The stupidity that exists by not checking the web

This is really sad. This weekend I bought a water distiller for $2 at a humane society yard sale.
The list on this badged unit was $500, amazon new cost $400. The exact same unit under another more generic mark (former awesome US manufacturer who sold out their name) was $90.

Sorry, just not understanding the sheeple that spend that kind of cash.

Hi- What is sad is that the person spent that much money on something that they obvious did not need. I usually hit the big rummage sale up in Winnetka put on by the Congregational Church, and I don't have as much luck as I used to, but I used to often get clothes with the tag still on it, for $1 a bag. This was good quality brands such as Talbot. Right now I am wearing two of my bag sale purchases. With the economy the way it is though, there are more people hitting rummage sales, and it is harder to find stuff.

To some extent I think it's a matter of how much time people have available. I probably wouldn't have the time to find the distiller at an auction or sale for $2, but I certainly could find it online for $90 and would take that route if I was buying one. Brand names also carry a lot of weight for people, and they'll pay the extra money for that sense of security (even if it's unfounded).

I also think that based on income people have different thresholds for researching a purchase - i.e. if someone is making a lot of money they don't sweat dropping an extra $100, while most people will. My threshold for researching a purchase is about $50-75, but I can certainly understand that others have different thresholds. While I certainly know that with some effort I can find some things I buy for much less at garage sales, on Craigslist and such. It takes time to do that, and I'd rather spend my limited free time hanging out with my daughter instead of spending hours driving around searching for the best deal.

Yeah -- but just think -- if the people with more money than sense did NOT buy all that stuff, there wouldn't be any garage sales.

Cynthia wrote:Yeah -- but just think -- if the people with more money than sense did NOT buy all that stuff, there wouldn't be any garage sales.

Or excellent curb shopping deals!

Hi- Twice a year the village of Winnetka has cleanup week. I used to work for a family in Winnetka, and one spring day, I found all kinds of treasures sitting out free for the taking, and I asked the family that I worked for what was going on and Alexis said it was clean up week. You can put out any large amount of garbage that you would normally get charged for and not be charged. There were lots of people cruising the streets. i even found a few items that I either donated somewhere, or sold at a garage sale I was putting on a few weeks later at my sister's in Michigan. I actually had one woman who was moving, come out and tell me what worked and what did not.

My Mom lives in a gated "active seniors" community that has bulk pickup a couple times a year. People start putting stuff out a few days in advance and much of it is often gone before the trash trucks come through. I know my Mom has gotten some high-quality cast iron frying pans that way.