History Main / YouGetWhatYouPayFor

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'', Stu makes a mechanical dragon for a medieval festival but can't control it. The owner sees the resulting chaos and is told he can't fire Stu, because he's a volunteer. This is his response.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', [[HarmlessVillain Dr. Drakken]] angrily complains about the [[SurroundedByIdiots shortcomings of his henchmen]]; [[TheDragon Shego]] scoffs at him for being too cheap to hire better ones from [[ArmsDealer Jack Hench]].

* In ''[[TheCallistaTrilogy Darksaber]]'', Durga the hutt plans on building a weapon that's the Death Star's main cannon, minus the rest of the station. He cuts corners on every aspect of the construction, though; An easily-distracted HiveMind workforce, substandard parts... It's no surprise to Bevel Lemelisk that it doesn't work when first fired.

-->--Dr. Fred (who, indeed, utterly fails to take over anything), ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion''

* In the ''ASoundOfThunder'' movie, the boss of the safari company shutting down a key component of the time machine to save power contributed to the catastrophe at hand.

* What gets the ball rolling in ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'' is a spell to summon "the perfect warlord" that ends up a SummonEverymanHero spell because the overlord running the show refused to purchase the spell support plan. Possibly [[SubvertedTrope subverted]]: later events suggest that, while Parson is hardly the warlord that Stanley ''wanted'', he is the warlord that Stanley ''needs''.

-->--Dr. Fred (who, indeed, utterly fails to take over anything), ManiacMansion

* In an episode of ''TheKingOfQueens'', Doug decides to give Carrie eye surgery for her birthday so that she no longer needs glasses. However, she ends up going through a much longer than usual adjusting period almost completely blind. Turns out that Doug decided to not go to the surgeon Carrie's boss recommended but another one due to the fact that the latter had coupons. Carrie is understandably upset and forces Doug to take her to the other one.

* In ''UnchartedDrakesFortune'', Gabriel Roman expresses his frustration in dealing with Eddie Raja:

* Classic example in ''FawltyTowers'', where Basil's overriding of his wife's decision to hire Mr. Stubbs for some repair work in favor of the cheaper O'Reilly leads to disastrous results, such as having no door to the dining room or kitchen. He also hired his totally incompentent Spanish waiter, Manuel bacuse he's cheap.
* On TheRedGreenShow, this is the general attitude of Possum Lodge toward the idea of hippie "free love".

* ''TowerOfGod'': On the Floor of Test, food costs money for the examinees. The currency is points earned from the exams, so people generally buy the bad food.
* In an episode of ''TheSimpsons'' spoofing the story of Moses, Lisa and Milhouse escape a badly designed DeathTrap, with Lisa noting, "Slave labor. You get what you paid for."
* {{Deadlands}} Reloaded has rules for inferior "el cheapo" gear.
* In the ''OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' episode "Who's a Pretty Boy?" Denzil hires Del and Rodney to paint his kitchen because they're so much cheaper than a professional painter. HilarityEnsues.
* What gets the ball rolling in ''{{Erfworld}}'' is a spell to summon "the perfect warlord" that ends up a SummonEverymanHero spell because the overlord running the show refused to purchase the spell support plan. Possibly [[SubvertedTrope subverted]]: later events suggest that, while Parson is hardly the warlord that Stanley ''wanted'', he is the warlord that Stanley ''needs''.

* In ''TheAdventuresOfWillyBeamish'', Willy and friends get a free pizza with a coupon. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with ''their'' choice of topping, and it gives Willy a bad case of gas that gets him in trouble with the school bully sitting at a nearby table. The girl sums up the situation with "you get exactly what you pay for..."

* On an episode of ''[[Series/ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'', Jack makes Liz get LASIK eye surgery, but being that it's Dr. Spaceman, it's decidedly third rate (it's called LASIG instead). Later in the episode, Jack makes her cry and the tears ''literally'' pour down her face. When Jack asks what's happening, Liz sobs, "This is how I cry now! Ever since you made me get that off-brand eye surgery!"
* In an episode of ''KimPossible'', [[HarmlessVillain Dr. Drakken]] angrily complains about the [[SurroundedByIdiots shortcomings of his henchmen]]; [[TheDragon Shego]] scoffs at him for being too cheap to hire better ones from [[ArmsDealer Jack Hench]].

* [[HippieTeacher David Van Driessen]] hired BeavisAndButtHead to clean his house as a means of teaching them about the value of hard work. They end up destroying his irreplacable collection of 8-track tapes, but they turn out to be unwittingly giving Van Driessen LaserGuidedKarma when he only pays them a dollar each.

* The "Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socio-economic unfairness", as outlined in the {{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/MenAtArms'':

* In the beginning of ''DayOfTheTentacle'', the Chron-O-John fails because Dr. Fred used a synthetic diamond instead of a natural one.

If the situation involves a good or service that was received for free, this may involve some degree of [[ComplainingAboutThingsYouHaventPaidFor Complaining About Things You Haven't Paid For]].

