Last year we compiled a list of eight great companies that arm their products with a lifetime warranty – something every consumer can appreciate.
What consumers probably don’t appreciate, however, are multi-brand stores that offer a standard one to two-year warranty after which the protocol is “deal with the manufacturer” after it expires. “Deal with the manufacturer,” of course, is often code for “out of warranty.”
With that in mind, we’re been eagerly waiting for a shop like Buy Me Once, an online collection of products that range from shoes to tools, furniture to kitchenware, all featuring brands that last a lifetime.
Its mission is simple: to “find and promote products that don’t break the bank, don’t break the planet [and] that don’t break at all.”
“I tried hard to ignore the idea, but it wouldn’t go away,” said Buy My Once founder Tara Button in an interview with Mother Nature Network about the inspiration behind her idea. “It kept on coming back up in my head. When I would read the news about the environment and about the waste we produce, I felt almost sick.”
When she found a pair of socks that came with an unlimited guarantee, she knew there was a solid foundation for the Amazon of Lifetime Warranties. Ceramic kitchenware brand Le Creuset was the first company to pique her interest in products with longevity; some brands she carries, like Patagonia, even offer to fix clothes for free should they break. The only thing it’s missing, really, is shipping to Canada – products are currently available to order from the U.S. and U.K.
The ultimate goal is to put pressure on manufacturers to emphasize quality in their work. Referencing kettles from the ’50s that still function perfectly, Button says “it’s frustrating… and immoral to make something that breaks and ends up in a landfill.”
“If you’re not a wealthy family, having to replace these items is not cheap. And the first company who does do that will make a killing,” she adds.
That killing might just come her way.
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