What would you have done here?....

[marmasatt]

Man, I almost couldn't bite my tongue today . I'm in line at Staples and I proceed to watch a guy pay $ 109 for a 256 Meg stick of Desktop PC 100 this stick here. I'm thinking to myself, Ram is so overpriced at regular price at Staples anyway, but the way that prices are dropping.... I almost followed him outside and grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him or smacked him around a little bit telling him "dude, what are you thinking?" I'm wondering if you guys speak up to people when you see purchase injustice at retail stores. I didn't really want to be the nosey neighbor though. Just wasn't in the mood. I'm wondering what anyone else would have done. I mean he could have gotten twice the memory for less than half the price.

So far I've thought of a couple of responses. One is to ponder it yourself and just kind of shake your head in retrospect-but mind your business, as I chose to do. The second is to give him a reputable online dealer (ie Newegg, Monarch). But the FS/FT guy in me wanted to tell him to meet me back here tommorrow w/ 50 bucks for two 256 Meg sticks.
What would you have done? I don't think people are gonna care enough for a poll, but I'm curious nonetheless....

 

[jabamayne]

LMAO

 

[hevnsnt]

he was probably using his business's expense account so wtf cares

 

[chuckywang]

eh, good for the economy.

 

[bubbadu]

Having worked at Staples for almost 4 years, I am often very honest with customers in regards to this sort of pricing. Staples is strange because memory will go from 129 to 29.94 in just a matter of days. I will often check the website to see if the memory is going to be on sale the next week as a service for them. BTW that PNY 256 was 49.94 like 2 weeks ago AR. I am like Santa from miracle on 34th st. when he sends customers to someone else, because I KNOW that people will be back to by other items as this is good service.

 

[chiwawa626]

Someone still has to pay full price so we can get our deals right?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Nah, I couldn't care less what other people waste their money on. I just laugh a little to myself when I witness those things.

 

[zainali]

well pc100 is probably more expensive now cause no one ( or a few) makes it.

 

[DaveSimmons]

There is at least one post a month in GH from someone who bought a cheap high density 256 MB PC133 stick and either the PC can't see it or only sees it as 128 MB.

So if you're buying for a business PC and your time is worth something, getting it right the first time can be worth paying a premium.

$109 is still bad though unless it was needed that day. Crucial.com charges half that including shipping.

 

[mordantmonkey]

i just figure he's funding more rebates discounts for me. oh well.

I make an exception for WorstBuy though. I had to go there for some deal, and i saw a guy looking at video cards. He picked one up and i said, hey check out one of these sites (ZZF, newegg, monarch) you can get twice the card for the same price as that crap.
FvckWorstBuy!

 

[Gurck]

What would you have done here?

Laughed to myself and said nothing. The fool and his money soon parted ways... I'd be a fool to think my intervention would save him money anyway, he'd just waste it elsewhere.

 

[JoeKing]

What would you have done here?

Kicked him in the nuts, then steal the ram.

 

[CraigRT]

such a gyp...

 

[mAdMaLuDaWg]

Originally posted by: JoeKing

What would you have done here?

Kicked him in the nuts, then steal the ram.

ROFL!

 

[Amused]

Nothing.

The RAM is worth as much as the buyer is willing to pay for it.

If he needed it at that very moment, his options were severely limited. Instant gratification is always more expensive.

 

[Amused]

BTW, PC100 ECC 256MB sticks are quite expensive these days because so little is made. Crucial is selling them for just over $100 for ECC, and around $80 for non-ECC.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
There is at least one post a month in GH from someone who bought a cheap high density 256 MB PC133 stick and either the PC can't see it or only sees it as 128 MB.

So if you're buying for a business PC and your time is worth something, getting it right the first time can be worth paying a premium.

...except that the RAM they sell you at Staples IS that cheap, no-name stuff most of the time.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: Amused
Nothing.

The RAM is worth as much as the buyer is willing to pay for it.

If he needed it at that very moment, his options were severely limited. Instant gratification is always more expensive.

Exactly. To many people, time is much more important than $50.

 

[Toasthead]

Originally posted by: chuckywang
eh, good for the economy.

 

[BooGiMaN]

pc100 is getting more expensive since few peopel make it anymore..price it for yourself

 

[EagleKeeper]

I have been in that situation. I politely talk to the sucker after he has paid for the item (out of the store) and explain that sitaution.

Sometimes, they do not care, othertimes, they will return the item and possibly follow suggestion.

Doing it politely away from the store removes embaressment.

 

[Platypus]

Since the stuff they sell in places like that is garbage whenever I am forced to go into one of those horrible places I always end up approaching people after they get lied to blatently by some dumbass employee and set them straight. Consider if you went to a mechanic and were going to get raped and another customer in line was a mechanic and told you about it.. would you not be appreciative? Not everyone is clued in to every situation and it is the kind thing to do to help people.

Reading some of the responses in this thread makes me shake my head.

 

[Baked]

Mind my own business, ain't my money.

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: Baked
Mind my own business, ain't my money.

 

[Injury]

The selling price is often set at what people are willing to pay, whether it's an informed purchase or not. If there's someone out there that will buy it for that amount, there's no problem for selling it at that amount.

That, or he's going to put in some RAM at home that's dead and try a switcheroo.