Discontinuing a product breaks the cost-comparision chain. It makes it easier to increase prices or reduce quality without direct backlash. Releasing new products also makes for marketing announcements that work like advertisement (or is advertisement directly).

A consumer watch dog that meticulously tracks equivalents to combat this would be an interesting project.

It's all very tedious. This happens a lot with pretty mundane staples like socks, underwear, bedding, towels, umbrellas, headphones, ...

These are all "semi-durable" items that get a lot of wear and tear and inevitably need to be replaced every year or two. There really are definite quality differences, and you don't want cheap and nasty, but there's also no point overpaying because anything you get will need replacement in the not too distant future, and it's not like any of these items are status symbols.

There are often a lot of marketing hijinks in this space, like "Ralph Lauren" bedding or "Nautica" towels or whatever, where it is clear that the brand is just licensed by some no-name bedding company for product differentiation, instead of developing their own brand known for quality.

There are (very few) brands that mostly stick to a good, pretty consistent middle-market level of quality/consistency. e.g. people have mentioned Levis for jeans, LL Bean is pretty good for bedding & clothing and basically have a modest range pretty consistent / high quality stuff for shirts, trousers, etc. Crate & Barrel, Marimekko, etc. are also good usually.

I do sometimes wonder if a website/store/brand for consistently good, go-to staples could work. Something like Muji or Uniqlo, or costco "kirkland", or "amazon basics", where the store/house brand is consistently good over time, and there are few other options. I imagine it would be hard to really offer the same consistency over time with shifting supply chains/manufacturers etc, but you could try, or where that's not possible have some "transition"/"upgrade path" like our old model A sucks are no longer available, the closest new options are B, which is slightly thicker, or C, which is slightly longer.

Alternatively, there's NYT wirecutter or Consumer Reports and such that basically just tell you the right few options and cut through all the gimicky chaff.

I guess this is basically what we lost when department stores went away - a curated, modest selection of go-to items at your price point has now been replaced with millions of options, 98% of which are awful.

>3 .. what could be done to support a customer's choice for years?

Nothing lasts forever: be it websites you visit, your favorite food and the recipes and ingredients used, the clothes you wear or even the people and living things around you.

You can only delay the inevitable, but with perishable goods or clothing that will break over time? Buy more! Like those shoes? Pants? That special hoodie? Buy a few of them.

Not only will you have backups of that awesome item you love in case something bad happens, the wear and tear will also take longer as you are not using that same item over and over again.

Good luck out there and stay safe!

This is called growing up. You lose everything you ever loved. Everything decays and dies, and you will too. Better enjoy things while they still last, and move on to the next thing quickly when they don't.

There might be something to this. It does seem older models of things are better than newer models of things. So it could be the drive to lower costs and increase profits are causing this, at the appliance, car, etc. level.

It doesn't explain why every couple of years I have another four or six pairs of yet another set of socks, from the same company, but with enough variation that now I have multiple different generations of CK socks that aren't pairable.

That's why I repurpose or discard all of my old socks every time I Invest in a new set. I do this about every two years. I rotate them for uniform wear. I've successfully eliminated the possibility of mismatched socks.

Forced sock upgrades with no backwards compatibility.

> It doesn't explain why every couple of years I have another four or six pairs of yet another set of socks, from the same company, but with enough variation that now I have multiple different generations of CK socks that aren't pairable.

Most sock brands don't actually produce socks, they license the brand name out to third-party textile manufacturers to make the product.

They'll often switch partnerships to new manufacturers which has a drastic impact on the produced product in terms of materials, feel, overall quality, etc.

In many cases they even license the brand out to multiple manufacturers simultaneously, using different manufacturers for higher end stores than cheaper department stores, so even in the same time period you could get very different socks of the same style from the same brand depending upon where you buy them.

Same core problem as typical cost-cutting enshittification -- everything is hyper-optimized to extract the maximum amount of value at the expense of every other consideration.

Your logic breaks down at the critical point of sourcing: not only must we have the means of production and the schematics, we also need the original materials required to create the stuff. If we lose access to the original materials, or if they are no longer available, then the rest of the chain doesn't matter.

