How did we end up thinking a $5500 television is a bargain?

My mate Brendon rang me the other day, breathless with excitement, like a kid who’d just been told Christmas was coming twice this year.

“I’ve done it,” he said. “Got a bargain. A monster bargain.”

This “monster” turned out to be an LG 75-inch television, the kind of screen you’d need a seatbelt to sit in front of. He’s moving into an apartment on the Gold Coast – because of course he is – and in preparation decided the first thing he should secure was not a couch, not a fridge, but a television bigger than the dining table he has not yet purchased.

The price? $5500.

And here’s the kicker: he’s thrilled about it.

To be fair, the logic (if we’re calling it that) goes like this: four months ago, he put down a deposit when it was already marked 30 per cent off – around $6400. The shop told him that if the price dropped any further before delivery, he’d get the lower price. Yesterday, he got the call. It had dropped an extra $900.

To Brendon, this wasn’t just a saving. It was victory. To me, it was a moment of realisation: when exactly did we reach the point where paying $5500 for a TV is cause for celebration?

Once upon a time, a TV was just a TV

I paid $250 for my first TV. It was heavy enough to anchor a small boat. It took two people to lift it – three if one of them was my mother, who was convinced everything electrical emitted radiation. It had rabbit ears. It sometimes needed a slap on the side to stabilise the picture.

But here’s the thing: it worked.

It did what a television needed to do.

And no one I knew would have considered spending more than a week’s wages on something that sat in the corner and showed cricket and A Country Practice.

Today? A TV is no longer something you watch. It’s something you experience. Somewhere along the line, we convinced ourselves that we needed cinematic immersion in our living rooms – that anything less than a 75-inch 8K HDR QLED Dolby Atmos UltraSense-Plus (whatever that actually means) is practically living in the dark ages.

That first cup of coffee – and how we lost the plot

It’s not just televisions.
I remember my first coffee: International Roast. My parents drank it. My grandparents drank it. It was cheap, cheerful and tasted exactly like what it was – coffee that came out of a tin.

Now? Coffee machines regularly cost multiple thousands. Even pod machines, the “cheap” ones, cost more than I spent on my first car’s rego. A fully automatic machine with a steam wand, self-cleaning system, milk sensor and bean-to-cup technology? You’re looking at $2500 minimum.

And we buy it

— gladly,

— proudly,

— as though spending a fortune to make a drink once reserved for truck stops and thermoses is a sign of refinement.

We don’t just drink coffee anymore. We “curate our at-home café experience”.

The 35-year price explosion: Everyday items that became luxury goods

Brendon’s television got me thinking: what else did we once buy cheaply that now costs an arm, a leg and possibly a kidney?

Here are a few contenders:

1. Mattresses
In the late ‘80s, a perfectly good mattress cost a few hundred dollars. Now? You’re lucky to escape under $3000 – and that’s before the salesperson upsells you on “dynamic sleep zones”.

2. Prams
Once a metal frame with wheels. Now? $1800 engineering marvels with suspension systems that wouldn’t look out of place on a Land Rover.

3. Headphones
The foam Earbuds of the Walkman era cost $9.95. Today’s “premium audio experience” can set you back $600.

4. Shoes
A sensible pair of Clarks cost $40. Now a pair of runners – worn purely for walking the dog – are often $250.

5. Home Appliances
Toasters used to cost $20 and lasted 15 years. Now, a fancy toaster can be $180 – and still breaks on year three.

We’ve turned basic goods into status symbols. The humble has become high-end. And in the process, we’ve lost the simple satisfaction of affordable functionality.

So what does a $5500 TV actually do?

I asked Brendon this. Not in a philosophical way – I genuinely didn’t know. He’d just been seduced by the marketing: “Ultra-high refresh rate! Dolby Vision! Dynamic dimming zones!”

But here’s the truth:

A $5500 TV does the following better than a cheap TV:

It gets brighter.
It gets darker.
It gets bigger.
It gets sharper.
It makes you feel like you’ve bought something special.
But at its core, a $5500 TV does exactly what a $1000 TV does:
it shows you the same shows.

MasterChef doesn’t taste better in 8K. The news isn’t less depressing in Dolby Vision. Home and Away doesn’t suddenly become Shakespeare because your pixels doubled.

The real difference?

A $5500 TV makes you feel like you’ve invested in “the experience”.

How We Got Here

We didn’t arrive at this moment accidentally.

A few things happened:

1. Marketing evolved faster than common sense. We now believe specs equal quality of life.

2. Technology became lifestyle identity. If you don’t have the latest gadget, some people think you’re falling behind.

3. Sales psychology got aggressive. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, EOFY, “clearance” that never clears.

4. We confused value with price. If it costs more, we assume it must be better.

Maybe Brendon’s Right … and Wrong Was his $5500 television a bargain? Yes – compared to its original sticker price.

But the bigger question is: Do we really need bargains that cost $5500?

For a generation that grew up with affordable living, sensible spending and appliances that lasted decades, it’s a strange new world.

Brendon’s happy. And that’s fine. But I’ll say this: give me my old $250 box, my tin of International Roast and a simpler time when a TV was just a TV – not a financial commitment. Because sometimes, the best picture quality of all is the one in your memory.