Getting something you need or want for a good price is a wise thing to do. Sometimes, though, the price of something is a red herring, something that distracts you from its true cost. Here are a dozen things that appear to be bargains but might not be:
Used helmets or child seats
Used helmets or child seats. There's no telling what they've been through or how they were stored. If a car seat or helmet has been through a collision, it shouldn't be used again. Even if it appears okay, it could have been weakened through the shock to the point that it could fail if shocked again. Also, the plastic weakens after a period of time, more so if the items have been stored in an attic that subjects the items to extremes in temperature.
Used cordless tools
Used cordless tools. Most of the pawn shops around here have a lot of tool inventory. Part of this might be due to slackening demand because the homebuilding sector is slowing, but another reason is that many of the tools are there because the battery doesn't take a recharge anymore. We bought a cordless drill at a pawn shop a while back and returned it for that reason. We couldn't easily find one that worked. In retail stores the replacement batteries for some models cost the same as a new drill with a battery, so it's kind of silly not to get a new drill.
Corian countertops
Corian countertops. According to the guy who just built my wife's parents' house, Corian looks good to start with, but once you scratch it enough, it stays scratched, and it's expensive to replace. It is not as heat-resistant as other materials. He told them flat-out that they didn't want Corian. (This might be one item that people either swear by or swear at, so I welcome comments from anyone who's had good experience with it.)
Off-brand toothpaste
Off-brand toothpaste. I hit one brand that was really nasty-tasting. It only cost a buck but I would have suffered through it for a while.
Off-brand coffee
Off-brand coffee. I'll drink pretty much anything caffeinated but some brands I've never heard of test even me.
Driving a few miles to save cents per gallon
Driving a few miles to save a couple of cents per gallon. You just forfeited your gas savings with the extra drive, and it took more time to boot.
All you care to eat
All-you-care-to-eat. If you can easily eat more than your fair share then I suppose have at it. I want to eat more than my fair share here, which isn't good because I don't need to eat more than my fair share.
Inexpensive inkjet printers
Inexpensive inkjet printers. The replacement ink cartridges are the profit center. Laser printers typically cost less to operate.
Free offers
Free offers. I “took advantage of” an offer for a free silver coin. Man did those guys pester me after I ordered. The same goes for free trials — the offerers are hoping you forget to cancel.
Old technology (most of the time)
Video cameras with tapes or mini-DVD-Rs. We got a video camera because our daughter was doing way too many cute things and we wanted to save a few of the moments for blackma … uuhhhh, posterity. We could get one that used tapes, recorded directly to a small DVD, or one with a hard drive. I might regret getting the one with the hard drive eventually but the cost difference between the hard drive version and the tape/disc versions was only a couple of hundred dollars, and the cost of the media was at least a few dollars per recorded hour. I'm thinking the hard drive unit will be cheaper in the long run.
Travel vouchers
Travel vouchers for voluntarily giving up your seat on an overbooked flight. Especially if you don't travel much. The airline's already gotten what they wanted, and now it's up to you to figure out a way to make good on that voucher. Otherwise, congratulations! You just inconvenienced yourself for nothing.
Trading time for money out in the cold in front of a store
Anything that requires that you stand in line all night freezing your butt off in late November. Only to have someone bigger than you tear that $100 eMachine out of your hands at checkout.
Amen about those after thanksgiving sales. Those people are nuts, I'd gladly pay an extra $25 to $50 on my presents if it means I get to sleep in on the day after thanksgiving and don't have to get trampled over by crazed shoppers.
Awww, those free travel vouchers really helped me out when I was younger! I once got 2 in the same afternoon by getting bumped (voluntarily each time, since you're guaranteed the seat each time) twice in a row.
I saw my family probably twice as much as I otherwise would have thanks to them – and for someone whose work just involves siting around with a laptop anyways, hanging out getting things done for a couple extra hours at the airport was totally worth the $300-$600 value of the compensation!
Amen on all you can eat. I only have one plate's worth, so it often costs me a lot more than a similar, simpler meal might. But I don't really go to those anymore.
Thanks for the comments!
I don't fly very much at all so the vouchers are of limited value to me. If they offered CASH, now that's a different matter. 😉
I would say the ubiquitous advice to wash all the laundry in cold water isn't really frugal either. My clothes don't get clean – maybe that's because most of my laundry is kid laundry, and the stains need a warm wash. But I've had to wash loads a second time so much that I can't recommend washing in cold water.
I like the travel vouchers as well. I reused them through college since I got bumped so frequently. (I bought the ticket initially…then was bumped, bought next ticket with voucher, and repeated the process. Plus you can usually talk the airline into a dinner voucher as well…which is much better than cooking when I get home.)
