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Today is Buy Nothing Day.[1] Don't shop. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day

not_your_vase 2y ago
Dunno. I get the idea. But it's not like Black Friday is the only scam. Cyber Monday is the same crap. Just like Prime day. (And most of the other days too, when the price is actually the same as on these "holidays", but without the fanfare)
- mulmen 2y ago
  I don’t follow. There’s lots of discounts on Black Friday. Are you suggesting the prices have been inflated so with the discount it’s “normal” price? How is Black Friday a “scam”?
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - lovich 2y ago
    That or it’s different skus and lower quality product that was binned just for black friday
  - birdiesanders 2y ago
    This literally is the method of pricing used on Amazon and many other retailers, raise the price 20% and then offer a 15% discount is actually common as well.
    - mindslight 2y ago
      If you're just buying things without knowing the general price of them, then Black Friday is the least of your problems. And no I don't mean just checking Camel^3, which is also thoroughly gamed.
      - xnx 2y ago
        I love camelcamelcamel. How is it gamed? I trust it when I see a long and varied price history of an item.
        mindslight 2y ago
        Coupon codes, exclusive pricing (business, prime, etc), different product listings - all not reflected in the history AFAICT. Never mind that for many products, Amazon has consistently high prices. CCC is handy, but it's just one data point.
        Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago
        So, what's the expectation. People can't know the price of everything, checking software seems a good approach
noncoml 2y ago
[flagged]
kerkeslager 2y ago
> Buy Nothing Day is a day of protest against consumerism. This is basically counterproductive. The problem with consumerism is buying things you would not otherwise buy (because you don't need or want them really). But obviously there are things that you do need/want, and if those things can be purchased on sale, failing to do so merely results in paying more money to the people driving consumerism. If you want to protest consumerism (as I do), I suggest three methods of doing so which are actually effective: 1. Mindfully reduce what objects you own and what objects you take in. Read The Last Viridian Note [1] for a potential strategy for categorizing what objects belong in your life and don't. 2. When you mindfully conclude that you do, in fact, need/want something, exhaust all avenues for obtaining it for free, used, or locally, in that order, before buying from a retailer connected to the global supply chain. 3. Don't view ads. The entire raison d'être of capitalism is to provide the highest quality goods and services for the lowest cost. Advertising fundamentally breaks this premise because it allows lower quality goods and services at a higher cost to outcompete higher quality goods and services at a lower cost. Every dollar a company spends on advertising is a) not spent on creating a quality product and b) passed on to the consumer in the form of cost. More relevant-ly, advertising makes it much more difficult to mindfully reduce what you own and take in. No one is immune to advertising: modern manipulation tactics are more sophisticated than any of us can truly guard our psyches from: the only solution is abstinence. [1] https://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/451-500/the_last_viridian_note.html https://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/451-500/the_last_viridi...
- cholantesh 2y ago
  >The entire raison d'être of capitalism is to provide the highest quality goods and services for the lowest cost. Quality is absolutely _not_ of paramount interest in capitalism; return on investment is.
  - kerkeslager 2y ago
    If that's your argument that capitalism should exist, it's not a persuasive one: why should people be given money for doing nothing ("investing")?

not_your_vase 2y ago

Dunno. I get the idea. But it's not like Black Friday is the only scam. Cyber Monday is the same crap. Just like Prime day. (And most of the other days too, when the price is actually the same as on these "holidays", but without the fanfare)

mulmen 2y ago
I don’t follow. There’s lots of discounts on Black Friday. Are you suggesting the prices have been inflated so with the discount it’s “normal” price? How is Black Friday a “scam”?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- lovich 2y ago
  That or it’s different skus and lower quality product that was binned just for black friday
- birdiesanders 2y ago
  This literally is the method of pricing used on Amazon and many other retailers, raise the price 20% and then offer a 15% discount is actually common as well.
  - mindslight 2y ago
    If you're just buying things without knowing the general price of them, then Black Friday is the least of your problems. And no I don't mean just checking Camel^3, which is also thoroughly gamed.
    - xnx 2y ago
      I love camelcamelcamel. How is it gamed? I trust it when I see a long and varied price history of an item.
      - mindslight 2y ago
        Coupon codes, exclusive pricing (business, prime, etc), different product listings - all not reflected in the history AFAICT. Never mind that for many products, Amazon has consistently high prices. CCC is handy, but it's just one data point.
        Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago
        So, what's the expectation. People can't know the price of everything, checking software seems a good approach

noncoml 2y ago

[flagged]

kerkeslager 2y ago

> Buy Nothing Day is a day of protest against consumerism. This is basically counterproductive. The problem with consumerism is buying things you would not otherwise buy (because you don't need or want them really). But obviously there are things that you do need/want, and if those things can be purchased on sale, failing to do so merely results in paying more money to the people driving consumerism. If you want to protest consumerism (as I do), I suggest three methods of doing so which are actually effective: 1. Mindfully reduce what objects you own and what objects you take in. Read The Last Viridian Note [1] for a potential strategy for categorizing what objects belong in your life and don't. 2. When you mindfully conclude that you do, in fact, need/want something, exhaust all avenues for obtaining it for free, used, or locally, in that order, before buying from a retailer connected to the global supply chain. 3. Don't view ads. The entire raison d'être of capitalism is to provide the highest quality goods and services for the lowest cost. Advertising fundamentally breaks this premise because it allows lower quality goods and services at a higher cost to outcompete higher quality goods and services at a lower cost. Every dollar a company spends on advertising is a) not spent on creating a quality product and b) passed on to the consumer in the form of cost. More relevant-ly, advertising makes it much more difficult to mindfully reduce what you own and take in. No one is immune to advertising: modern manipulation tactics are more sophisticated than any of us can truly guard our psyches from: the only solution is abstinence. [1] https://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/451-500/the_last_viridian_note.html https://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/451-500/the_last_viridi...

cholantesh 2y ago
>The entire raison d'être of capitalism is to provide the highest quality goods and services for the lowest cost. Quality is absolutely _not_ of paramount interest in capitalism; return on investment is.
- kerkeslager 2y ago
  If that's your argument that capitalism should exist, it's not a persuasive one: why should people be given money for doing nothing ("investing")?