While it certainly has some decent members among its ranks, it is also full of loathsome individuals who will buy anything just because it is cheap; will take advantage of glitches or pricing-errors to bulk-buy 240 2-litre bottles of pop and cost a man (or woman) his job for their mistake; will exploit any loophole to their advantage even if it isn't to their advantage because it's not something they wanted or needed in the first place.
This place is full of examples of the worst traits of mankind, but for this rant I'll focus on one in particular- a £9.99 drill.
The HUKD community has been going wild for this drill, who's price includes postage. Yes- a drill that is £9.99 delivered.
The drill is shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class, though no weight is given. From experience it will weigh at least a kilo, so based on Royal Mail's price for a small package, the postage will be at least £2.90. Take the VAT off the remainder, and that leaves you at £5.65. Then you've got the seller's profit to factor in- say £2 at a pure guess? So that leaves £3.65. And it's not made in the UK, so then you've got shipping costs. And then you've got the manufacturer's profit, and packaging costs, and material costs.
So how much does the poor b*stard who's making this drill actually get paid? It's probably measured in grains of rice rather than bowls.
But apart from the moral dilemma of a drill that costs £9.99 posted, how good does the buyer expect it to be? The Royal Mail postage is more than the cost of the materials used to make it. Personally I wouldn't even dare plug it in, for fear that it would burst into flames. A product of this nature at that price can not be safe- there simply isn't enough money put into it to ensure that the material quality, workmanship or quality control are at the levels they need to be.
And yet the scroungers go wild for it. If they're lucky, their house won't burn down from using it, the chuck won't shatter and throw shards of metal into their eyes and face, and the worst case scenario is that somewhere in an far away land some child is being exploited so they can buy a piece-of-sh*t drill for £9.99.
But apart from the moral dilemma of a drill that costs £9.99 posted, how good does the buyer expect it to be? The Royal Mail postage is more than the cost of the materials used to make it. Personally I wouldn't even dare plug it in, for fear that it would burst into flames. A product of this nature at that price can not be safe- there simply isn't enough money put into it to ensure that the material quality, workmanship or quality control are at the levels they need to be.
And yet the scroungers go wild for it. If they're lucky, their house won't burn down from using it, the chuck won't shatter and throw shards of metal into their eyes and face, and the worst case scenario is that somewhere in an far away land some child is being exploited so they can buy a piece-of-sh*t drill for £9.99.
But you know, out of sight, out of mind.
