Category: Shopping

Should we still be opening doors for people?

~ Alfred Tech


But don’t be surprised if a woman yells at you for being a sexist. “What? A woman can’t open a door herself?” I saw a young man open the door for his girlfriend as she was driving his truck. Maybe it was her truck. Regardless it was an ugly truck. I’m confused…

When I do open doors for people it’s not only for women. I do it out of curiosity. Well, not really, doors are heavy, I do it because you look weak. My favorite is when you open a door for someone and they continue to ignore the fact that you did something nice for them. They either act like you are supposed to or they don’t bother looking up from their digital distraction. If they don’t look up it’s probably a good idea to shut the door so they can walk into it.

Can you buy online and pickup in store?

~ Alfred Tech

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The short answer is no.

Once upon a time, I tried to stop by Toys R Us and pick up something for my child. Picked up the box, walked to the front registers and this is where the insanity begins.
  • Me: “I saw this at ToyRus.com for 10 dollars less, can I get that price?”
  • Them: “No, we don’t price match”
  • Me: “You don’t price match yourself”
  • Them: “No sir”
  • Me: “Ok, let me use my iPhone to order it online and pick up in store, You know how ridiculous this is right?”
  • Them: “I don’t make the policy”
  • Me: “Should I carry this over to Customer Service, because that’s where I’ll need to pick it up.”
  • Them: “I’ll carry it for you” (I enter my info, pick my store, and guess what, it’s out of stock!)
  • Me: “I’m holding the product, and yet it’s out of stock at your store.”
  • Them: “Yes sir, when it’s the last one, it’s out of stock”
  • Me: “You know how ridiculous this is right”.
  • Them: “I don’t make the policy”
  • Me: “So I can’t buy this for the online price, even though it’s in stock here.”
  • Them: “I don’t make the policy”
  • Me: “Well, I guess you will lose $40 instead of only $10, I’ll just pay $1 more from Amazon.com”
  • Them: “I don’t make the policy”

I would like to know who failed Marketing and Economics and made these policies.

How to win at eBay without overpaying.

~ Alfred Tech

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There are two styles of eBayers. One will snipe an auction at the last minute (eBay Sniper Street Fighters) and the other will set a price limit.  My strategy is simple. I find an item that I want and I place a maximum bid of what I’m willing to pay. If I get outbid, so be it.

This all stems from a video game auction I went to where I set my max bid of $150 for a Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting machine. The final bid was $160. Kinda make me sick, but at the same time, it would have been difficult to bring home and move into 5 more homes that I would eventually live in.