My point is it's such a rare purchase it doesn't really matter if the price even doubles for the cheapest ones, especially compared to regular quality items, that may last marginally longer but are a lot more expensive.

1$ socks 4 times/year << 20$ socks 1 time/year even if the socks double in price. And that's with the assumption that 1$ socks are 4 times more likely to break, which is incredibly pessimistic.

Not the case for bread! 1$ bread twice a week for a year starts to look bleak if it increases in price.

Of course dollar store socks don't last as long as nicer ones but (I haven't run the numbers) they may very well still be the cheapest (or damn close) on a per day of use basis.

The cheapest things being the most cost effective uncommon for goods that are consumable due to long term wear and tear. You need to actually run the analysis for any given class of product.

This for sure. Been wearing a particular brand of socks for the last few years, a little more expensive. They fit great but I’m not sure they last any longer than my cheap ones did.

There are also plenty of items that will be treated as disposable no matter the “quality” in real life. A $20 toilet plunger that sits unused for a couple of years will have dry rot on the rubber and break on the first or second use the same as a $1 plunger.