Hi I'm new here, thanks for having me. I have three questions I'd appreciate some insight into… thanks in advance.
1) Should I buy things just because they are cheaper? I don't really need anything but sometimes when you see a sweet sale you feel the urge to stock up. Should I resist the urge, or should I fill my cart with cheap memory cards?
2) What is the best deal you've got from the site?
3) Do you get rewards for sharing deals, or just the warm fuzzy save-a-(wo)man-a-buck feeling?
Exactly. I work out cost in hours work, not in dollars. Time is more valuable than anything else.
1) Yes
2) Free Wet'n'Wild entry/strawberries $0.99 for 250g/free Domino's/free KFC/free Boost
3) No
PS free Questacon entry should be coming up in a few months (yeah I am impressed easily)
Also welcome to OzBargain
1) I buy something supercheap if I know I have an immediate use or definite future use e.g. 4 weeks ago I bought $150RRP of stationery for $18 because the kids will need it next year for school - thanks Coles
2) best bargain - recent bargains were for $1000 for all 4 of us to go to India, and $900 for all 4 of us to go Beijing (return) with Virgin.
3) warm fuzzy feeling - also If i share deals then it may encourage others to share a deal which means more bargains. Plus, i hate paying a middle man when I can get the same thing for 25% of the price or less. e.g. the OTG cables that I buy for 25 cents from aliexpress which Harvey Norman sells for $14
Ozbargain is not just a deal sharing site, it is a place to learn about smart spending and "how to" for the consumer world. if you think about it, the amount of knowledge that people can gain here for buying/selling/learning about market places/travel, best banking deals, how to reduce costs, etc etc is invaluable (well, there is a value in terms of savings)
this site also also keeps people aware and stops them being mindless consumers (to some extent) e.g. dumb consumer - "wow, Harvey World Travel have flights to Europe for $2000, what a bargain! maybe they can get us cheap hotels as well". Vs ozbargain consumer "I can get AirAsia return to KL for $250 and then Norwegian air to Europe for $600, and using airbnb can find a private room (because I'm going solo) for $20 a night…"
the answer to Q1 is simple.
It's not a saving if you don't actually need it. But I'm sure you will go ahead and buy those cheap SD cards anyway, on a 'just in case i need it' level of reasoning.
Q2 if by the total %-off saved, I guess it'd have to be my three full Windows 8 licenses that I got for $15 dollars each through some educational loophole way back. Turned out to be really handy when M$ made W10 as a free upgrade.
Q3. You don't get any tangible rewards from sharing deals nor will you get any sort of karma.
Q4. Why didn't I use the search button and realise that these topics have already been covered to death.. :)
#1 A lot of people here buy things just because they're cheap. But I'm a firm believer in minimising your purchases because you end up saving more money, and having to store things in your home is an indirect cost. It's easy to hoard mounds of things you'll never use, it ends up making your life harder.
Also stock is often limited, so it's best to save it for people who have been looking for a deal on the particular item.
#2 The Myer sale this weekend was great. I had to get new clothes and instead of getting very low quality items from places like Harris Scarfe and Target I shopped at Myer.
I got a grand worth of clothes for about $250 with the discount stacking.
There have been many great freebies too, late last year there was the Grill'd burgers. You'd get 1 free if you had a painted fingernail. I got one or two almost every day for the 2 weeks it ran. After that I started making my own burgers and have had them every day for 6 months. (Tired of making them now)
#3 There are badges you get on your profile. No real rewards, but it's good to contribute to the community.
True, I can easily spend a week on OzBargain without buying anything.
Hmm…
For q1
Lets take an example of an s7-
My theory is OzBargainers spend the same amount of money but get more items…
Eg
Non Ozbargainers
Spend ~1000 for S7 thinking they got a good deal
OZBargainers-
Spend ~$1000 on a S7/new blender/random apps/enloops…
See?
The non ozbargainers will spend the same as the ozbargainer's
But the ozbargainers will end up with a greater amount of items for the same amount of money…
1) Depends on your short-long term need, if they will get cheaper or better in the future, and the opportunity cost of storing/cataloging.
2) Best recent deal was a Forerunner 235 for $129.
3) Karma
Definitely resist the urge, try to look for deals on items you already need/want. I would have much more money in the piggy bank had I not discovered OzBargain but who doesn't love shopping?
Steam price errors.
2) the D-Link router from Dick Smiths a few years back where the cash back from D-Link was more the purchase price.
I once got over $1k of free flights with Tiger thanks to ozbo…
How?!?
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/139632
Using multiple emails. I flew 2 people Melbourne to Perth return, Melbourne to Sydney return and Melbourne to Cairns return.
No. Objects exist to make your life easier, but you will never find happiness or contentment through buying something. Only part of the cost is in the purchase. The rest is in finding a place for it, the mental cost of remembering it, and the burden it puts on you (no longer free to move around without worrying about all your stuff). Now if we exclude all the other stuff, I think its worth buying things you don't definitely need if they are small, likely to be needed in the future, or you can sell them for the same as you bought them for.
In recent memory, the $1 WW sim cards. Have probably saved me at least $100 that I would have definitely spent
The rewards is being part of a group. By posting deals, you help make the group stronger, and the group makes you stronger. Keep in mind nobodies asking you to go looking for deals. This site is primary for people who have found deals while looking for things for themselves.
To rephrase the question, is there a reason not to?
1) yes. Always be buying stuff you don't need on impulse. It's considered polite etiquette…
2) eneloops, Motorola G5 Plus, anything with band 28, Nintendo classic at full RRP. No playstations though, Broden bought all of them…
3) you get that "yay, free fake internet points" that you can use against others in some fake internet argument that needs a referral to fake internet points… "yeah, well, I'm big over on OzBargains…"
Welcome and enjoy your stay :D
Welcome to OzBargain. Remember this:
Buy now.
Think later.
I'll walk myself out
Spend within your limit, I personaly wont buy if I dont want/need it, money is to hard to come by just to waste it. Ill say to myself is it worth x hours work?
No rewards.