I want to share a very specific example that ended up bothering me more than I expected. Not because of the product itself, but because of what it made me realize. I was looking to replace a litter box and came across stainless steel versions; I first heard about them here on Reddit. Before that, I honestly didn’t even know they existed. Once I looked into it, the reasoning felt fairly straightforward: a non-porous surface, easier to keep hygienic over the long term, and no material degradation over time. Stainless steel is preferred in veterinary clinics and other professional environments for exactly these reasons. What surprised me was that NONE of the major Swiss pet retailers I checked, at least none of the top 6 ones, offer this option AT ALL. Every pet specialty store I looked at only sells plastic boxes. The only way to get a stainless steel one in Switzerland was by digging through the entire category on a general online provider (and even then at a noticeably higher price…I ended up ordering the exact same product from Germany, around 35% cheaper). But this wasn’t really about the money. It was more about the realization that availability often ends up deciding for us, even when better long-term options exist. It felt like the market quietly nudged me toward what’s standard and replaceable, rather than what’s durable, beneficial, or simply makes more sense in the long run. Plastic litter boxes obviously work. That’s not the point. What bothered me was that a clearly more long-lasting alternative exists, yet it is essentially invisible in the Swiss SPECIALITY market. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very grateful for the general quality of life here, and I usually feel comfortable with how things work. I just didn’t expect such a short-term business logic that seems to rely on an assumed replacement cycle. That experience made me think more broadly about how often we buy things based on what’s readily available, rather than what we would choose if we actually compared options more carefully… It was a good reminder that doing your own research can make a real difference, even for small, everyday purchases. I’m grateful for the generally high living standard we have here, but I realized that availability alone isn’t always acting in our best interest. As consumers, we still carry responsibility for informed choices and intentional demand. I’d be curious to hear if others have had similar moments in completely different areas, whether household items, furniture, appliances, kids’ products, pet care, or anything else. Adé, merci. submitted by /u/flolibri
Originally posted by u/flolibri on r/Switzerland