The question I get most about hanging lights is whether they will end up too low to walk under or too high to matter, and the honest answer is that it depends entirely on where you measure from, not from the ceiling. Measure from the surface below it, the counter, the table, the floor if it is a hallway fixture, and work up from there. Over a dining table you want the bottom of the fixture around 30 to 36 inches above the tabletop, over a kitchen island more like 30 to 34 inches above the counter, and in a walkway or entry, nothing hanging lower than about 80 inches off the floor unless you enjoy apologizing to tall guests.
Where these go wrong is in rooms with low ceilings or rooms where several people need to move freely underneath, an 8 foot ceiling and a long pendant with a drop you can't shorten is a bad combination, and so is putting one over a spot where you also need a ceiling fan or clearance for moving furniture through on moving day. They are also the wrong call if you rent and the existing box isn't centered where you want the light, because rewiring or adding a box is not a weekend fix, in that case look for a plug in version that swags to the side instead of fighting the junction box. The small things worth checking before it leaves the store, or right when the delivery truck is still outside, are the cord or rod length and whether it's adjustable, the canopy size and whether it will actually cover the hole or box on your ceiling, the bulb type and max wattage it's rated for, and whether the finish you're seeing under store lighting still looks good once you get it home under your own bulbs, brass looks very different under warm LED than it does under a fluorescent showroom tube. What separates a good one from a disappointing one shows up after a year, not on day one. Cheap pendants have thin stamped metal that dents if you breathe near it, finishes that go patchy or rub through at the fittings, and plastic sockets that start to rattle. A well made one has a solid feeling canopy, a finish that's actually baked or plated rather than sprayed on thin, and a cord or stem with real heft, no wobble when you nudge it. That's the one that survives a move, two repaints of the room around it, and still looks right hanging in the next house.
Before you commit, check the drop length against your actual ceiling height, not the showroom's.