Bargain Driven Buying

Don’t Be Taken

Liquidation and wholesale stores offer numerous bargains, but watch out for junk. Some things aren’t worth even the paltry amount they are asking. Sometimes they throw in miscellaneous cheap stuff, hoping you won’t notice they’re selling the product for more than the retail level. Other products are in liquidation for a reason; they’re of poor quality, made of sub par ingredients, past their expiration date or don’t work effectively.

Look for name brands when you can. They will assure you a certain level of quality.

Don’t become a victim of ‘bait and switch’. If a retailer offers a special price or coupon in their ads, but doesn’t have the item in stock, won’t honor the price advertised, or is offering a product of poor quality, walk away. Don’t allow them to sell you an alternative.

This is unfortunately a very common practice. Some attempt to draw you into their businesses with the intention of selling you a more expensive item than is advertised. They are either conveniently out of stock, unable to locate the sale item or are offering some chintzy knock off of a reputable product. They always have a more expensive product on hand that will satisfy your desire or make their poor quality offering pale by comparison. This is the oldest trick in the retail arsenal. Don’t fall for it.

Some people are too complacent or have limited time and will just buy the higher priced substitute, just to save time and to quickly fulfill their desire. Others are intimidated by clever salesmen or saleswomen who sell them on the superior quality of the alternative product.

Still others try to impress the sales person. Why? Chances are you won’t see this person again. And what if you do, do you really want to be friends with someone who misrepresents and intimidates for a living? Lose your ego. Don’t try to impress strangers, particularly those who have the potential to profit from you.

If you feel you are simply being cheated, complain loudly and defiantly to management and anyone else within earshot. Then walk out the door. In severe cases you might even want to drop a line to your local better business bureau or district attorneys office. They’ll pursue it without any expense to you. If they offer a promotion, they should honor it, damn it!

Don’t let a few hurdles like this dissuade you from your pursuit of bargains. It is just part of the game. Once you learn how it is played, walking through the minefields becomes as routine as tying your shoes.

In fact, when you find corrupt practices like this and complain loudly, defiantly and publicly enough, you may receive further compensation above the promotion offered. You can actually use their deceit to your advantage, but that’s a whole other story. Verbal and written complaints are a fountain of opportunity for those who know how to complain.

Big Stuff Too

If you like to deal in larger numbers, take heart. The same cost savings and profit potential holds true for large purchases, including investments. Obviously, higher ticket items can produce higher savings and require more attention. A home purchase, for example, can yield savings in the tens, fifties and even hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings with careful research.

What’s more, particularly with investment property, once you have figured out how the system works, you’ve laid the groundwork for repetitive savings on subsequent purchases. You can apply ‘cookie cutter’ type techniques in mass for continual investment gains.

All investments have their peculiarities, which can be used to your advantage. As an example, once while investing in foreclosures it became apparent to me that the bank I was dealing with became very nervous reporting their inventory of real estate owned by certain dates. I learned to research their inventory and make low offers just prior to their reporting cut offs. The results were amazing. Low offers were quickly accepted and the profits were ample. Once you take the time to understand how the system works, often you can apply the same technique on a repetitive basis for substantial continual profits.

Be As Flexible As A Yoga Instructor

Flexibility is another key factor in finding good values. The more adaptable you are, the more likely you are to find a good price on what you are seeking. It stands to reason that if you are willing to accept a wider range of possible products or services, the likelihood of finding a bargain is going to increase. Be flexible and you’ll find better values easier.

Let’s say your going out for dinner. You feel like having a good steak, but when you get to your favorite restaurant you see that they are having a half price special on shrimp dinners. You like shrimp too, so you choose the shrimp dinner, knowing that you’ll eventually have your steak dinner, just not tonight. Your adaptability just garnered you a 50% savings on your dinner.

Next you’re in the market for a newer car. You thought a Japanese SUV might be nice, but when you arrive at the dealership, you find a special opportunity. The dealer only has German SUV’s on sale, but is willing to offer you a deep, deep discount to reach their end of year bonus target.

You have researched your values and can see the price is right. You can also see the benefits in owning this type of SUV, but you’re still not quite convinced so you drop your price another 15%. The dealer accepts. By willing to forgo your first choice, you were able to obtain a very good bargain.

Or, better yet, you go to an auto auction and find that cars can be bought for nearly half their retail value if you are willing to be flexible in your selection criteria. By opening up your possibilities you steal a vehicle for your personal use or for resale at a profit.

On the other hand, people who have to have what they want when they want it make it difficult to obtain a good value. Picky people make saving money burdensome. The more flexibility you have the easier it will be to find great values in everything you purchase.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to people of little or less than no ‘means’ eloquently explain to me how they couldn’t possibly get by sacrificing with less than this or that. That’s usually followed by an explanation as to why they couldn’t possibly be ‘bothered’ to take the time to shop or save money. Then, in the next breath, they’re explaining their financial woes or worse yet asking for a loan.

