Vega$ I work with good people all the time who blow lots of money on cables because they know nothing and are at the mercy of the store salesperson. I mean imagine your mother, your aunt, uncle, grandpa, someone going in to buy a TV. Not everyone is internet savy and knows how to read cnet. You can't just say "its their fault for being uneducated". Some responsibility lies with the manufacturer. Retail stores have a 100% markup on all cables, MINIMUM.
HDMI .. $300 cable vs $16 cable
- Thread starter Acura NsX Pilot
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Vega$ I work with good people all the time who blow lots of money on cables because they know nothing and are at the mercy of the store salesperson. I mean imagine your mother, your aunt, uncle, grandpa, someone going in to buy a TV. Not everyone is internet savy and knows how to read cnet. You can't just say "its their fault for being uneducated". Some responsibility lies with the manufacturer. Retail stores have a 100% markup on all cables, MINIMUM.
Ahhh good point, but not to get too philosophical, but I think that only bolsters my position. People who aren’t educated and well versed into any financial endeavor should have their money taken from them. If someone is not well versed and educated in a particular area where they are going to drop good money, then my argument is that they shouldn’t even be involved in that purchase or financial endeavor in the first place. It’s no different than giving your average person a 600 hp NSX and telling him to track it. He or she is way out of their league and shouldn’t be there in the first place. My mom/dad know better than to go and buy a car or TV without talking to me or my brother first. And when they do make a purchase, they do a respectable job of shopping around, talking to people, researching AND haggling prices. There are a couple of sayings I’m reminded of:
You snooze you lose – If you don’t do your due diligence, it’s your own laziness or ignorance that will cost you. As it should: Hard work = money and Working Smarter = money. That's the capitalistic way. Hard work and intelligence is rewarded; laziness and ignorance will cost you. It's why we even bother to get an education. It's smart consumerism, only in the "marketplace of life."
The early bird gets the worm – People who take the time to learn and understand things are the ones that get rewarded financially. Whether that be learning how to use the internet to compare shop or to get a leg up on your competitors. Shouldn’t you be rewarded for the things you do better/more effectively than your competitors? Shouldn’t I (or anyone else) be rewarded for understanding the difference between HDMI cables?
A fool and his money are soon parted – Pretty self explanatory, but if someone want to throw their money away on a foolish purchase, that is their own fault. Take Las Vegas for example. I have zero, nada, none, zippo, zilch sympathy for people who lose all their money when they gamble. First off, they should know that gambling is a losing proposition. Secondly they should only gamble with money they are ok in losing. Shame on them if they have the expectation that they can actually make money. Gambling is a disease like alcholism. When a person drinks and drives, it's similar to someone gambling and losing all their money. Except we castrate the drunk driver, yet we have sympathy for the habitual gambler??
No the drunk needs to stop drinking and the gambler needs to stop going to casinos. People who aren't reponsible with their money need to stop shopping. Either learn to be a responsible consumer/drinker/gambler, or stop drinking/gambling/shopping.Now you say that some consumers are at the mercy of the salesperson. While that is true, again it’s still the responsibility of the consumer to know better. We are bombarded with bad deals and scams all the time. I get work from home email scams, get rich schemes, pyramids scams, and pristine NSXs being sold online for $8,000. Should I listen and be at the mercy of those “salespeople” as well or should I be a responsible consumer and know not to take the word of the person selling me the very thing he/she stands to profit from? Caveat emptor.
Finally, one last thing. I actually have bought cables from Best Buy. I’ve bought many things from many retails stores, knowing full well I could save at least 50% by buying on line. Why? Because I knew I could get what I needed, see it, touch it, feel it, smell it (dare I say taste it?!?!:tongue::biggrin
and pick it up right then and there without having to wait for shipping. There is a convenience factor involved that you pay for and sometimes it’s worth that expense. Whether the ill informed consumer knows or uses this convenience is immaterial, but they are paying for it. It’s no different than if I did my grocery shopping at the local 7-11.Whoops sorry to take a turn for the meta but I'm just very passionate about putting the responsibilities where they belong. Retailers will ALWAYS be around. You get rid of a Circuit City and a Best Buy pops up. You get rid of a Best Buy and an Ultimate Electronics takes its place. You won’t stop these stores as long as there are consumers to purchase from them. You can’t blame the big box retailers and they are only filling a demand and price set by the consumer. Focus on more responsible and educated consumers and the big box retailers will have to go away. By giving the consumer a pass not holding them accountable, you are only hobbling them to keep making poor decisions and will only perpetuate the situation.
My name is Vega$ NSX and I'm running for governor. :tongue: Plz don't take any of this personal or offensive, just sharing my rambling thoughts. :smile: (and trying to pad my post count)
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Your rationale does not always apply to everyone. Most of my customers value their time over money. They are busy dealing with their company about to go IPO and could care less about researching and being informed about a recreational activity. What they pay for is having my expertise and response on hand any time they want/need it and its my job to be the expert.
