Meanings
- informalIn commercial transactions, the prices increase, as the quality of goods and services increases, i.e., the more one pays, the higher-quality the merchandise.
You get what you pay for. If you want a lower price, you can go to Motel 6..
1991 October 28, Janice Castro, Richard Woodbury, “The Man Who Fired a Dog To Save a Buck”, in Time, retrieved 04 Nov 2018Synonyms: YGWYPF
Synonyms & antonyms
proverbIn commercial transactions, the prices increase, as the quality of goods and services increases, i.e., the more one pays, the higher-quality the merchandise.
Translations
Chinese Cantonese 一分錢，一分貨 /一分钱, 一分货
- 一分錢，一分貨 /一分钱quality of goods increases as the prices increases
- 一分货 (jat¹ fan¹ cin⁴, jat¹ fan¹ fo³)quality of goods increases as the prices increases
Chinese Mandarin 一分錢，一分貨 /一分钱, 一分货
- 一分錢，一分貨 /一分钱quality of goods increases as the prices increases
- 一分货 (yī fēn qián, yī fēn huò)quality of goods increases as the prices increases
Danish du får, hvad du betaler for
- du får, hvad du betaler forquality of goods increases as the prices increases
Finnish sitä saat, mitä tilaat
- sitä saat, mitä tilaatquality of goods increases as the prices increases
French en avoir pour son argent
- en avoir pour son argentquality of goods increases as the prices increases
German Qualität hat ihren Preis
- Qualität hat ihren Preisquality of goods increases as the prices increases
Hungarian olcsó húsnak híg a leve
- olcsó húsnak híg a levequality of goods increases as the prices increases
Indonesian ada rupa, ada harga
- ada rupa, ada hargaquality of goods increases as the prices increases
Japanese 安物買いの銭失い
- 安物買いの銭失い (yasumonogai no zeni ushinai)quality of goods increases as the prices increases
Polish jakość ma swoją cenę
- jakość ma swoją cenęquality of goods increases as the prices increases
Spanish nadie da duros a pesetas, el que quiere celeste que le cueste
- nadie da duros a pesetasquality of goods increases as the prices increases
- el que quiere celeste que le cuestequality of goods increases as the prices increases
Swedish man får vad man betalar för
- man får vad man betalar förquality of goods increases as the prices increases
Vietnamese tiền nào của nấy, tiền nào của đó
- tiền nào của nấyquality of goods increases as the prices increases
- tiền nào của đóquality of goods increases as the prices increases
- tiền nào của đấyquality of goods increases as the prices increases
- tiền nào của ấyquality of goods increases as the prices increases
Cite this entry
you get what you pay for. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20get%20what%20you%20pay%20for
“you get what you pay for.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20get%20what%20you%20pay%20for. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “you get what you pay for,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20get%20what%20you%20pay%20for.
Source: you get what you pay for on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.