Do you tell your friends/colleagues bargains or freebies you see on OzBargain?

I used to share a lot of bargains and freebies with everyone but recently realised some people are so greedy and selfish.

I happily shared with someone and then that person snuck out before I could go to get the bargains and cleared out everything then act innocent etc.
Now I just keep my mouth shut, keep bargains to myself.

I used to do mysteryshopping and product tasting jobs as well and shared this with someone. Then this person went and registered and took all the jobs in my area. Also when there's jobs happening this person never told me and I only found out afterwards when they slipped up and accidently mentioned the jobs they did.

Comments

  • +13

    Look for better friends. :)

    I always tell my friend who likes Lindt when they are on special. Lots of those to go around.

    • Yeah I usually let people know about supermarket specials etc but sometimes just feel like people just keep taking advantage of me and when they find out about bargains they never told me about it. And brag about it afterwards. Really pissed me off

  • +29

    And how did that make you feel?

    • I was quite pissed off that they didn't even ask if I wanted to go with them considering I was the one who made them aware of the bargain.

      • +41

        I see. What are your earliest childhood recollections?

        • +4

          Are you trying to be my psychologist or something? LOL
          I already have free access to psychologist with my medicare, thanks anyway :D

        • +1

          hmm. Interesting.

        • +15

          Be careful. Your friends might Ozbargain your medicare next.

        • +1

          Well they'll be nothing like quote train,he was being a psychotherapist

        • Psycho-the-rapist

          O.O

  • +3

    I will share bargains but sometimes there is not enough time/supply to share them all.

    By not sharing wouldn't that make you greedy and selfish?

  • +3

    How is this nothing other than 'other people are selfish, so I should be too'?

    For the record I share things that I know someone else was interested in. But I've never cared for fighting over low stock deals anyway. I don't share these because there probably isn't any point by the time someone gets to it.

  • That's why I always ended up telling people about it anyway because I just can't keep my mouth shut and feels guilty if I don't share.
    But sometimes I just feel like people took advantage of my kindness and return my kindness by stabbing me in the back :(

    • +1

      i just won't tell that person anymore

      • +1

        @OP: Or better still, if you feeling mean, tell that "friend" when the bargain is over. :D

        • +1

          Ha ha, great idea. Maybe next time I will brag about the bargain I got and then says "but the offer is finished now" LOL

        • make sure you tell them like within the hour that it finished !

        • +1

          Yeah be like

          "Hey I saw this great bargain and I grabbed it at … other persons eyes light up BUT it's all gone/over now."

          • OP then savours the moment when he sees the joy slip from their eyes
  • I'm 'that guy; when it comes to cheapness. Whenever someone is broke "hey man long time. Know any places for insert item here?"

    Its fun though, I keep all my close friends updated on gaming related deals. Hence whyall our steam accounts have increased to over 300 since i joined…notsureifgoodorbad.

    • Sharing makes me happy, it makes me feels good knowing that I help them save money.

      It's just that there are some people who are so greedy and don't care about others missing out on the deals/freebies. I guess I am just gonna make sure not to share with those greedy people.

    • +5

      I tell people about particularly good deals. As a rule, they tend to dither and muck about and miss out.
      They laugh when I tell them I get up at 3am to buy AirAsia sales, and boy did they laugh when I put 20 sticks of butter in the freezer (Coles close out at 25c each).
      I don't get it. They will see the same price, buy their usual one stick, then come back the next week for another at $1.50 full price. Very puzzling.

      • +1

        Yep, I know what you mean. And those people who laugh are also the ones who always whinge that they are broke, no savings and can't afford stuffs. LOL

        • +4

          same. I bought 4 people in the office iphone 5 covers + screen protectors for $1 each set. they were like "huh?!?! $1!!!!, i paid $12 for the screen protector alone when I bought the phone." and I'm like "yeah, you're an idiot for wasting your money" (didn't actually call them an idiot)

          the other day someone at work was saying they got a great price for return tickets to europe for $1700. showed them expedia.co.br and in 2 minutes showed them how they could have had the same tickets for $1345.

          or when officeworks were clearing out 20 roll packs of packing tape for $4 each. went there at lunch, came back to the office and people were like "what are you going to do with 20 rolls of packing tape?" to which I would respond "well not pay $3 for 1 roll 20 times over in the future like you".

          we understand.

