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That's the thing. This was a $3000 camera. A 20% friends discount is 600. We've been best friends for two decades, but most days he doesn't give me $600 on cash
by NikolaNovak 4mo ago
That's the thing. This was a $3000 camera. A 20% friends discount is 600. We've been best friends for two decades, but most days he doesn't give me $600 on cash. Don't get me wrong, we don't keep track who paid for dinner or cinema ticket or whatever. But there IS a threshold at which it really becomes a random cash gift.
Yes dealing with friends is nicer than strangers - but also when you're selling stuff, sometimes it's better to do strangers. Expectations of long term service and support are clearer and have more defined boundaries.
- soulofmischief 4mo agoI guess friendship means different things to different people. I've had friends spot me plenty more than $600 and I've spent thousands on friends in return. I can't imagine having such an indifferent attitude towards someone I care about.
- Dylan16807 4mo ago"Spot you" implies you actually had a level of need for the money. Declining to give you $600 out of the blue because you'd rather have more money is not being indifferent.
- soulofmischief 4mo agoIt can imply that, but it can imply other things too and you shouldn't draw conclusions from one interpretation. You've never just paid for a friend's dinner or ticket? Perhaps this is a cultural thing. I routinely buy gifts for friends, pay for their meals, travel and vice versa. Having more money is not some supreme objective that is more important than the people around you. Money is just a tool for enjoying life. I come from an impoverished and deprived background, spent years homeless since I was a teenager, and I still recognize that putting money before friends is a scarcity mindset.
- Dylan16807 4mo agoGifts are nice but deciding not to give someone a gift out of absolutely nowhere is not "putting money before friends".
- soulofmischief 4mo ago"deciding not to give someone a gift out of absolutely nowhere" as a matter of course, as a guiding philosophical principle, is categorically putting money before friends.
- Dylan16807 4mo agoThat's reading way too much into the earlier posts.
- soulofmischief 4mo agoI'd say I'm reading into them the regular amount. Your entire premise is that you wouldn't just hand money to a friend for no reason. I challenged this mentality and whether or not such a friendship is ideal, offering a perspective into why there are more important things in life than money. If this isn't your intent, you should reflect on how you've presented your argument.
- Dylan16807 4mo agoI didn't say you have to say no, I said you can say no without any negative implications on your friendship. I have no idea where you got saying no as a matter of principle. Also if saying no is putting money above friendship then so is the friend asking for money for no reason!
- soulofmischief 4mo ago> I have no idea where you got saying no as a matter of principle. right after this yous say: > Also if saying no is putting money above friendship then so is the friend asking for money for no reason! No, it isn't, and the fact that you see it that way perfectly illustrates the point I've been trying to make.
- throw0101a 4mo ago> But there IS a threshold at which it really becomes a random cash gift. Not wrong, but it is also possible that the $600 'cash equivalent' discount would be considered a birthday or Christmas present, or a form of 'repayment' for the time he helped you out with the Thing with the Guy in the Place. (“I'd never been to Belize.”)
- deleted 4mo ago[deleted]