4 ms·

I tend to make a conscious effort to ignore "deals". As far as I know, the one case in which a deal is actually advantageous as a consumer is when that deal enc

by Vinnl 8y ago

I tend to make a conscious effort to ignore "deals". As far as I know, the one case in which a deal is actually advantageous as a consumer is when that deal encourages consumers to buy more of a certain product at the same time, and the merchant passing part of the scale and predictability savings on to the consumer. For example, if you buy tooth paste every now and then anyway, buying it at the same time as many others might make it cheaper to offer that tooth paste. Or for example having the option between essentially equivalent meal ingredients, more people cooking the same meal at the same time can allow for offering those ingredients more cheaply. In most cases, however, it feels like they only benefit the merchant, by manipulating the consumer to buy things they don't need, or more expensive things. I don't think the cost savings I'm missing out on by not making purchases in the first category outweigh the extra costs I avoid by also not making purchases in the second category. That said, I'd love to hear of more ways of how deals can actually benefit both consumer and merchant.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
wdutch 8y ago
there's a tactic called a loss leader where the merchant has a discount and sells a product at a loss to get people into the store (and hopefully buy other things that make them a profit). Loss leaders are pretty hard to spot unless you actually know the normal retail price
- Vinnl 8y ago
  Right - I thought of mentioning it, but then decided it was part of the category "making me buy more expensive things". Presumably, I wouldn't have gone into that store otherwise, e.g. because it's more expensive. A similar trick is selling a certain product (e.g. an ingredient) at a loss, because it is often bought together with more expensive products (e.g. the rest of the ingredients of the typical meal). Of course, you could still benefit from this if you were to visit that store anyway, or would have bought those products anyway. However, that's still the case in my "ignore deals" strategy: I don't actively avoid deals, I just try not to use them as a reason to buy something.

by Vinnl 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

wdutch 8y ago

there's a tactic called a loss leader where the merchant has a discount and sells a product at a loss to get people into the store (and hopefully buy other things that make them a profit). Loss leaders are pretty hard to spot unless you actually know the normal retail price

Vinnl 8y ago
Right - I thought of mentioning it, but then decided it was part of the category "making me buy more expensive things". Presumably, I wouldn't have gone into that store otherwise, e.g. because it's more expensive. A similar trick is selling a certain product (e.g. an ingredient) at a loss, because it is often bought together with more expensive products (e.g. the rest of the ingredients of the typical meal). Of course, you could still benefit from this if you were to visit that store anyway, or would have bought those products anyway. However, that's still the case in my "ignore deals" strategy: I don't actively avoid deals, I just try not to use them as a reason to buy something.