I fear we are all facing difficult times. People that I have had the pleasure of meeting whilst running Grans are all saying the same things. Sales are down! Profits are being squeezed. Why? Materials are getting more expensive. Overheads are going up but what is worrying me more is the flood of cheap, second rate goods that are saturating the market from overseas.

I get that people are feeling the pinch but I have heard horror stories of goods that do arrive are so substandard that binning them is the only option. That is if you are lucky enough to get a parcel arrive at all.

Honest small traders that take pride in their goods can’t compete with these mass produced items. People are asking more and more if they can get it cheaper. Sorry no. I can’t. People are closing their doors. Giving up their little businesses that they have worked so hard on building. It makes me sad. I am lucky that this is not what I rely on to keep a roof over my head. Its more about keeping my sanity.

Recently I saw an advert for a knitted jacket. It was a full length one. Don’t get me wrong it looked lovely. The price had me chuckling. It included postage too. I asked my husband how anyone thought that was possible. From my experience it would just about cover postage and packaging supplies. ‘If it seems too good to be true, it probably is,’ popped into my head.

It got me asking questions. Do people have no idea about the cost of items? Did they know and not care? What about the ethics of mass produced items made in substandard conditions? Lets hope quality over quantity prevails.

The Shaky Reality – Living with Parkinsons