Are we perhaps too used to bottom price electrical goods then Sam? Who decides what something is really worth
I wonder what a reasonable toaster would have cost in the 50s or 60s in real terms. I often see interesting comparisons of average wages vs cost of goods extrapolated into modern money equivalents, its interesting. I don't know what the answer would be but I imagine we would have paid a lot more for a toaster in those days than we typically do today.
I see a 4 slice Dualit is £200 in John Lewis currently. That will be my next purchase on the basis it will last longer and potentially can be repaired and last many more years.
A work colleague of mine recently walked into his kitchen at night after smelling a burning smell over christmas. He found his toaster on fire, the kitchen full of smoke, and a tablet and some paperwork next to it burning. It was clear the fire originated at the toaster. He hadn't used it recently and has no idea how it went up, I suggested maybe the mechanism didn't correctly disengage earlier, he said its possible but not to his knowledge. Anyway, he believed he found the fire just before it became more serious and a job for the fire brigade. He had his wife and 2 daughters asleep upstairs. He has now bought an expensive one and unplugs it of an evening
Clearly an extreme example, but such cheap appliances are often left plugged in and we trust a hell of a lot to the quality of them.