My response is “ well la tee da”. Save the prima donna act for when you have earned the right and the means to be picky and self- indulgent, if that’s your style. Until then, be flexible or continue to be a slave of system instead of its master.

Too many times I think television warps our perception of how the wealthy live and prosper. Maybe we’ve watched reality ‘lifestyles’ programs so often we’ve lost our perspective on life and assume that the wealthy became that way by being self-indulgent spoiled brats. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most people who have accumulated a sizeable net worth did it the old fashioned way by working hard and judiciously managing their money. They are usually appalled at the stupidity of lazy ‘wannabes’ who think they can spend their way to wealth.

Cash Is The Bomb

Want to screw up your finances and your life? Buy everything you can think of now, before you’ve earned it and made the sacrifice to save for it. You won’t be alone. You’ll have lots of company.

Personal purchases, with very few exceptions, should always be paid for in cash or with cash equivalent such as a credit card that is religiously paid off each and every month. If you can’t afford to pay cash for an item, you haven’t earned the right to buy it. If you buy it prematurely, your discipline for saving will suffer and your cost will significantly increase.

Be your own banker. Put on a pinstriped suit, look condescendingly over your glasses at yourself in the mirror and approve your own loan. Keep the profits the banks and credit card companies make ‘in house’, your house. Your cost will be significantly lower. Why pay someone else the interest differential. Bank rates are high. Credit card rates can be absurd. Keep that additional cost in your pocket and earn interest on your savings as you accumulate money for your large purchases. Reverse the typical payment scenario. Make payments to yourself before you buy, instead of paying through the wazooo after the fact.

Paying in cash also makes you a smarter, more cautious buyer. When you’ve sacrificed and made the effort to save for a purchase you have a tendency to work harder at getting a better price. You also better appreciate your purchases and take better care of them when you have painstakingly saved in advance.

When you pay in advance for your next car purchase you may find yourself becoming anal-retentive enough to start parking your new car on the far end of the parking lot, far away from careless door swingers. When the bank owns most of it, psychologically it’s just not all yours. There is probably nothing more depressing than looking at an old dented car, worth less than you owe on it, while you struggle to make the high monthly payment. When its paid for with your own sacrifices, you’ll appreciate its value more, take better care of it and enjoy the absence of monthly payments.

When you save in advance for your purchases, their cost drops significantly. You earn interest, avoid paying interest, avoid financially stunting your growth with taxing monthly payments and often take better care of them, thereby extending their life. In addition, the discipline you instill in yourself to save makes you more responsible. The lack of debt makes your more financially and mentally secure.

Don’t Be Fanatical

So…. Do you have to be a tightwad to practice Bargain Driven Buying? No, just smart and rational in your thinking. You still want to enjoy life. Make a game out of outwitting your adversaries and uncovering good values without taking it too seriously. Like any good game, it is supposed to be fun, not arduous.

Do you have to practice the techniques every minute of every day? No, just most of the time when it is practical and in direct proportion to the savings involved.

On the one hand repetitive small savings do add up to large sums over time. On the other hand you’ve earned the right to spend flagrantly when the mood strikes you. If you’re staying at that chateau in France and want to spring for a Michelin rated dinner for $300, go for it. You deserve it and most importantly you can afford it with the substantial sums you’ve made and saved by practicing Bargain Driven Buying most of the time. Besides, it’s fun just letting loose once in a while, knowing that you can just throw some of that money you’ve made to the wind without loosing any sleep because of your shrewd buying habits.

Rich Man, Poor Man

Don’t be intimidated as you bargain for a good value.

Buying at a discount is not a poor man’s game. Some of the ‘income challenged’ assume that only people who have to bargain will bargain. They equate poverty with hunting for and negotiating a good price. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the rich passionately love to get good values. Making and saving money is a game and they like to win, even after they’ve won.

A rich man buys at a discount because he wants to, not because he has to. Often, the poor man buys at full price, if he can, because he wants to emulate the rich and not be embarrassed. Ironically, he will be embarrassed over and over again, because with that philosophy he will never be rich, he’ll only pretend to be.

Whether you are using discounts or negotiating for a better price, know your values and bargain for a substantial reduction in price, without fear or intimidation. You may not always make friends, but you will be respected. If you have a choice between being liked or respected, take respected every time. If someone likes you because they can manipulate your buying habits, and most do, don’t count them among your friends. Most salesmen and saleswomen have their own agenda and will only appear to have your interests in mind.

Let The Bargains Do The Driving

Become an opportunist. Let the market drive your buying. Turnaround the typical buying scenario. Know your values and patiently search for opportunities. Find real values, not pseudo values. Determine your own idea of value. When bargains arise, buy with both hands and both feet. In fact, bring along an extra pair. Don’t be afraid to negotiate. Don’t be intimidated. Become a BARGAIN DRIVEN OPPORTUNIST and watch the dollars add up into a fortune.

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