I learned about a lot of this from my early years at a video game company. We heard about the truckloads of unsold ET video games—a terribly implemented game that we used as an example of what not to do—being buried in the desert. We all experienced the backstage of the hard sell at the giant biannual Consumer Electronic Show and the tricks that would be used to promote our own games. The boss would report to us the product requirements and sales tactics from the likes of WalMart and Steve Jobs.
I go through a lot of hassle to avoid feeding the consumer learning machine, like stripping the history information off of the end of URLs, never clicking on the “you may also like” suggestions, frequently pruning the stored history of my searches and purchases, and regularly culling my cookie database. I take advantage of Amazon Delivery Day to group multiple purchase packaging and deliveries. I tip and buy restaurant meals with cash.
I’ve discovered many Regift/Reuse channels for the products* I don’t want. The downside of this is that I have a lower threshold for buying mega-packs or things I just want to try out. I found one place for books, jigsaw puzzles, DVDs and CDs. Clothes (some with tags still attached) go to GoodWill. Recuperation and mobility aids (walkers, bolsters, crutches, ice machines, etc.) go to a local charity for the elderly. Habitat for Humanity takes paint, fixtures, tarps, etc. My cleaning ladies from the past 20 years happily take blankets, food containers, and excess home purchases (e.g., I only want 8 of the 20-pack washcloths), to distribute among their set. Lots more goes in the front yard with the FREE STUFF sign (on weekdays when there are a lot of passing workers with pickup trucks).
BTW, while I’m sure the Netflix documentary is good, the 2008 documentary WALL-E covered a lot of that.
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*Because I only ship back products that are defective, I end up donating the unwanted items locally as new.
I learned about a lot of this from my early years at a video game company. We heard about the truckloads of unsold ET video games—a terribly implemented game that we used as an example of what not to do—being buried in the desert. We all experienced the backstage of the hard sell at the giant biannual Consumer Electronic Show and the tricks that would be used to promote our own games. The boss would report to us the product requirements and sales tactics from the likes of WalMart and Steve Jobs.
I go through a lot of hassle to avoid feeding the consumer learning machine, like stripping the history information off of the end of URLs, never clicking on the “you may also like” suggestions, frequently pruning the stored history of my searches and purchases, and regularly culling my cookie database. I take advantage of Amazon Delivery Day to group multiple purchase packaging and deliveries. I tip and buy restaurant meals with cash.
I’ve discovered many Regift/Reuse channels for the products* I don’t want. The downside of this is that I have a lower threshold for buying mega-packs or things I just want to try out. I found one place for books, jigsaw puzzles, DVDs and CDs. Clothes (some with tags still attached) go to GoodWill. Recuperation and mobility aids (walkers, bolsters, crutches, ice machines, etc.) go to a local charity for the elderly. Habitat for Humanity takes paint, fixtures, tarps, etc. My cleaning ladies from the past 20 years happily take blankets, food containers, and excess home purchases (e.g., I only want 8 of the 20-pack washcloths), to distribute among their set. Lots more goes in the front yard with the FREE STUFF sign (on weekdays when there are a lot of passing workers with pickup trucks).
BTW, while I’m sure the Netflix documentary is good, the 2008 documentary WALL-E covered a lot of that.
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*Because I only ship back products that are defective, I end up donating the unwanted items locally as new.
But, how can I save if I don’t buy something that is on sale?