Some restaurants, some products in supermarkets, services, etc...
Sometimes, they are on-going, sometimes there's no promotion on.
I suppose that's what the merchants want. They expect or hope that consumers will try out their service or product during the promotional period, get used to it, like Netflix, then when the promo runs out, they hope that the consumer will continue with the services or consuming the product. That's what promos and marketing are for anyway.
This recently happened to us. We were wandering around Giant and we chanced upon 2 flavours of Pocky. You know... those cream coated sticks. There was a promo. $2 for 3 boxes for these 2 flavours, mango and almond. So we were like... Wooo... let's try these. So we bought 3 boxes to try. The almond flavour was nice, the mango tasted artificial. So we decided to get more of these snacks to add to our stash. Over the weekend we went by Giant and... Oh noooo... the promo was over. It's now $1 per box. Not too expensive... so we started to pick a couple of boxes of the almond sticks... then it dawned upon me... NO... this is not the way. And I told my wife... no no... let's put it back. It's not the right principle. Not the right mentality.
HUH!?! Only $1 difference leh...
So I explained to her further... it's not about the $1. It's the whole idea of this. If we really really like this, we of course can buy it. But do we need it now? As in immediately? We still have packs of "roller coaster" at home and other snacks which we stocked up during promos. We can eat those first, then now that we know that we enjoy this additional snack, we can keep our eyes open for these Pocky to be on discount again.
Ok ok... you guys must be thinking... "Wah Lau... $1 only..."
That's not really the point. The principle of this is... do we need this now? We go to the Giant at Vivo or Suntec once every week. It's not like we can't keep our eyes open for it when it's on promo. We aren't planning to be eating this immediately. Maybe within this week? Maybe next week or whenever we feel like it... So waiting for another week or so doesn't really change anything. Do we really love it so much that we can't wait?
Maybe this $1 example isn't very reflective cos many people might say... it's only a dollar. Just buy it...
I'll move it to another instance.
We usually eat "Wrap and Roll" (Vietnamese food) at 50% discounts cos we book via Eatigo and dine at 5:30pm. For the both of us, dinner costs us around $15. Now that I know that I can get this meal for 50% discount, I will never be willing to pay full price for it. $30, when I could get it for $15? No way!
So if on weekends, or when we aren't able to book it on time, we'll just forgo dining there.
Do we love the food sooooo much that we MUST have it immediately? No...
So if we miss the timing, then we miss the timing... We'll just find another place to go. There's so many discounts and promos all over the place. I see no point in paying full price just cos I need something NOW. That's the point... "NOW" has a cost.
Of course this only works for places or services which run regular promotions. There might be some places where there's no promo or they run the promo for a really short period of time.
In such instances, I have 2 options.
1. Do I love it so much that I'm willing to continue with the product or service even without the promo?
2. Forget it, there are other places for me to try.
Usually, it's the 2nd option.
Cos there's very little stuff which is so important that we need it NOW. Or that it's so nice that we can't find another alternative.
Recently we went to Brozeit to eat the pork knuckle at Vivo. There's no discount on this, but I don't know of any other place which serves this at a cheaper price.
Like... rice, detergent, dish washing liquid, Ribena, toilet rolls, etc etc etc... with just a little planning we are able to wait for the promo periods before we stock up. Or there are really cheap places selling parallel imports and we make a special trip down with a long list to stock up our essentials.
Somehow... that's just how I function. I can't bring myself to buy something at full price when I know that I could easily get it for a cheaper price if I just wait a little. It's not a big deal to just wait a month or two... I don't think we live in a world where people need things NOW... Oh wait... WE DO!!!
So many people just want stuff NOW... it's only a couple of dollars more. Why wait? And that's pretty true. If I think about it, how much do I save? $100? $200 per month at my level of spending? But then again... if I think about it more, people who want stuff NOW, usually don't have my level of spending. But I don't know and I don't have much data points about people who aren't able to delay gratification...
As I read and post more, I also get the feeling that I can't get into the minds of the normal folk. What's normal to me is... normal. And yet, it's so not normal to so many other people. And I don't get to see how someone else lives their lives, I don't get to see their daily practices, etc etc... the most I can do is estimate and assume, and that's not a very good way to get data. Like... how would I know if my neighbour spends $2,000 per month or $10,000 per month?
The only indication or estimate I can get is... I use my own spending, $3,000 per month, then I make adjustments based on what I see. But there's so many other things that I don't see...
(This is topic for another post... I shouldn't get distracted...)
So anyway. that's about it for this post. I don't like paying full price for anything, especially when I know that if I just wait a bit or plan a bit, I can get it at a discounted rate. Very simply put... if I can get it for cheaper, why should I pay full price? Getting it NOW isn't very important. Save money is better.
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