My husband works in retail. Last year I got up early and when shopping. There weren't any REALLY good sales in our area. I ended up with a pair of pants and that was it. I will be sleeping in this year. (And maybe next year creatively gifting non-retail…since I can't handle all the hours my husband has to work around the holidays, I think I may just wean myself off of any unnecessary retail myself.)
Inkjets are great for those of us that only print 20 pages a year.
While I agree it's overpriced and isn't as heat-resistant as one might like, Corian isn't all bad. For one thing it's really _easy_ to get rid of scratches: a Corian worktop is a solid block of material (not a plastic skin over particle board, like a melamine worktop). So to remove the scratches one sands the Corian block down. For small scratches one can do this by hand; for a badly scratched up surface then a mechanical sander can be used. For larger jobs getting a nice overall finish can be tricky (in particular avoiding creating shallow depressions in which water can like).
Another advantage of Corian is that entirely flush joints can be made (where there's no valley and no jointing strip between blocks). This is a minor nice-to-have for the kitchen, but it's a much bigger advantage when absolutely cleanliness is a must. In particular, Corian is often used for worktop surfaces in treatment room for healthcare professionals like dentists and podiatrists.
Any loyalty card or program that requires you to consume more of a product or service than you would normally to so to get something free are scams.
Sure, buying 12 coffees at StarJerks and having that card punched to get the 13th one free may seem like a deal, but it isn't. You spend more over the long term with that loyalty card than you might normally…just for what…another lousy cup of over-price joe.
Thanks for all the tips. I had looked at the Corian before so I'm glad you shared your experience. However, it looks like Fin gave you a money saving tip to get rid of your scratches.
As for bargains, my wife and I are supreme bargain hunters. We clothe the whole family and usually furnish the entire house usually from thrift stores or Craigslist or ebay. We don't buy unless we've budgeted for it and can pay cash for it. As for the power tools, that's good to know. We usually buy new for stuff like that but have considered it a few times on freecycle.org (we belong to the site in our area). You can't have any kind of insurance when you're buying used for things like that so it seems best to buy new. As for car seats, I accepted a used one from a trusted friend. Other than that, no way. If not and it lead to a car accident, you'd never forgive yourself.
I could not agree with you more. Even though we always like bargains, sometime health and safety is not worth the saving at all. Great Topics.
With the off-brand toothpaste: my mom was picking up a few random things at the dollar store one day, and bought some toothpaste. She didn't use it, but a few days later the tainted toothpaste (with diethylene glycol) was discovered…that could have been a dangerous purchase had she used it!
My coworkers and I like going out for Indian food…but most places are buffet. I like going there because I can try a bunch of foods, and get pretty much unlimited naan, but it costs more than just a single serving of Indian food, and I end up stuffing myself to try to get my money's worth…which in turn makes me feel sick and lethargic for the rest of the day.
I get 30 miles to the gallon. The cheapest gas station is 2 miles out of the way. I wouldn't drive 10 miles to get to it, but going to the closest place is not always the most cost-effective answer.
Regarding Corian, this is the leading brand for a countertop product called solid surface. There is a great deal of industry research regarding the positive ROI for upgraded kitchens and kitchen countertops, one of the top returns for any home improvement. In the last four years, the price of solid surface has been eroded as low-cost imports have attacked their margins. Additionally, the cost of granite has declined to a point that granite countertops are competitive with solid surface. A third option for countertops is Engineered Stone or Engineered Quartz. These are found under the brand names Silestone, Caesarstone, Cambria, and Zodiaq. They are made from 93% quartz, making them extremely resilient.
I'll add "off-brand floss" to your mention of off-brand toothpaste. Ouch! My poor gums!
We installed Corian in our last house, and I wasn't that impressed with it. I'd heard how it was indestructible, and I found that it scratched easily and that water rings were incredibly hard to remove (that might have had more to do with our water, though I wasn't aware of it being all that "hard"). I think I'll consider something else when we redo our current kitchen.
LOL. Sorry about your "free offer" experience, but I've had a lot of luck with them. There are lots of freebies online and it all depends on where you look, feedback from other people, and a spam email account. I've gotten tons of free stuff without any hassle from others.
Hi there,
Interesting article..
I have heard that if you drop a motor cycle helmet from a height of about 3 feet, then it becomes useless, or inadequate from a British standards point-of-view…
Ciao ciao 😉
Thanks for the post, great information. People forget that making small changes can make a huge difference with their overall finances.