Page 35 - Benjamin Franklin\'s The Way to Wealth: A 52 brilliant ideas interpretation - PDFDrive.com

13 IF YOU HAVE TO SHOP, SHOP SMART

‘Who dainties love, shall beggars prove,’ said Franklin, meaning that if
you pick up expensive tastes then you run the risk that they will ruin
you by way of thanks.

DEFINING IDEA…
Whereas women generally value their appearance more than men,
which can lead to ‘retail therapy,’ men value social recognition. Even
though they’re both trying to build self-esteem, they’re coming at it
from two very different directions.
~ JAMES ROBERTS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MARKETING AT BAYLOR

UNIVERSITY

Rampant consumerism hadn’t hit home in the America of Franklin’s time.
He lived in an age where there wasn’t much of a market for second-hand
goods simply because people held on to their things until they were beyond
selling or handed them down through family and friends. Then again, he
didn’t know the beauty of eBay, Amazon, Wiggle or comparison engines.
You may still want to buy yourself a shiny i-Thingy. Sometimes it’s going
to happen, but if you absolutely must have expensive tastes then at least do
the smart thing and shop around before you pillage your purse.

Today, if you really, truly have to shop, you can almost always find the
products cheaper direct online, or at least use a price comparison agent
(such as Kelkoo) to see which retailers are currently offering the best deal.
But to really get the benefit of buying online you should consider going
second hand, or ‘pre-owned’ if you prefer the phrase.

Take a look at Amazon. I recently looked for a copy of a book that was
retailing for around £16 in the shops. Sure enough, there it was on Amazon
for only about £11, a healthy reduction. But if you checked the new and
used link next to the book there were good condition copies for about £6
and that kind of saving makes a difference to my weekly budget. The same
approach applies to just about everything, no matter how high up the luxury