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What do you considered the most overpriced products?
- Thread starter 63dot
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I just did a little shopping at the Ralph Lauren and Lacoste stores here in Charlotte (Clay is upgrading his wardrobe a bit)... I don't mind (so much) paying $185 for a REALLY cool pair of black pants, but $115 for a plain black t-shirt? Yikes! And the Lacoste shirts ($75-$95) ain't cheap, either.
As far as overpriced stuff goes, a lot of the sunglasses you see in stores are very, very overpriced.
As far as overpriced stuff goes, a lot of the sunglasses you see in stores are very, very overpriced.
beatsme said:
in theory, the list prices at $1700 to $3000+ for usa models is slightly overpriced, but many retailers give 30-40% percent off, and used examples are pretty decently priced if not from the mid to late 1950s, through 1962
i got my 1980 gibson les paul custom for $550 usd some years back and it was a good deal...but 1) the instument was too heavy though it had a good tone in the neck pickup position, 2) the neck was too fat and not good for fast runs
i traded it for a brand new custom shop fender stratocaster which was more versatile with active humbuckers and single coil pickups and an active eq which could make any gibson or fender sound or anywhere in between
but now that i am into bebop jazz, neither guitar fits the bill for the tone i am looking for, so i got a hollowbody electric jazz guitar
now all i need to do is find a solid state polytone amplifier, with its extremely dry and accurate tone, like joe pass' polytone, or something very similar, to finalize that great bebop jazz tone (heavier strings are a plus, too)
actually, it's quite the opposite from the heavy metal or hard rock tone, which used tube amps and very light gauge strings
beatsme said:
i love it too and it's not gorgeous and versatile like a fender stratocaster, but the fender telecaster is unique and as well as a sound that is not the most popular outside of some country music, it's also not as easy a guitar to play as the more elegant stratocaster, gibson les paul, ESPs, paul reed smiths, or ibanez/charvel/jackson/schecter superstrats with their flat, fast neck radius specifications
the telecaster is raw, tinny, outdated, but oh so retro and the underpowered pickups remind me of an old japanese 4-banger before japanese cars were sleek and powerful and able to compete with german and american cars
63dot said:
you know, I had a Strat for about...maybe 15 or 20 years, and I always had the most difficulty playing it. Whereas my former roommate's Tele felt so natural...that's just my personal preference, I guess.
but I do so love the Tele sound...really works well for a lot of styles. Planning to get one one of these days. After I get a Gretsch Duo Jet...
beatsme said:
the one thing i don't like about solid state is its accuracy and when you make a mistake, it shows
many settings on tube amps tend to be somewhat to profoundly more forgiving
...but with jazz, i want to be a more competent and accurate player, and i know i will eventually welcome the challenge
elfin buddy said:
If they don't roll that charge into the cost of the repair (assuming you get it repaired) then I agree. Otherwise I don't really have a problem with it. Why should they spend an hour (lets say) diagnosing your system for free instead of an hour working on the machine of a paying customer? And if the shop diagnoses your system for free, but you take the machine home and repair it yourself what have they gained?
Lethal
Dallas Cowboy tickets are up from $65 bucks (high priced) all the way to $100+ 
eek: ) So they are expensive. Box seats are astronomical.
Apple's RAM is overpriced.
Gas is going down, but for how long?
Music is overpriced
Bose QC2 headphones
eek: ) So they are expensive. Box seats are astronomical. Apple's RAM is overpriced.
Gas is going down, but for how long?
Music is overpriced
Bose QC2 headphones
Amen, bottled water.
I think a lot of people are looking at things that are "high priced" but not neccessarily over priced. Like, a Rolex isn't just a watch, but a luxury item, so it's supposed to be at that price.
Any alcoholic drink in a nightclub.
I think a lot of people are looking at things that are "high priced" but not neccessarily over priced. Like, a Rolex isn't just a watch, but a luxury item, so it's supposed to be at that price.
Any alcoholic drink in a nightclub.
beatsme said:
i did that too, but eventually i just learned to play around that stupid first knob, but a tele doesn't have that issue, and neither do most gibson/gibson style guitars
but i figured since the stratocaster and its variants from many makers were by far the most common electric guitar design, i would just hang in there and give that design a chance and i conformed
i mean how can you give up that three single coil pickup sound?...especially on strats with five position switches giving all those tonal colors
one thing i found that was really cool was when fender started making some telecasters with three single coil pickups with a five position switch like many nashville session players did as after market upgrades
my god, how did i get off the topic of this thread?...especially on stratocaster and telecasters, which are among the best dollar for dollar values in the electric guitar world (from squier to highway one series, from standard and american standard series all the way up to artist signature series strats and teles)
Escalades ($80K for basically a Suburban???)