However, I do find promise in one aspect of your idea: an infinite archival catalogue of items-that-once-were. Then, you can link to things like, as others have mentioned, eBay listings where you can still find the "originals.'

I’ve had this happen with the clothes I get from Patagonia. What was only a few years ago a thick plaid button down is now thin and not nearly as warm. And Patagonia still makes good stuff! But I do wonder if it’s time to start shopping around again.

take a intl trip and buy stuff from locals.

like the tribal type of people who live close or off the land.

it won’t be cheap but you also won’t be paying 60% of the price for the brand name alone.

that kinda stuff is so high quality and lasts forever. plus it looks dope af compared to whatever you can buy from a retail store made by a mix of man and machine.

Mmm that is a good move. I got an Italian leather bag in Florence and it’s doing what you say, though there is some machine part. I’ve got a trip to Japan in the hopper that I’ll make this a priority for

I've been wearing the same pair of shoes for (Vans Camacho) twelve years now because I cannot find any that actually fit my feet. Vans made these shoes that I purchased over and over again for ten years, but discontinued them in 2016. I've had to learn cobbling to some degree to keep these shoes going, though now the bottoms of the soles are so thin that my big toe might finally wear through them in the next year. It is ridiculous that in twelve years I haven't been able to find a replacement for something so simple.

I have a discontinued shoe that I really like and I've had great luck getting them on eBay lightly used. I keep a few spare pairs and swap individual shoes out as they wear. You might be concerned about odor/cleanliness but I've had a good success rate, the sellers with good reviews that are doing this professionally have the hygiene program down pat.

I'm so impressed by your ability to keep them going but it looks like ebay still has a ton of pairs of them if you want to stock up.

I finally found a brand+model of jeans that I liked. I don’t have to buy pants/trousers often, so of course the next time I went to buy some it had been discontinued by the manufacturer. Even the “this is the closest style to that one” online recommendations had been discontinued, leaving me back at square one.

I stopped long ago buying brand jeans because there's literally none that will fit my build (fit guy with normal waist, huge upper leg, big but smaller lower leg), so I wondered if anybody did custom ones.

I've been very happy with www.madetoorderjeans.com (there are others) : get your measurements as they explain, pick the fabric you want (normal, stretch/fit, elastic; light and thin, thick, ...), make your stile, wait 2-3 weeks - for the price a brand jeans (so overall reasonable). Jeans last 3x times longer (wear patterns) and they fit me perfectly, instead of needing to have them adjusted after (expensive) purchase.

If you haven't already: Check eBay and maybe also set up an eBay Saved Search.

Not sure how to fix but I do miss the Private Selection™ Belgian Chocolate Milk from Kroger. Why in the world would they discontinue such a unique excellent tasting product, it's a bit similar to the Dutch Nutricia brand.. ugh. shame.. https://www.kroger.com/p/private-selection-belgian-chocolate...

I have the same with a pair of jeans, I bought the same pair 3 times but now they start to wear down and I have been trying to find another pair but no luck.

There is cost involved in supporting products for life long, moreover this assumes that the company would provide a life long support for every product it releases.

> Where does my logic break down? What am I overlooking?

You're in a room of software developers who keep breaking and changing everyone's "favorite everyday" workflows, every time a piece of software is changed.

Even something as dumb as changing a design language is the same thing as a brand discontinuing your favorite every day item. Why did my UX have to get ugly for no reason? Why can't I go back? people cry out.

What do we do to support peoples' choice of software over the longterm when they can't choose to 'roll back'?

Your favorite T-shirt is still available for sale. It's just got a giant black box strapped to the back of it called AI. The t-shirt companies said that's good for you so you have to wear it now.

They discontinued my freaking favorite hamburger, and nobody knows why. (Yes, I asked every branch)

> Where does my logic break down? What am I overlooking?

(1) Clothing manufacturing is a lot more complicated than sockets

(2) Generally products aren't discontinued because they're popular. So what you're describing is a lot of cost, for products that a lot of people don't care about.

(3) Even if someone did write up a spec for a t-shirt—what would you do with it?

