Episode 79. There's No Such Thing as a Bargain

What in life deserves our time and attention and what things don't. I hope that as we consider that question along with other topics on this show, that we can all learn to live our lives just a little more intentionally. This is Seth Roberts. Thanks for joining me on Skipping Stones - “There’s No Such Thing as a Bargain.”

Few things feel better than knowing you got a good deal on something.  It's evidence of your superior negotiating abilities, but maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves. What do we really get out of a bargain? I've lived in the world of business for years now, and I've tried to get good deals from vendors and many, many people.

I've tried to get good deals out of me. There are a lot of ways to make a deal, but I find that no matter what deal you make, you are going to get what you paid for. And honestly, I don't think I've ever gotten the better end of a bargain in my life. If someone is telling you they're giving you a bargain, they're either lying or they're getting something in exchange for giving you that bargain.

Often what a person gets is a kind of unnamed obligation from you that they can call on. It might be insurance against mistakes that they've made. It might be an implied expectation of loyalty to them. Maybe it means they're  gonna do the work for you, but it's gonna be on their timeline. Or you may simply be getting a lower quality product.

I hate accepting free work. In spite of that, I still accept free work fairly regularly from family members. I love them and I'm grateful, but there is a cost. I'm truly indebted to these people. Maybe not financially, but metaphorically. I certainly am. If they ever need anything, my consciousness demands that I be there for these people in my life, even if it comes at the cost of great sacrifice.

Even if that sacrifice ends up being greater than the things that they've done for me, in a way, the free work I've accepted is the most expensive work I may ever have to pay for. On top of that, free work comes on their timeline, not yours. As time passes, I found myself gravitating towards intentionally paying more than maybe I have to.

'cause in the long run, I find I end up getting the better end of the deal. That way I could buy some pretty nice stuff from Walmart and I often do. But if I really need a reliable tool, I find that if I search out purpose-built high quality brands, the thing is just going to work better most of the time.

Obviously I can't always afford the thing I want, and in some cases, more money doesn't always mean better. A Toyota is going to beat out a Ferrari in terms of reliability 100% of the time, but if your intention is to have something that's going to turn heads, you'd be hard pressed to find a better vehicle than a Ferrari.

To do that earlier this year, I bought a little two man tent and you can get a two man tent for under a hundred bucks. For whatever reason, I was feeling spendy and I said, nah, I'm gonna buy this overpriced tent from REI for closer to 300 bucks. I felt a little dumb for that, to be honest, but I was there and I was literally going on a camp out that night, so I said whatever.

As it turns out, that random tent I bought was the nicest tent I've ever slept in by a wide margin. And I think it was worth every penny. At the same time, I bought an overpriced sleeping pad. And would you believe it? I think I liked my camping pad almost better than the mattress I sleep on at home.

There are people in my life that are very close to me that almost live for the opportunity to get a bargain. In a way, I think it's worked out for them, but from the outside looking in, I often see these people dealing with a lot of headaches that come from trying to get the best deal for my company. I spend a lot of money trying to make us look professional.

I can't say for sure that this is the right thing to do since in theory. I could be saving a lot of  money by doing things as cheap as possible. That being said, I spend a lot of money to have our employees drive newer, professionally branded vehicles. Our customers are a relatively small group of people, so brand awareness is not the reason I choose to spend so much on our fleet.

The reason I do this is because companies that spend a little on things like vehicles and branding send a signal that they are not going to be gone tomorrow. I pay for that nice fleet of cars because when we drive up on a job site in a nice, professionally branded vehicle, we tell our clients that. We will be professional to work with.

I'll never know if the cost is truly justified for certain, but I do know that many of our larger clients that do not have the time to waste on fly-by-night vendors are willing to pay a premium for reliable and professional service. And the only way they have to make that judgment call is to take note of the little things like how we conducted ourselves, how we showed up to the job, and the image we project.

So I'm certainly not getting a bargain. On these vehicles that I spend all this money on. But then again, maybe I am, because there's costs to pay when you don't do some things. If there's no money to spend, then of course we have to accommodate as best we can. But often we have something to gain when we aren't hustling all of the time to find a bargain.

I made the decision a long time ago to not pay attention to sales promotions. For the simple reason that I knew if I did, then I would buy a bunch of stuff when I did not need it. There's an argument to be made that I would've needed it eventually, but I know if I was consistent about deal hunting, I would accumulate more and more stuff that I didn't use and probably start losing track of what I had.

Bargain hunting requires energy. It requires much more mental energy than just buying what you need. You need to keep track of what you  have and what you're going to need at all times, because it isn't always obvious when you have oddball extras all over the house, taking up space. Sometimes that energy might be worth it, but don't fool yourself into thinking you're getting a discount because.

What you really have is another job. For some people chasing a deal is thrilling, so in a way they truly are getting something out of the effort. But chasing a bargain will always demand something of you that is more than just the price. I make my family cringe when I tell them that I usually default to whatever is more expensive.

I'll take a minute to decide if it really is worth whatever extra they're asking, but beyond that, I just run with it. At this point in my life, getting a good deal on something does not mean paying less money per se. It means I know exactly what I'm getting out of the agreement and I'm doing it anyway.

It means the people I made a  deal with are not going to cut corners. It means the thing I bought was what I needed, not 'cause it was on sale. Today, getting a bargain to me means that no one is holding it over my head as emotional leverage to justify future mistakes or to call favors later. The true cost of a bargain is not the price at all.

It's the extra work you put into getting it. It is the implied I owe you you gave to someone.  It is the fact that you are the lowest priority on their list. It is that you spent an hour or more every week trying to find a sale or a coupon that kept you from doing other things. Sometimes finding a bargain is not an option for us, but rather a necessity.

But even if it is, just make sure you don't go into it with your eyes closed. All the hidden costs of a bargain may be worth the price, but don't pretend. Like you are not paying extra in other ways in order to get it. This is Skipping Stones - “There’s No Such Thing As a Bargain.” You can find this podcast anywhere you choose to listen to podcasts.

For more information about me, feel free to visit skippingstonessr.com. And if you enjoyed the show, please like or subscribe. If there is a topic you would like me to speak on, please feel free to email me. At info@skippingstonessr.com, new episodes will be released weekly every Monday.