Have you noticed recently that EVERYTHING just costs more now? And no, not referring to the tariffs, inflation, or whichever ‘nasty’ policy we’re blaming this week. (Stay safe, Jerome Powell!)

I mean this quiet assumption that premium automatically translates to quality. As in:
“If it’s expensive, it must be solid.”
“If they’re charging that much, they must know what they’re doing.”
Which is…a little dumb, no?

I see it all the time in agency land. Big retainers. Big decks. Big confidence. Then the work shows up and it’s fine.

Not bad.
Not brilliant.
Just fine - wearing a very expensive tux.

Same with professional services.
High fees. Low follow-through. Lots of words.
Not a lot actually changing apart from the length of the strategy ppt.

Products were the OGs in this.
Price goes up, expectations rise, and you still get 18 measly chips in the ‘family’ pack.

I’m not anti-expensive, by the way. Some things should cost more. But price has quietly become a stand-in for value. And “high-end” has become a personality trait.

Real value feels different. You feel it when something actually helps. Like paying for unsexy software like Zoho, not because it’s flashy or beautifully branded, but because it quietly fixes those operational messes that have been eating hours every week.

That’s usually the tell of value, I believe. When you stop talking about it. When you don’t feel the need to justify the spend. When something just… works. For a long, long time.

Anyway. Not a rant (I’m trying). Not advice. Just something I keep noticing.

Expensive is easy to sell.
Useful takes a bit more effort.

M.

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xx

Manuja

Not for everyone. Never was.