It’s not a concern with the affordability of it because as you said it’s only bought once in a while. I was just more curious if there’s a technical reason why Wix is pricing so much higher. When I say technical I’m referring to filter specs and quality of product. Yes, synthetic media cost more, but you can find synthetic media on other brands at significantly lower price points. So it comes down to “why pick this filter?” Perhaps they make sense in oil change deals.
We can’t pretend that inflation only caused one major brand to spike pricing from $6 to $20/filter over a few short time. Nothing compelling in the answers here yet to suggest it’s been anything other than consolidation in the marketspace by a major holding company which reduced competition which gave them more price control.
On a side note to others..
I’ve no interest engaging in the proverbial targeted media boogeyman news of hard times and depression ahead. That messaging is continuous over the years. Eventually you get a downturn and someone can say “ah ha! I was right!” None of us can predict world economics and severity of cycles. Back to filters, gang.
In any event, enjoy your week.
If you can find a show called Affluenza which was on Link TV.... Watch that. It was extremely well done. And one of the guests on that show was ridiculed and laughed at on a particular network in 2004 to 2006. Except he was correct in his analysis of what was really happening beyond the "official" numbers.
Cycles are easy to find if ONE pays attention...
Ask yourself this question...
Does real estate accumulate 200 percent value increase in 5 years typically ???
Ahhhh ..... No.... It does not.
Ok...
Next question....
Have people's incomes increased 100 to 200 percent within that same 5 year period ???
Ahhhh no.... It did not.... This example was from 2002 through 2007 by the way...
There is something fundamentally broken to cause all of that. It happened before and it's happening again....
Somethings are even wrong now whether you or I or anyone likes it or not.
Decisions made for a very long time have made things worse and worse over time.
Artificially keeping interest rates down for decades... The Fiat currency... The removal of Glass- Stegal.... Plus other numerous exceptionally wrong decisions made by both the public and private sectors have been walking this country into a very dark corner.
This is a long, long term problem that has been growing for 50 plus years.
In the last 25 it has been made worse by poor decisions by many across the spectrum.