Buying an unwanted product to save $

I have done this and recently. One of the places where I shop for food always has a discount or a freebie at the $50 mark. As I am shopping for myself (and the place is mainly for meat), I often end up at around $40. If I think about it, i will add another item or two to hit the mark and get the discount. The product may be unwanted, but it doesn't go unused.

 

Well all like discounts and will do anything to get them. Well do not be much of an impulse buyer save sometimes and in future you can spend on something great.

 

That how they get you, right?

I sometimes do this, but I can't think of any specific examples. In your case, at least you can use the socks. Think of it as getting free socks!

 

I don't mind doing this when it's items I will eventually use. So those $5 socks? I may not need any more socks right this very minute, but it's not like I'm going to stop wearing socks forever and never need them again. They'll either get cycled into my current supply or I can store them and swap them in later when I need to throw some socks out. Or I could always gift that extra item to someone else as well.

 

I think its a very common practice these days when you shop online. The e-retailers generally have a minimum order limit at which your product qualifies for free shipping. And people who are about to place orders which are close to that minimum order limit, try to buy extra stuff in order to qualify for free shipping. This is generally a conception which people nowadays have.

 

I know that I've been one that has done this several times in the past. However, whenever I do something like this, I try to make sure that the items that I add are always something that will be useful for me and I also try to get an item that is as little as possible so I am as close to the minimum amount that I have to be at.

 

I do it sometimes if the price to the rebate isn't too much difference. If it's only a couple of bucks difference then I'll probably pick up one extra thing to top it up. If the gap is too large, I won't bother and just buy the thing without the discount or rebate. Sometimes, it's not worth it to buy something I don't want just to get that little discount as I might lose more than I save.

 

I only do this if the savings are large enough to actually act on it. If it is like 10-20 dollars then chances are I will find something to add on. If is is anything less than that I won't bother. I don't like to get something that is on sale just because is is on sale or you have to spend so much to get free shipping. Sometimes I know I'll buy something in the future too so I decide I might as well buy it now and get the special offer.

 

I do that when I order food, like I avail of their upsize offer or meal bundle offer to save money, but I don't really like the other bundled food. Like I won't buy them if they were being sold as is and not part of the meal bundle.

 

Yes, i have done that several times! It seems like it's worth it at the time, but I often regret to do that. I have bought several things I did not mean to like that and I never use them. And it's funny how stores do that and seem to catch is every time, because we're always a few bucks short and need to buy another item to complement the purchase...

 

Well there are sites like the Amazon Filler Item Finder where you can look for an item that costs exactly the amount that you need for free shipping. One time I needed to spend 39 cents more to get free shipping from Amazon , so the Filler Item Finder found me some paper cupcake baking cups. I actually use cupcake liners ,so it worked out in my favor.

I've also bought an 89 cent bottle of VO5 shampoo to meet the minimum for free shipping. Amazon has the Add On item program where they sell certain items with free shipping only if you add them to your order to meet the minimum for free shipping.

 

I usually try to avoid doing this since I don't want even more clutter. But missing out on a $10 coupon because of $1 is a bigger loss. Usually the big box retailers have gigantic selections that make it possible to find at least something cheap that would or could be useful down the line. The only reason to buy an unwanted item is if it would make a great gift to someone or could be sold pretty easily.

 

I can't say this has ever happened to me. But if this ever happened then I would happily order something up to a couple of Bucks if it meant I met a limit and qualified for a discount that more than made up for spending the extra couple of Bucks on the unwanted item.

 

That happens all the time to my girlfriend, for $5 discounted to all kind of shoes, she receives a scarf, a cream or any other feminine accesory. She doesn`t have at least one shelf of space available in all the cabinets in the house, but she keeps buying this type of products, because she believes she makes savings

 

There are other ways to save money from discounts and freebies. We should think of things that we can use and needed so we can save and use the products at the same time. If we buy unwanted products, we're not saving that much at all.

 

I don't really mind doing this as I am almost always able to find an item I will use or I can give to someone who needs it. I think of it more as a freebie than me buying something I don't want. Think of the socks as costing -$6 rather than $5. You saved money by buying socks you may one day use, or give them to someone who needs socks. You can always donate them to a salvation army place, a school might take them if they are unopened.

 

I think that you did alright. You invested $5, got yourself a pair of socks and $6 on top of it. You never know when that pair of socks will come in handy. You can always give them to someone who has a real need for socks, such as a homeless person. Socks will always be useful.

 

I have done this tons and tons of times before. When looking for free shipping or discounts, I usually keep a backup item to add to the shopping cart in order to push it past the threshold. It can be a simple food item or gadget, but always something that is readily available and quickly purchasable.

 

I usually don't have this issue when shopping at Walmart.com, since my cats' supplies come to well over their $50 minimum for free shipping, but I have had it happen when shopping elsewhere. What I usually do, is buy something I need, but hadn't planned to buy at that time, add an item that I will be giving as a gift later on, or something I can donate. Shelters and food banks are always in need of donations, so if it's not something you need, and you can afford to donate it, it's great to help out others in this manner.