The recent beer posts on Five Cent Nickel reminded me of an article from the pre-blog MBH site. From the catacombs, for your viewing pleasure!
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IS THIS REALLY A GOOD PRICE?
How do you know it's a bargain in the first place?
Knowledge is power: Knowing what things cost
The more you know about what things should cost, the mightier your bargain hunting will be! You'll be able to snag the cans of tuna for 22 cents at Wal-Mart, the extension ladder at an estate auction for $55, or the 1997 Town and Country for $3,000 off of eBay because you KNOW that these are good deals! (OK, we didn't get our Town and Country for quite that little, but you get the picture.)
On the flip side, if you don't know what something should cost, then you have to take the salesperson's word for it, or the sale sign's word for it. At that point, you're guessing — or worse, being taken for a ride!
Practice, practice, practice!
Frankly, I think that looking around for the best price on things is FUN. Even if you don't get the same sadistic enjoyment out of trying to calculate unit prices in your head that I do, certainly you would agree that it's a useful skill to know what things should cost? Am I right, or am I right? 😉
So, for the things you buy every week at the grocery store, find out what the really good prices for those items are. Absorb pricing information like a sponge. Become the prices! It helps if you have a head for numbers, but a price book and a calculator to figure out unit cost work just as well.
The reason why you should start now looking at the prices of things is because you don't always have the time or opportunity to confirm your instincts when faced with a possible bargain for something you want. Like when you're at an estate auction in the middle of nowhere and your cell phone doesn't work. Or if you're on eBay and have an auction that ends in 2 minutes.
A check list to get you pumped
Pay attention to the price of things. Also, start a price book. Eventually you will know a good price when you see it, but it's always good to have a backup. In any case, you must process pricing information for it to become useful to you at a moment's notice.
Use a calculator if you need to figure unit cost, but try once in a while doing ballpark estimates in your head. That way, if you see a six-pack of Milwaukee's Best*** for $5.99, and a 12-pack of Schlitz for $10.99, you know immediately to go with the four-pack of Guinness pub cans because it's a much better beer.
But seriously, the math is a lot easier if you notice that $5.99 is about $6, and that the same number of cans of the Beast will cost you about $12 instead of about $11 for El Schlitz-o. Or, seeing that $6 divided by 6 is about $1 per can, and that $11 divided by 12 is some long decimal that you don't care much about other than it's LESS than $1 per can, you arrive at the same answer.
But also remember that price isn't everything. If you hate Schlitz, it doesn't matter if it's a penny a can. Likewise, if it's probably going to break/wear out/ disintegrate in two weeks, buying something that costs twice as much but lasts for a year is clearly a better deal.
For things you'll need or want soon, start looking and researching now. Use the Internet to see what items are going for. Then be on the lookout for a good price, because you know what a good price is!
***If you're not of legal drinking age, substitute sodas for the beers.