        • equanimity
          detachment
          buddhism is helpful you ego expectations of reward for our actions

        • +1

          "what are you going to do with 20 rolls of packing tape?"

          I get reactions sometimes if I buy more than a few litres of milk at once, I didn't know it was so interesting but anyway.. people forget that:

          a) I'm not going to drink it all at once
          b) It's not all for me anyway
          c) There's usually a 2 weeks+ use-by date
          d) I like to buy a lot in one go so I don't have to go to the supermarket more than I have to

        • This reminds me of a month ago, I saw a guy come out of a supermarket with a trolley full of milk bottles.. I was thinking wtf..

        • +1

          Sometimes cafes and mobile coffee vendors can't buy milk as cheaply as Coles and Woolies sell their own brand stuff.

  • +4

    I try telling my friends about deals I think are good, but they never see the value in them. How can they say no to free/almost free stuff?!

    • +2

      Yep, I have this one friend who always says "I am too classy to go for free stuffs" whenever I tried giving her free vouchers. These days I don't even bother mentioning anything about bargains/freebies.

  • +3

    Buy what you want for yourself, then tell. Simple.

  • Attend the church services then you will know sharing is caring and how to bless those who curse you.

  • If I think someone is interested in a deal I will let them know. However, I am increasingly finding the best deals on ozbargain are those that finish before I am even aware of them let alone friends or family. And of course, informing friends and family about a deal with the best intentions can sometimes cause anguish and regret .. for example the recent complete baby nappy disaster. http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/102523

  • +1

    I mainly share the free condom and tampon deals with my gf. We laugh.
    .
    .
    .
    I know i am immature :(

    • +25

      Ok. i lied. I wish i had a gf. I am so lonely :P

      • +9

        {hug}

  • It is good to share but not if you are planning to get that particular bargain as a present for that person.
    For example:
    I often pick up BNIB or BNWT items as unused gifts at garage sales
    Warehouse/outlet sales of make up, fragrances and dinnerware

    And usually it is not a great idea to share with someone who is likely to beg you to purchase such sale items for them (IOU)

  • +1

    I've learnt to make sure I can make use of a deal myself before I share it with mates/post it on Ozbargain. This is about 1 part selfishness, and 9 parts making sure its a real deal, so to speak. As far as I'm concerned, if you discover something, reward yourself my making use of it first, then share it. Theres no point sharing it right away if you miss out - because invariably the person you miss out to will be a Broden (or one of your mates, evidently).

  • +11

    I generally don't share anything on ozbargain anymore mostly because it seems so easy to earn a bad reputation for being that "stingy" guy.

    I'm more happy about being the guy that can find them a bargain when needed. They don't need to know that I'm on here 24/7 getting free condoms and buying unnecessary products because they are so cheap ;)

    Even when people know that I can always find them a better price, instead of checking with me before they buy it, they check with me after!

    So I'm the bad news guy who tells them they spent twice as much as they needed to.

  • +3

    I have to say, I got fed up sharing information and good deals with my friends only to get nothing in response - not even a comment back, let alone anything shared with me for my benefit. I'd see some would have bought the deals or used the information I'd given them, so why not type out two simple words (thank you) and hit send? I've pretty much stopped doing it, which is a shame as I like sharing. I just stick to doing it for those who are grateful and give some sort of response.

  • Here's my solution: only share with friends who actually use Ozbargain.

    Some of my friends get really annoyed when I tell them "Oh, you got this for RRP? It was actually cheaper from this store and you could've gotten these freebies or free shipping or whatever to go along with it." I understand that they don't want to be told that they've waste money when they're still excited about this new product they've bought, but they are probably not the type to shop around before they hand over their cash though. I just avoid mentioning bargains when I'm around them.

    With friends that actually use ozbargain though, it's much better. We can share deals with each other if any of us happen to hit on a great deal that's about to expire, and we can even post to each other's addresses for one per household type deals. That way we're like 2 or 3 people hunting for deals instead of only one set of eyes.

