When I moved into my new place 2 years back. I wanted a clock to hang in my living room. It was pretty unnecessary cos... well, we have our handphones right... but it's always nice to have a clock so we can just look up and find out what time it is...
So we went on a hunt, to find a nice clock for a cheap price. No rush, so we went around a couple of places, online and all that...
Then we found out... clocks in Singapore aren't cheap...
The cheapest wall clock available, as most of you already know, is from IKEA at $1.90. Can't beat that price. But I didn't like it. I wanted a bit of colour in the living room.
I was thinking, since the mechanism is pretty much the same, if IKEA can have a clock at $1.90, then by changing the design, the price shouldn't be very much more expensive. It's just a picture behind the clock hands right?... boy was I wrong.
I had a budget of under $10 and it's almost impossible to find a clock at that price.
I eventually managed to find a cheap clock. I forgot the price, but it was definitely under $15. It's likely under $10 but I really can't remember.
The thing is.. I have no idea why clocks are so expensive. There's the price of buying the movement. That's how the clock works. But if IKEA can produce a clock at $1.90, then I don't see why a change in the background would cost so much more. Just a change the background picture, change the rims, change the shape of the hands... There's really no good reason for a clock to be retailing at $50 or more.
If I had to pay more than $15 for the clock, I would have just bought the IKEA one at $1.90.
Cos to me, the price of knowing the time is almost zero. But 10 bucks is still acceptable to me.
When I went around searching, I felt like it was daylight robbery. Clocks were being sold at $50-$100 at shops under the HDB. It's quite ridiculous. And there's people probably buying it. My mother-in-law bought a nice designed clock. She wouldn't tell us the price... so I reckon it wasn't cheap.
So I do wonder quite consistently. Even now, I already have a clock, but when I see clocks at ridiculous prices, I wonder... why would anyone buy a clock at that price. Also, why do manufacturers sell the clocks at such sick prices. Sure, it's not expensive if you depreciate it over 5-10 years. But that's not the point. Rather... it doesn't cost much to make, and yet it's being sold for a high price.
It still continues to baffle me... both from the side of the buyer and from the seller...
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