buying | Piss and Moan

Start early

Posted on October 29, 2021 by backuphill

Here comes the flood…

The flood of corporate emails from CEOs and marketing departments and advertising agencies, etc., that are pleading, begging, everyone to “shop early” and “shop often” because of the supply chain issues and the possibility of products not being in stores in time for Christmas.

The basic message, “Buy now. Spend money now. Give us your money now.”

Anyone else baffled by this? I have seen tv commercials pleading the same thing. I see internet ads extolling the “virtue” of shopping now so you don’t lose out on gifts for the holiday.

Not sure if you have noticed (you probably have, you’re not blind), but Christmas started two weeks ago. I am not talking about the “early in, early out” stores like Costco and others that bring in decor early. I am talking about the fact that stores are already promoting “Black Friday” sales.

It makes me curious, though. If I shoot my shot now, what happens when I see something in a month, or two, that I want to get at that time but I already blew my budget because I panicked and bought early, like they would like me to? Oh, wait! That’s what they want to happen. They want us to spend out money now and then forget that we already spent our budget and then overspend as the season continues. They want us to spend the money we don’t have because they enticed us early and often, created a panic buy situation earlier than ever, and then when it comes time to get what we really wanted instead of settling for something we bought early we get ourselves into buying that we can’t afford.

I see what you’re doing here. Unfortunately, so many people don’t have any idea what is going on.

Guess what will happen when we get closer to Christmas? All that product sitting out there on those boats will magically show on shelves everywhere. Just like it would have in every previous year.

Manufactured crisis? (LOL pun intended) It might very well be.

So, are you going to spend your money early or are you going to hold on to it in hopes of actual products you may want (and probably even better sales to get rid of all that stuff that came in “late”?

Not representative

Posted on June 13, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Lukas Kloeppel on Pexels.com

Recently I was tasked with finding a used car to purchase for my daughter. A process I am not fond of, let alone knowing my daughter is now old enough to be out on the road on her own. Scary times I tell ya!

Anyway, looking for a used car these days is tough. People are shady.

People are shady.

Hundreds of car ads on multiple platforms and driving by, stopping and looking, at cars on the side of the road with signs in them. It is hard to find a quality used car for a decent price. Or, I should say a decent car for an inexpensive price.

I wanted something that I didn’t have to worry about my 16 year old being on the side of the road in the dark somewhere but also knew it wasn’t going to be in perfect condition. The problem is that when you take all that into consideration and then add in a relatively limited budget, well let’s just say an ice cube in hell has a better chance. LOL

People are shady.

I already knew that point, but as I looked at cars online and then would go look at them in person I found a great majority of them were misrepresented in the ad. The body condition was accurately reflected in the photos. The interior was purposely misrepresented for obvious or glaring flaws. The engine leaked oil. The description left out the mile on the vehicle. Windows didn’t work. Mold growing on the interior? Come on.

Anyway, we found a car. I am not sure it was as great a deal as we first thought. New brakes all around after purchase and the key FOB doesn’t work even after the battery replacement. It is even possible the engine was pressure washed to hide a small oil leak.

I didn’t expect perfect, but people are shady.

Have you had similar purchase experiences from buying this online? Got a horror story to share?

Limited sale quantity

Posted on December 3, 2018 by backuphill

Over the weekend I was shopping, online. I try to avoid stores if I can and will do so until I can no longer make due.

On said shopping venture I found an item that I thought would fit the budget and would be good for both kids (we usually put this item in their stocking each year). So I decided to buy.

Much to my dismay, the sale was limited to ONE item. I can only buy one. That sucks. How is it really a sale (price wasn’t fantastic) if it has a limit of one? I guess one kid doesn’t get a present in their stocking this year.

Come on, Amazon, you can do better than that.

I wonder which kid is my favorite?

Selling rude behavior

Posted on October 25, 2018 by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Anyone out there use social media sites to sell the crap they no longer need or want?

It seems there are all kinds of sites out there these days offering the ability to sell stuff. Ebay and Craigslist were really the first ones but since then others have popped up, each attempting to make the process more streamlined and convenient.

You, of course, now have the option (I can’t possibly name them all) of OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, any my wife just found something called TopHatter. All have their own rules and in many ways are pretty similar. I have used both OfferUp and Facebook with mixed results.

Horror story time (OK, not really horror, but rude nonetheless)! It has not happened to me twice…you see an item you want to buy, you inquire about it, you find out it is still available, and then you agree on a time and place to meet (always in public). It used to be that a “gentleman’s agreement” was enough but apparently we live in a society with no honor.

The first occasion was actually a business going out of business and the furniture was for sale. I had to drive 30 minutes to get there but traffic was not great because of a collision. I messaged the seller to let her know I would be a couple minutes late but got no response. When I arrived at the location I was exactly four minutes late. When I walked in the door I found the two pieces I was purchasing and when I went to pay for it the lady said everything in the store had already been purchased by one buyer. I was a little dumbfounded. We had already agreed!! All she said was, “Sorry. You were late so I didn’t know if you were coming.”

The second occasion was just last week. A guy was selling a lawnmower that was near new. He lived in another town 37 miles away, but I worked near there so I asked if I could pick it up the next day since I would be going through on my way home from work. He agreed and we set up a place to meet. An hour after we agreed, he messages me and says, “Sorry, buddy, someone just came and picked it for full price.” Uh, what?? I was going to pay full price and I agreed to purchase it first!

Ok, so those are two of my stories. People not honoring their word. It shouldn’t surprise me because people suck, really. Anyway, OfferUp has a way to rate buyers and sellers but it is ONLY if the transaction actually takes place. So, for the most part, people have positive reviews since they only get reviewed on what they actually sell. There is no way to review sellers (or buyers) when the transaction hasn’t taken place, which is a big fault of the program, I believe. I am sure people have things sold right from under them all the time, but there is no way to report it. That’s a big downside to the program, even if most experiences are positive.

What’s your experience? Share your nightmare stories below.