    I have to admit that i've never encountered friends that don't even say thanks after taking advantage of a deal, much less ones that don't share good deals back. Maybe you need to ditch them :P

    • +1

      You've got an Ozbargain Wolf Pack? So jealous!

    • Yep, need to find new friends. Need to stay away from ungrateful and selfish people :)

  • +1

    Who doesn't enjoy telling family/friends about deals?! Am I right people? :D

    I do it in the hopes of scoring a ozbargain deal from a family member.

    "Buy me something!!! I need it!!!! It's cheap!!!"

    Works every time. Hehehe

  • +5

    I tell workmates about bargains all the time but they always think there is a catch. The jacobs creek mystery flight deal was a good example. I told everyone at work (about 30 people) and only 2 took up the offer even after I made sure the bottle shop down the road had plenty of stock with the stickers.

    I had the free coffee vouchers from michels patisserie (which is where some of them buy their coffee) printed out and ready to go and no one used one. I did give some to my customers who really appreciated it. I am a receptionist and used to love the boost juice name days. I serve an average 350 people per day and so I think I was sending sometimes 10 or more people down to get their free boost.

    I even tell people in the supermarket about deals. One man who I was telling about a movie ticket deals with the body washes he was buying said he had seen a story on today tonight about people like me pretending to be friendly but they were undercover sales reps. No just trying to be nice but I guess it might seem a little weird.

    • Sorry you are surrounded by idiots :(

  • +1

    I tell workmates about bargains all the time but they always think there is a catch.

    This ^

  • I don't like to reveal my sources (ie. Ozbargain) when sharing freebies with my friends because a lot of the time I miss out on deals myself here on Ozbargain so I think the more people that are introduced to the site, less to share around. So what I do is send direct links to the bargains/freebies - that way I feel like I'm doing a good deed by still sharing. I do find a lot of people can be wary of deals. I think you've either got it in you, or you don't to be the type of person who loves getting freebies and cheap prices. Recently, a colleague laughed at a fellow colleague who has given up coffee to save money because her theory is that there's no point in "saving money" because it'll be spent elsewhere. I don't even respond to that.

    • +2

      Ozbargain only works because there are users. More users means more deals and more feedback. I honestly believe your position does yourself more harm than good.

  • No i dont because most of friends are opportunistic and would aim to buy resell.

    For example,I've got a couple of mates which think its ok to switch a barcode on an expensive item with a cheaper item then proceed to purchase via self serve. They call them $2 scotch fillet steals. Personally this ends up hurting all consumers in the long term. I try and tell them that possibly getting a criminal record is not worth it, but still they continue and brag and be smug about this. Do you guys have any friends like this?, mind you I'm a poor uni student but still wouldn't stoop this low, how would one go about reporting anonymously?

    • how would one go about reporting anonymously?

      I would think the big supermarkets are well aware that this sort of thing goes on.

      At the end of the day they are probably losing less money on occasional dodgy self serve transactions than paying more checkout staff.

      • It is a criminal offence. I used to work for Coles and we had these guys that would come in from another Coles store and they would bring discount stickers with them and mark down meat and other expensive items to like $1. From my understanding, they got fired from their store and they would definitely have that on their record.

    • I've seen so many people doing these kind of dodgy stuffs in the supermarkets.

      One time saw a couple switching free range eggs with coles branded eggs so they can get free range eggs at 1/3 of the price. I told a staff member about this and he didn't do anything, just looked at me funny.

      Another time, saw a guy in a suit scooping out cashew nuts at coles then started going around the store munching on those nuts.

      Couple of times saw people breaking the stems of broccoli and only taking the top part.

      Another time saw a guy standing in front of the fruits section eating the grapes for like 15 minutes. He ate half of the bag then walked away.

      All those people actually look like they have money and can afford paying for them but just don't want to.

      • Actually most of what you described shows they are a little crazy….

        At least swapping the eggs is a blantant stealing

  • +1

    no reason to stop sharing, only because of some small portion guys, who are with short vision.
    Only via sharing, could we get mostly what we really need, to save money in the end.

  • +5

    Well, If this post is anything to go by, it looks like the OP moved to the dark side (tl;dr He had at least six Tiger vouchers that he's been selling for profit).

    Pity.

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