The Internet is swell. It allows consumers the chance to comparison shop, and save time and money.
Except…when it doesn’t.
C’mon, you know what I’m talking about. You have no need of new shoes but you get an e-mail from Piperlime (or Zappos or Shoebuy) and there’s a picture of some cute new sandals and suddenly you’re shod — before your feet know what hit them.
You didn’t need to spend that money, but you did. Then there’s the online shopping you do because you misguidedly think it’s best for your budget’s greater good.
I’m constantly doing this on Amazon, thanks to its offer of free shipping for just about every order over $25. I’ll go on the site to buy something for my kids, or to pick out a birthday gift for a friend, and the total comes to $23.91.
What do I do? Do I pay the $3.99 or whatever for shipping? Of course not. I hunt around for something else to buy, usually hoping to just tack on an inexpensive paperback for the kids that would cost the same as shipping (so the book is, like, y’know, free). But then I remember the $35 coffee table book I’d been eyeing and suddenly the total is up over $50 and I’ve got yet another tome to add to my ever growing unread book pile. (I should be finished reading all of it about three months after I die — most of the reading being done in the 90 or so days after I expire, since I’ll then have the free time.)
Here’s a truly girly impulse. I’ve never been a bridesmaid, so I was tempted to bid on a Virginia Beach bride’s auction to stand up in her upcoming nuptials. (I couldn’t have come near the winner, the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, which coughed up $10,000 as a promotional tactic.)
Then there’s the offers that (typically) appeal more to the guys. This summer, the Shady Lady Ranch brothel in Nevada (www.shadyladyranch.com) is giving out gasoline gift cards to customers who make the long drive from Las Vegas to partake of the business’s, um, services. Ladies, if your spouse goes to DMA Annual in October and starts bragging about the deal he got on petrol, I’d say look for a good lawyer.
Is any of this really new? Nah. Add-ons, upsells and premiums have been around almost as long as the profession of the ladies at the Shady Lady. But the Web makes it so easy and tempting.
I know it’s affected my nonprofit giving as well. When I renew my membership with the local PBS station WGBH I tend to do so online for convenience, and usually wind up giving more than I planned, because I spot some premium I can snag if I give a few bucks extra. In contrast, I donated a few dollars less to a wildlife nonprofit recently because I just didn’t need the T-shirt it was using to entice me to up my ante.
How about you? What tempts your purse strings to loosen up? Let me know at [email protected].
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