Ebay Shower Heads - OK or stay away?

[Perp]

I'm sure there are good cheap options out there if you had lots of time to trial and error them all... the shortcut to this is paying more for a brand.

I hear you, I just think that assuming that paying more gets you better quality is what keeps the brand name prices high.

There are no guarantees, but fortunately I have time to do homework (and find it interesting), and think you can save a *lot* if you're smart.

The tapware and sanitaryware that I selected for our new home was $16K from Reece. I bought nearly identical stuff - though I upgraded the Reece standard bath to a spa from my eBay Australian-based hand-made custom bath manufacturer - from a couple of carefully selected Australian-based sellers on eBay for just under $7K. And my plumber and builder are both planning to recommend those suppliers to future customers.

Take out the bath and the comparison is $13K vs $4K. (The bath was $3K from either.)

I think $9K is worth saving!

But if you're not sure, I agree that saving $50 or $100 is probably not worthwhile, provided you're confident that what you're paying extra for is actually good quality, or has a better warranty or back-up or whatever, that gives you peace of mind.

Just paying more based on the assumption that paying more guarantees you better quality is, in my mind, pointless.

 

[dan_89]

Well I ended up buying Chinese.. Although I did opt for the more expensive option ($370) which has all brass fittings and rail as opposed to the ABS option (adjustable head is still ABS but no big deal..). Fitted it off myself and all seemed to work well. Surprisingly all parts looks seemed very good quality and I couldn't fault them.

See attached image of my en-suite combination shower head. For the main bathroom I went with the cheaper option ($180) which was just the adjustable shower head and no fixed rain shower which I now regret as quality doesn't seem as good.. Seems to have a slight leak from where the rail meets the top inlet so will get my plumber to check it out as I am no expert..