Your bank account is most probably in tears now. Graduate school is one of those environments that make you think about financial security in terms of a myth. Buying something for the cheapest possible price at Amazon is extremely attractive. It actually does lead to getting the very same thing twice, though. This results in even more waste of money. So let us discuss quality.
Purchasing can be viewed as investing money. In other words, it is a currency exchange to obtain certain utility. Your cheap toaster is doomed to fail in half a year, while Breville is guaranteed to serve for decades. Let us deal with facts.
Start with materials. You want strong materials such as heavy gauge metal or high-density plastics. If an object looks cheap on an image, it definitely will be so. Authentic leather smells of leather. Bonded leather is just a leather-like plastic. You will recognize the difference.
Next step – examine construction techniques. There are no dangling strings as in an awful book. See whether there is any reinforcement in stressed areas. Those are the areas where products fail. Stay away from shoes with glued soles. Nothing but good ol’ Goodyear welting can do for you.
Read the reviews. Forget about perfect ratings since those people are either bots or dopamine addicts of the newly purchased product. Directly go to three-star reviews since those guys tend to be very objective. They enjoyed it, but they found a flaw in it.
Warranty policy shows how confident manufacturer is about his products. He offers a lifetime warranty since he knows his stuff. Thirty-day returns mean that you should run away as soon as possible. Patagonia offers you repair service since they know that their products are durable enough. Fast fashion brands prefer that you forgot about them.
The metric to estimate the product is cost per use. Twenty-dollar shirt that is worn once is far from being cheap. Two-hundred dollar jacket that is used everyday for five years is cheap as dirt. Count numbers.
Listen, I get that ramen is the only available option right now. Still, buying quality once is more rational than buying cheap twice. You are building something here. Take care of your gear properly.