A while back, my KitchenAid blender stopped working. Not because the motor died, but because the rubber coupling that made the blades spin started "melting" due to age or some other envioronmental factor. What to do? Buy a new one for $100+? Look around for a used blender in thrift stores? That might take time, and I would still end up throwing away a perfectly good blender (minus the coupling) with a lot more life left in it.
I opted to buy a new coupling online for $11.00 including shipping and handling. It took all of 10 minutes to locate a vendor and purchase it. The part arrived in mail in about 3 days. The repair took 5 minutes to read the instructions and locating a screwdriver, and 30 seconds to actually replace the part. My blender should last for another 10 years at the very least. Not only did I save the money for a new blender I would have purchased "back in the day," but I saved at least a gallon of gas, an hour or more of my time going out to buy a new one, and saved some space in a landfill. To me, the $11.00 was a good investment, though if someone had offered me one for free, I would have taken it willingly. : )