See title.
I constantly feel like any interaction with a sales person is just a big con. Whether it’s a car, insurance, an apartment, internet, or a specialty item that I’m interested in but not an expert on. I always feel completely lost and uncomfortable and like no matter what decision I make I’m making the wrong one.
I mean, you have the right attitude. I also feel like everything these days is a scam. It used to be that someone was just trying to get a fair shake for the value of their labor. Buy a refrigerator you get a quality, supported, and long term product worth the money. Now, it feels like I am getting something specifically designed to squeeze as much money from me as possible.
My two cents on ways to avoid the swindle.
This is a great point but just to add, if its a brand product you can get common issues that don’t crop up for 6 months (e.g. xbox 360’s red ring of death). So buy new but not on 1st day release, and do a quick research on issues people often have.
Yes, first production runs can have issues, so go for the second or third!
I find negative reviews are a lot more scathing and off putting too, mostly because those who have a bad product are much louder about it
Consumer Reports is also a great source for good info on product reliability.
If you’re making a large purchase like a car or if you have a handful of smaller purchases to make, a month or a year subscription is a drop in the bucket.
As of the last time I purchased a car, it seems to be the one holdout that realizes if you sell out to ads and corporate interests, you undermine your own reputation.
Right like I was searching around reviews for emergency generators and I see apopular mechanics site. A magazine I used to enjoy when I was younger, I thought I might find some insight. It had zero real breakdown of products it was straight ad push for amazon. It seemed to just be their product descriptions copy and pasted.