The Sam Vimes “Boots” theory of socioeconomic unfairness, often called simply the boots theory, is an economic theory that people in poverty have to buy cheap and subpar products that need to be replaced repeatedly, proving more expensive in the long run than more expensive items.
I’ll take this opportunity to plug Crandall Office Furniture, since I learned about them in a similar reddit thread a couple of years ago. My girlfriend was looking for a new office chair because all the cheap ones she’s tried have destroyed her back. We got her a refurbished Leap v2 for about $600, compared to the $1200+ it would be new. She absolutely loves the chair and has had significantly fewer issues with her back. And you’d never know the chair was used, they do an excellent job refinishing everything. Highly recommend, I’ll be going with them when I need a new office chair.
+1 to this! I bought the same chair from them a couple years ago, and as a remote worker it’s been worth every cent. Oddly enough I had the Leap v1 as a previous job and hated it, but the v2 has been great for me. I found the armrests a bit uncomfortable but some cheap memory foam covers solved that.