* In ''[[UnchartedDrakesFortune Uncharted: Drake's Fortune]]'', Gabriel Roman expresses his frustration in dealing with Eddie Raja:

* TruthInTelevision. Computers/cell phones are designed to last only 3 or so years, or less if they can blame stuff on damage.
** Also, companies that build products to last ~30 years might not last that long, because of a low turnover rate.

* The "Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socio-economic unfairness", as outlined in the {{Discworld}} novel ''Discworld/{{Men at Arms}}'':

* In ''KidRadd'', a couple of flunkies were given ten grand to buy the very best assassin to kill Kid Radd while he's in jail. The flunkies decided to get a discount ninja for twenty bucks and keep the rest. The ninja couldn't hit a broad side of a barn.

* Classic example in ''FawltyTowers'', where Basil's overriding of his wife's decision to hire Mr. Stubbs for some repair work in favor of the cheaper O'Reilly leads to disastrous results, such as having no door to the dining room or kitchen.

* On an episode of ''[[ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'', Jack makes Liz get LASIK eye surgery, but being that it's Dr. Spaceman, it's decidedly third rate (it's called LASIG instead). Later in the episode, Jack makes her cry and the tears ''literally'' pour down her face. When Jack asks what's happening, Liz sobs, "This is how I cry now! Ever since you made me get that off-brand eye surgery!"

* In ''{{Psychonauts}}'', during the Brain Tumbler experiment Raz will tell Sasha about seeing "very weird things". Sasha exclaims "Ack! Why did I have to buy the CHEAP Brain Tumbler?". Turns out cheapness has nothing to do with it...

While saving money and going for cheaper alternatives is a good idea in several circumstances, it can backfire almost just as often. This trope deals with the situations where it ''does'' back fire.

* Classic example in ''FawltyTowers'', where Basil's overriding of his wife's decision to hire Mr. Stubbs for some repair work in favor of the cheaper O'Reilly leads to disastrous results.

* In the ''OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' episode "Whose A Pretty Boy?" Denzil hires Del and Rodney to paint his kitchen because they're so much cheaper than a professional painter. HilarityEnsues.

** As true as this is for products, it is ''especially'' true for services. House cleaners, cooks, airplane tickets... cheaper is more expensive.

* In ''KidRadd'', a couple of flunkies were given a ten thousand grand to buy the very best assassin to kill Kid Radd while he's in jail. The flunkies decided to get a discount ninja for twenty bucks and keep the rest. The ninja couldn't hit a broad side of a barn.

* RealLife example that led to one of the most unfortunate events in modern history: In construction of the Titanic, White Star Line chose to cut costs by using lower quality components which backfired horrifically when the ship struck an iceberg and wasn't made of high enough quality material to stay together for the rest of the voyage.

* RealLife example that led to one of the most unfortunate events in modern history: In production of the Titanic, White Star Line chose to cut costs by using lower quality components which backfired horrifically when the ship struck an iceberg and wasn't made of high enough quality material to stay together for the rest of the voyage.

* RealLife example that led to one of the most unfortunate events in modern history: In production of the Titanic, White Star Line chose to cut costs by using lower quality components which backfired horrifically when the ship struck an iceberg and wasn't made of high enough quality material to stay together for the rest of the voyage.

* RealLife example: Namco's American chain of arcades (Aladdin's Castle, Time Out, Cybertainment, etc.) all get their machines from Namco's home office in Illinois, which always tries to get cheap, broken-down used games and then try to fix them up. With special emphasis on "try", because it usually doesn't work, and they frequently end up spending more money failing to fix a game than it would've cost to buy a brand-new machine. They've driven many of their own arcades out of business this way.

* In ''[[UnchartedDrakesFortune Uncharted: Drake's Fortune]]'', after having a discussion with Eddie Raja, Gabriel Roman has this to say:

-->''"How can I take over the world when I'm on a ''budget''?!"''

* On an episode of ''[[ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'', Jack makes Liz get LASIK eye surgery, but being that it's Dr. Spaceman, it's decidedly third rate (it's called LASIG instead). Later in the episode, Jack makes her cry and the tears ''literally'' pour down her face. When Jack asks what's happening, Liz sobs, "This is how I cry now! Ever since you made me get that off-brand eye surgery!"

* On an episode of ''30Rock'', Jack makes Liz get LASIK eye surgery, but being that it's Dr. Spaceman, it's decidedly third rate (it's called LASIG instead). Later in the episode, Jack makes her cry and the tears ''literally'' pour down her face. When Jack asks what's happening, Liz sobs, "This is how I cry now! Ever since you made me get that off-brand eye surgery!"

* On an episode of 30Rock, Jack makes Liz get LASIK eye surgery, but being that it's Dr. Spaceman, it's decidedly third rate (it's called LASIG instead). Later in the episode, Jack makes her cry and the tears ''literally'' pour down her face. When Jack asks what's happening, Liz sobs, "This is how I cry now! Ever since you made me get that off-brand eye surgery!"

* In ''KidRadd'', a couple of flunkies were given a ten thousand grand to buy the very best assassin to kill Kid Radd while he's in jail. The flunkies decided to get a discount ninja for twenty bucks and keep the rest. The ninja couldn't hit a broad side of a barn.