In a lot of companies, Thursday is payday.
Did you ever notice that the number of electronic sales flyers and advertisements increases on Wednesday and Thursday? In preparation for that incoming green. Watch your email. The colors are bolder, the subject lines of the emails are more catchy. And no matter how thrifty a person is, you can’t help but be enticed by these nuggets that you seemingly can’t live without.
It’s a great marketing plan.
I recently received one such email. I won’t be naming the company because it’s one of my favs. Love the founder. I’ve never met him in person, but he heavily influenced my life. So it’s dismaying to me to have to put down one of his prize products, a top seller. Great idea, but why anyone would buy it is beyond me.
For the mere price of $29.95 (plus tax, shipping, and handling) you can get 43 plastic file folders. Like manila folders, only plastic and more sturdy.
Why would you need these? Well, to organize your life, of course!
Now mind you, the concept is a good one: a folder for each month and one for each day within the month. Daily you’d check the daily folders as you plan your day.
Again, this is a great idea if you have the kind of work or activities that could benefit from this sort of system.
But $29.95?? Actually – $38.12 with the cheap shipping (disclaimer, the price will vary based on location).
A box of 25 manila file folders costs $7.94 at a store near me. To set this up at home, you’d need two boxes. Two boxes will cost $15.88 ($16.83 with Michigan sales tax).
That’s a price difference of $21.29!
WOW!
BUT, and here’s the really obnoxious part, because I got the sales email for this product on a Thursday and I was flush with cash from my paycheck – not even yet fully cleared in my bank account, just sitting there in ‘Pending Transactions,” I seriously was ready to buy these folders! I still, looking at the ad, think to myself – I NEED these!
Great marketing tool. But we need to become more mindful how we spend our money.
It took time to earn that money. Time away from our families and friends, time away from building ourselves. We really need to start finding a way to differentiate between Need versus Want. I don’t NEED these folders (nobody actually NEEDS these folders and I’m sure the company that sells them would even agree with that). But, man, are they ever pretty.
I’m not opposed to people buying them. But try the system before you buy. Surely you have some ratty old file folders around? When I was paper based, I’d have an annual clean out session at the start of the year – don’t toss those old folders. Keep them. To try things like this. Then if you need more sturdy folders, buy the plastic ones. But know you’re going to use them first.
Otherwise, you’re just adding visual clutter to your home and reducing your cash flow.
Wasn’t there something else you’d rather do with that $38.12?
Don’t even get me started about the money guy with the “His and Hers” envelope system, again for $29.95 (plus tax, shipping, and handling).
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