Have you noticed where are the milk refrigerators in any supermarket or convenience store around the planet? At the back of the store of course. Where is the bread and the unpacked vegetables? Close to the entrance. The diapers? All the way in the back. Why? So on your way to get the milk and the diapers all the way in the back, you will smell the bread and the basil, get starved, and buy more stuff. Cookies, beer, peanuts and some other stuff you don’t need.
Why do supermarkets remodel four times a year? The answer is simple. If you shop frequently and always at the same supermarket, you might actually become a trained rat. You might actually go directly to where you know things are. Get what you need and get out. This strategy doesn’t work for supermarkets and superstores. The less you know where to look for stuff, the more likely you are to buy more. A whole lot more.
When I was in college I realized something interesting. Virtually ALL the textbooks had a new version twice a year. Naive as I was back then, I was under the impression that new and frequent discoveries made it necessary for a new version to be published. Later on I learned of course, that the only discovery involved was the publisher’s. He discovered that students can by used textbooks at a fraction of the price at the local student union, or on the web. What better way to prevent that than to publish a new version with a few addition, but a completely different page numbering scheme? Imagine that: the professor says to the students: “please turn to page 153″. Half the students are seeing something completely different than the intended page. How long will it take for them to purchase the newer version?
If your cellular rings and stops after one ring, pay attention. It could be your lost cousin. It could also be that head hunter with the incredible offer. But most likely, it’s some telemarketing guy, calling from some dump and hanging up. The thought behind it is that YOU would actually call HIM back, pay for the call, and listen for his telemarketing bull. Don’t call back if you don’t recognize the number. Your cousin, as well as the headhunter will call back.
If you go to the store and get a package of your favorite product, find out at the cashier that unlike many other products, yours didn’t get more expensive. Your happiness will quickly change once you find that the price remained, but the quantity had shrunk. Not an unknown, although unacceptable sales trick. Keep the price, change the packaging.
The price of one litter of gasoline in Israel is NIS 7.00 (roughly $2.10). This makes it about $7.50 per gallon (1 Gallon = 3.61 Litter). The price in the US, as everyone knows, is $4.00 per gallon. On average, Europeans are (and were for quite some time now) paying as much as twice as Americans for every hit the pump. Twice. The answer: taxes. The Crude Oil, yes that one that comes in barrels that cost $145.00 a barrel, is only small part of the price. Taxes are the more substantial ingredient.
The “new version” trap. Do you have something, anything, you’re happy with? Does it have all the features you need and like? Is it’s performance reasonable for your needs? You don’t HAVE to upgrade to the latest and greatest. Indeed, many would like to sell you that newest thing for a good price. But once you get it you may realize that one: the old one was good enough, or worse: the old one was better. In short, before you upgrade, try to understand what you’re missing, and whether the new version covers it. Then consider.
Last but not least. That African prince that promised you a nice profit if you only give him a small advance up front, isn’t real (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_fee_fraud). The small installment you give him will never turn into millions of dollars. And if supply your bank information as well, you may wake up one morning to a zero balance. Many people fall into fraud because they hope to become rich quickly and without effort. To all of you who are still waiting, let me break the news to you. Getting rich overnight may take years, sometimes generations…
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