(4) The need for standards is a lot more important for things like sockets which have multiple ends, and need to ensure that both sides work consistently, than for things like a piece of clothing where there's a single wearer at a time.

It's called having a tailor, and it is expensive (in the US)

Bring back PB Crisps!

I always have trouble buying shoes, most shops don’t stock my size in the first place, and sizes vary greatly across manufacturers, and even styles. Now when i find shoes that fit, i go order at least another 2 pairs online to avoid having to hunt down a new pair that fit well.

One bizarre one, i find when i find some foodstuff i like, the shop will eventually discontinue it, it seems almost personal…

Lidl has trialed vegan lasagna a couple times now. It sells out so incredibly fast all across the country, to the cries of many vegans in Facebook and reddit communities. And yet they discontinued it years ago. I don't understand the economics of it, but I would assume such a popular product would be a no brainier.

There is a marketing demographic of people who like products that fail in the market. I'm pretty sure I'm in it and you probably are, too.

  Are you a “harbinger of failure” Study: Some consumers have an unerring knack for buying unpopular products.

https://news.mit.edu/2015/harbinger-failure-consumers-unpopu...

banana flavoured ice cream here

Slightly related. This reminds me of this article: https://pudding.cool/2026/02/womens-sizing/

Sizing chaos (pudding.cool)

827 points by zdw 5 months ago | 435 comments

It's not about discontinuing items but about the industry incentives that seemingly go against logic making it impossible for most women to find fitting clothes.

Quotes:

"While there are no universal sizing standards, an organization called ASTM International regularly releases informal guidelines." "There are no regulations or universal sizing standards. Instead each brand is incentivized to make up its own. When size guides change — and they’re always changing — brands are not obligated to disclose updates."

Pah at least women get a decent number of sizes. Where are my Extra Medium t-shirts?

Unfortunately Levi's has started making subtle changes to the same models. I have a drawer full of Levi's, all the same model. The older pairs are 100% cotton. The newer pairs are 99% cotton, 1% elastane, and have noticeably thinner fabric. Usage that would just scuff the older pairs will put a hole in the newer pairs. Very disappointing.

I thought maybe you were buying one of the Levi's signature or special models they make for Wal-mart and others, but nope seems like even the full fat 501s are now 1% elastane. And they must have made this change in the last couple years as the last ones I bought are still 100% cotton. Death of a brand. They did always tweak the cut of the models a bit but changing the fabric is unforgivable.

Even I think ten years ago, my Levi’s would consistently fail within a year. Switched to cargo pants and haven’t had that problem since.

Levi's jeans does have pretty consistent styles and has model numbers that haven't changed their main style identity for decades.

But, I swear the different factories will often produce slightly different cuts. I used to buy 517's all the same size, and depending on which country of origin they'd all just fit a bit differently. A little tighter here, a little looser here, but all for what are supposedly the same measurements. Some enough out of whack I refuse to wear them. I don't bother trying to get the exact same anymore.

But I do have to say they have definitely come closest to actually keeping things pretty much the same across time. I can't really say that for any other mass market clothing brands which don't include custom tailoring.

I also swear by Levi’s, they also have good range of sizes with a very rare combo that fits me perfectly, and they are well made. I tend to just instinctively buy a pair whenever i see they are on sale, i now have too many and haven’t bought any in a good couple of years.

Converse shoes also have styles that haven’t changed in decades, while convenient, they’ll usually only last me a year.

> It must cost them a fair bit of money too. I wonder how much cheaper you could make shoes if you only designed one set and then fired all of your designers...

Alden has been making the same models of shoes for decades but they aren’t cheap. Assembly labor and materials make up most of the cost for producing shoes, and Alden are made in the US.

This assumes there's no advancement in clothing manufacturing and design. Could you buy a 20 year old computer today and use it with a modern OS?

I believe the engineers and artisians who make the clothes you wear are also pushing the boundaries of fabric, patterns and cuts to feed an ever-famished audience looking for the 'next thing'.

Besides, they read the room - you no longer fit in those same sizes anymore!

Advancements in clothes technology in the last 40 years only optimized production, not quality...