naturally, no one will leave such items as heritage for generations. Products that must be mass-produced because they are cheap inevitably come back as a price we must pay.

Before the 20th century, such products were at least made of metal, wood, stone, or rubber that could be repaired or repurposed. The American garage culture also started here. At least it was a culture of recycling, repairing, and reusing items. But in the 20th century, the material most used to make such crap became plastic, and chemical substances were dumped into the places we live during manufacturing processes. Low-cost plastic products break more easily and disappear from our sight, but they do not vanish completely. For example, the Pacific Ocean garbage patch consists of a staggering 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic weighing about 88,000 tons. Trash removed from our sight does not contribute to the cycle of life and nature. Rather, it ruins ecosystems and even the global environment. Crap does not only mean natural corruption but also social decay. Manufacturing plants are located in the outskirts of China or developing countries because of labor exploitation to produce cheap goods. These places must be able to evade international treaties regulating labor conditions. Thus, the distorted pleasure given by excessive junk is a product of sacrificing our future environment and someone’s suffering.

Recently, when visiting public institutions or private companies, we receive free souvenirs. Even when purchasing books online, goods that feel free have become abundant. Fixed-price stores with items costing only a few thousand won are another form of offline distribution channel continuing cheap civilization. Eco-bags, tumblers, and mugs have long become white noise under the name of eco-friendliness. We seem to have reached a point where we need to ask ourselves questions. Why do we enthusiastically embrace most crap that is useless except for temporary pleasure? What kind of value should we truly seek in things?