Their smart decision was in finding a good, reliable integrator like myself that they can trust to be fair, give good advice, and not rip them off on things like cables. The amount of money they would lose wasting just a half hour researching something like that is exponentially higher than anything they may save by doing the research. An hour of their time could easily be worth half a million dollars, so they are smart to hire experts to take care of anything not related to their primary concerns. So while you and I have time to be prudent and do the research (since we obviously have the time to sit and post on a forum this morning
), that same approach is not prudent for my clients. What I do agree with is that good advice and good service will be its own reward. If a store becomes known for not ripping people off and taking care of customers they will be successful. Stores that become known for gouging customers will not.
That being said, I do agree with you and commend you on being willing to pay a premium to stores that are willing to stock items that you can examine. Many people will take advantage of Best Buy, go there to see anything and everything, waste a half hour of a salespersons time, and then go online and buy a $2500 TV for $150 cheaper. That is how and why these stores will someday go out of business.
I just went and bought a nice BBQ for a couple thousand dollars from a traditional store. I was able to check it out in person, the salesman spent time educating my ignorant ass on various BBQs. I then went online and found those same BBQs for a solid $500 less. I did a bit of research to confirm the salesman wasn't BSing me and that I was truly getting what I wanted. I then went back to that store and bought it from them. Some people would say I'm an idiot for doing that and not buying it online cheaper. I would like to think had I been the owner of that store, that is the kind of customer I would want to have. My successful business would continue to provide employment and benefits, and everyone would continue to give back into the economy.
Those that take advantage of retail stores and then buy online wont be eating their cake forever. Those business models will collapse and then online will be the norm. Retail may actually NOT always be around. If there is no longer enough purchasing en mass of commodity items that exceeds the cost of running such a massively expensive operation, those models will no longer work.
You want to come check it out? Too bad, go to a convention or rely on reviews. Unfortunately we will all be paying the price for that behavior. Then again, I beleive in the free market. So I also beleieve that somehow, some way I don't yet see, things will work themselves out and we will all have the best of both worlds. Someone very creative who stands to make a fortune will find a way.
Their smart decision was in finding a good, reliable integrator like myself that they can trust to be fair, give good advice, and not rip them off on things like cables. The amount of money they would lose wasting just a half hour researching something like that is exponentially higher than anything they may save by doing the research. An hour of their time could easily be worth half a million dollars, so they are smart to hire experts to take care of anything not related to their primary concerns. So while you and I have time to be prudent and do the research (since we obviously have the time to sit and post on a forum this morning
), that same approach is not prudent for my clients. What I do agree with is that good advice and good service will be its own reward. If a store becomes known for not ripping people off and taking care of customers they will be successful. Stores that become known for gouging customers will not. That being said, I do agree with you and commend you on being willing to pay a premium to stores that are willing to stock items that you can examine. Many people will take advantage of Best Buy, go there to see anything and everything, waste a half hour of a salespersons time, and then go online and buy a $2500 TV for $150 cheaper. That is how and why these stores will someday go out of business.
I just went and bought a nice BBQ for a couple thousand dollars from a traditional store. I was able to check it out in person, the salesman spent time educating my ignorant ass on various BBQs. I then went online and found those same BBQs for a solid $500 less. I did a bit of research to confirm the salesman wasn't BSing me and that I was truly getting what I wanted. I then went back to that store and bought it from them. Some people would say I'm an idiot for doing that and not buying it online cheaper. I would like to think had I been the owner of that store, that is the kind of customer I would want to have. My successful business would continue to provide employment and benefits, and everyone would continue to give back into the economy.
Those that take advantage of retail stores and then buy online wont be eating their cake forever. Those business models will collapse and then online will be the norm. Retail may actually NOT always be around. If there is no longer enough purchasing en mass of commodity items that exceeds the cost of running such a massively expensive operation, those models will no longer work.
You want to come check it out? Too bad, go to a convention or rely on reviews. Unfortunately we will all be paying the price for that behavior. Then again, I beleive in the free market. So I also beleieve that somehow, some way I don't yet see, things will work themselves out and we will all have the best of both worlds. Someone very creative who stands to make a fortune will find a way.
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Actually I think we are on the same page. I believe we are both saying that you either pay for services and conveniences. Or you educate yourself as a consumer and save the money. Just like you pay for an accountant, or you get TurboTax and do it yourself and save the money.
I was just trying to point out that everyone was saying what a rip off big box retail stores like Best Buy were and I was saying only if you are not educated enough to make the purchase on your own. If you rely on the services and convenience of the big box store then you pay for it, regardless if they are being misleading or helpful. And as you mention, for some, their time is more valuable than money so for them the trade off for expensive cables is worth it. If people think that they charge too much money for what services they provide, then as a consumer we have the freedom to research, educate and shop around. That's what makes this country so great and a la, why I don’t have any qualms with retail stores, manufacturers or the prices they charge.
I was just trying to point out that everyone was saying what a rip off big box retail stores like Best Buy were and I was saying only if you are not educated enough to make the purchase on your own. If you rely on the services and convenience of the big box store then you pay for it, regardless if they are being misleading or helpful. And as you mention, for some, their time is more valuable than money so for them the trade off for expensive cables is worth it. If people think that they charge too much money for what services they provide, then as a consumer we have the freedom to research, educate and shop around. That's what makes this country so great and a la, why I don’t have any qualms with retail stores, manufacturers or the prices they charge.
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