For example, it may be false economy if a city government decided to purchase the cheapest automobiles for use by city workers to save money; however, if cheap automobiles have a record of needing more frequent repairs, the additional repair costs would eradicate any initial savings.
For example, a real estate developer who builds a condominium may turn the finished structure over to the ensuing condominium corporation which is run by its members once the last unit is sold and the building has passed a final inspection.
Longevity of the components of the structure beyond the final turnover of the facility may not be a major motivating factor for the developer, meaning that the result of the application of false economies may be more detrimental to the end user, as opposed to the developer.
A notable practitioner of false economy was King Frederick William I of Prussia, who was said by Thomas Macaulay to have saved five or six reichsthalers a year by feeding his family unwholesome cabbages even though the poor diet sickened his children and the resulting medical care cost him many times what he saved.
Those in poverty often opt into false economies when they perceive that they can't afford the better long-term option in the short-term.