I’ve got to stop checking my Facebook news feed, not because I have been spending too much time being distracted (although that is probably somewhat true), but because I keep seeing all of these special offers, such as the Amazon.com Lightening Deals (“liking” your favorite store pages is one way to see exclusive deals this holiday season).
Yesterday I almost grabbed one. I actually added it to my cart. With one click, Amazon would have happily wrapped the thing up in the smiley box and send it straight to my door.
It was a popular video game that I knew that might kids might enjoy this Christmas, and for a few hours, it was 45 percent off! Not a bad deal, right? Except that the kids already have the previous version of the game that was bought last Christmas, and it still has plenty of play left in it. Was it worth buying a new game as an upgrade even for a low price?
I did one of the things that I always do when making a purchase. I left the item in my cart and then went off to do other things for an hour. This is a good strategy that often works for me. Then I came back to the website and decided not to make the purchase, despite the low price. Yes, I could have saved 45 percent, but by not making the purchase in the first place, I saved 100 percent. After all, it wasn’t something that the kids really needed or desired, and that money could be channeled toward a better purchase or saved.
Wow, aren’t all of those deals tempting especially when they only appear for a limited time? Despite the game not even being on the Christmas list, I almost bought it. I’m thankful now that I didn’t.
There is something to be said about taking advantage of opportunity when deals become available, but the trick is stop for a moment and ask yourself which of those deals are actually worth using. If the deal had been 45 percent off of the cool Nerf gun that my son has been asking about, well then I could probably justify that one.