The Upside to Competitive Markets

There are thousands of products on the market for seemingly the same purpose. You'd think that we could find something that works perfectly and just go with that one product. But, that's not how competitive markets work. And maybe it's for the best because what works good for one person may be completely wrong for another.

Take toothpaste, for example. I typically don't consider myself too picky when it comes to toothpaste. In the United States I switch back and forth between Crest and Colgate with little preference. But, here in Germany I purchased a common, admittedly cheap, brand of toothpaste, called something like Denti-Bella or Denta-Blend. My teeth did not take well to this twice a day beating! The paste was causing my teeth to be rough and super-sensitive to cold. At Steve's recommendation I invested in a tube of Colgate. Wow, the difference was instantaneous! As I brushed, I felt like my teeth were getting a massage. When I was finished, I slid my tongue over the back of my bottom front teeth and for the first time in weeks they felt healthy smooth. Apparently, it is possible to get away with purchasing the cheapest dark chocolate (recall the dark chocolate experiment), but not the cheapest toothpaste.

Now take smelly products, for example. Just when I think I've found a deodorant scent I think I can put up with, I move out of the country that sells it! It wasn't perfect, but at least I could stand it. And now I stand in the store smelling every new deoderant product twice. One smells too much like chemicals, another too much like flowers, and the last too much like baby powder. I choose the least horrible, which happens to still leave me smelling like flowery powder. So, I move on to the hand lotions. Now, here I discover something fantasic! One of the bottles says "odorless". I get a smirk on my face and laugh a hearty laugh. I don't believe I have ever come across an odorless product that was completely true to its word. But, low and behold, it is!! I squirt that stuff on my hand, rub a little, move my nose in with full preparation to smell something...but nothing is there! No smell! I grab it in a heartbeat!

There is something to be said for the "competitive market" economy.