Those are good products, and its a shame you were made to feel you needed to buy "better" products. It has been my experience that many of the boutique products that are hyped on this site are simply overpriced and offer results that are similar to many OTC products. I have everything from cheap OTC stuff to the expensive stuff thats well-liked on this site.
You think you got hosed for buying those products, have you even used them? Why didn't you like them? Or are you just unhappy because people are using $70 jars of wax and you think you need the same stuff to compete? After you polish your car out to a swirl free (or close to it) finish, your car should look amazing already, any decent wax you throw on top of it will only add to that beauty.
If you wanna talk about getting hosed, in my experience, I wasted too much time and money buying overpriced stuff like
Souveran.
I don't hate 'boutique' products, because there are some expensive products that work and work well (the
Menzerna line comes to mind and that is one of my favorite lines) but there are really great products from "cheaper" companies like
Meg's and others. Just cause you can buy it at your local store doesn't mean its junk. Yes, there is lots of junk at your local AutoZone or Pep Boys, but there are some good products sitting on the shelves. I just hate the "Its more expensive and exclusive 'cuz I can only get it online so it must be better" mentality that you see on these forums. What it all comes down to in the end is using a product that works (the products you listed do indeed work, as do many other products out there) and having the skill to use them. If you can afford to use the higher end, more expensive products and you like them, thats great, but there's nothing wrong with the products you listed or those like them.
Its the
detailer, not the product.
</rant>