price has nothing to do with cost, and cost has nothing to do with quality
perception is the name of the game
product differentiation and product recognition are the rule
folks buy fram filters because of name recognition, and if fram paints the bottom of the fllter with undercoater and charges more, then it must be
better ,,, right? wrong!
in my industry the joke is,,, there are oil filters, and then there are "fram" (and the fram is not requarded as a filter)
moral of the story:
buy a common series of belt, something used for a chevy or a ford, or alternatively something for a hd truck.
the car market has loss leaders to get you into the door, and if it is a goodyear, gates or one of the major store brands built by one of these manufactures
then buy the most common and cheapest you can get.
btw, the hd truck suppliers can often times provide belts at prices you cannot get at your auto parts store even on sale.
when you work with industrial belts, then go with folks like browning, gates, or goodyear, the quality is across the board very similar.
industrial belts are more specialized, and usually don't have many common belts that the dealer sells alot of, but ask him if he has a fast mover that
he can get you a better deal on.
it never hurts to ask
bob g