Any Land Rover or Range Rover (again, you're just paying for a name. you can get a much better SUV for $20K less or so)
Nokia 8801 (Why pay for an elegant phone when you can get another elegant phone for about $150)
Windows XP
I can't think of a whole lot else. I believe that if the differences between the more expensive product worth the money over the less expensive product, why not jump and get the better product if it doesn't put you over your head in debt? If the differences between two products are just a name, don't buy a name. But if that name includes better quality (such as abercrombie and the like, in my opinion), then get it if you can afford it.
The way I see money is in what I call units. Each unit consists of roughly $10-15. If you're counting pennies or using coupons at the grocery store, you're wasting your time, unless if you're homeless or something. If product A is 1 unit of money more than product B, and if product A has more features and you have that extra unit of money, then stop worrying and go for it. You'll get more use out of it.
Any Land Rover or Range Rover (again, you're just paying for a name. you can get a much better SUV for $20K less or so)
Nokia 8801 (Why pay for an elegant phone when you can get another elegant phone for about $150)
Windows XP
I can't think of a whole lot else. I believe that if the differences between the more expensive product worth the money over the less expensive product, why not jump and get the better product if it doesn't put you over your head in debt? If the differences between two products are just a name, don't buy a name. But if that name includes better quality (such as abercrombie and the like, in my opinion), then get it if you can afford it.
The way I see money is in what I call units. Each unit consists of roughly $10-15. If you're counting pennies or using coupons at the grocery store, you're wasting your time, unless if you're homeless or something. If product A is 1 unit of money more than product B, and if product A has more features and you have that extra unit of money, then stop worrying and go for it. You'll get more use out of it.
iMacZealot said:
Hey, doing those things are very financially sensible. At least, using coupons at the grocery store - save a couple bucks every trip, four trips a month, and it adds up to a few hundred dollars by the end of the year. That's a big savings in disposable assets, and if you translate it into your taxable income, it might be like $300-$500 a year for one person. That's like moving up to a 17'' MBP from a 15.4''. But as for pennies... Ben Franklin didn't really take inflation into account when he said "Take care of your pennies and your dollars will take care of themselves..."
Haha, I agree with everyone saying Windows XP. It's like paying to BSoD.
ZoomZoomZoom said:
Well, what I'm saying is, you can sit and count your pennies and spend all that time and effort on that and choosing the cheapest no-name brand, or stop worrying and just buy whatever you like. As for your quote, well, it really can depend and that's probably a little on the high end. I do think, however, collecting piles of change around the house and cashing them in is worthwhile if you need the money.
A lot of financial advisors have been telling people to never eat out. While that may save you money (depending on who you are), I think it'd okay to go out at least once every ten days or so. I think it can be tough to make a dinner every single night, and you deserve a little break, don't you? If you're cooking for one, I think in someways it's actually cheaper and time saving to eat out rather than cook every night -- just for yourself. If you don't go anywhere too elaborate, chances are it's quite easier.
Oh, and another topic is the regular cinema vs. the dollar cinema. I've never understood why you'd want to go to the dollar cinema. This is a great example of my "it's worth it" philosophy. All the kids at my school go to the dollar cinema "to save money", but I don't know if it really does FWIW. The budget cinemas (at least in my city) are all out of town and have terrible popcorn, as well as seats, staff, etc.
ZoomZoomZoom said:
There's no point talking about money for some people because they've never had to worry. Worrying and saving "only" several hundred dollars a year is just not worth it if you don't need to care, or even if you don't have a lot of money, bu you don't generally care.
I could do a lot with $300-$400 a year.
You must not be very good with your coupons.ZoomZoomZoom said:
Lori and I buy the cheapest per standard unit (e.g. ounce) after coupons are factored in. We usually end up saving 6-10 every week, some weeks even more - once we saved $40 (or 4 units). Add that up and we are talking even bigger savings. And while we don't specifically see that money in our account at the end of the year, it makes other purchases much easier.