Funny thing is, your argument may be too good. You may be right, in fact.
Not sure what general principle can be drawn from it, but in particular situations, what you’re saying may be exactly correct. For example, if a business if offering coupons only as a desperation move, and if the business’s collapse would lead to bad economic consequences not just for the owners of the business or its employees but for the economy as a whole (at whatever scale you’re concerned with), then those of us who can spare the $10 maybe should, just as you say, refrain from using the coupons. Bail that company right out!
Although, it just occurred to me that if I start over paying for everything, I’ll have less money. Unless I can convince people to give me tips this might not end up working.
I know, but it has to come from some where. Even if it just means I’m saving $10 less, that money wouldn’t be available for future purchases.
Let’s just say it again, the money has to come from somewhere regardless of whether it’s voluntary (like my great new tipping scheme) or involuntary like a tariff.
Granted, if I thought people were going to tip me, so that my realized income would go up, I’d probably be more inclined to pay it forward. I guess also if more of my salary was available to me, or if the cost of the product in the store was lower, that would also free up $10.
So, are you against sales also? Sales are just the same as coupons, except you don’t have to bother to clip anything? How about discounts from loyalty cards? How about amazon.com
Exactly. Businesses are struggling, 16 million people are unemployed, jobs being lost to offshoring. All because we aren’t willing to pay a fare price. I say we but I guess I really mean me. I can’t help it, I want a bargain. If two identical products are priced different I’ll buy the cheaper one. But that’s coming out of somebody’s pocket. And we’ve already seen that the rich aren’t about to give up their profits or bonuses, instead they’re cutting hours, freezing wages. Productivity is up, but earning is down.
Even worse businesses are keeping people on part time so they don’t have to provide medical benefits. And again I look for bargains. I know exactly what my insurance covers and I use it all. When it comes time to using my health reimbursement account I penny pinch, look for deals, find ways to save money. It’s the over billing in health care that helps the uninsured, and all it would take is for us to kick in a little more so that someone else can pay less.
I don’t have a site to back this up, but I heard most hookers now are immigrants. The phrase “hookers and blow” really does mean untaxable money from the rich shipped out of the country. Just another way the globalization is messing with us.
How about grocery coupons? I saved $25 using coupons last month, grocery shopping, buying stuff I need and use on a regular basis. I DESERVE that savings. How many times have I run in to just ‘get a couple of things’ and manage to fill up a shopping cart anyway, with impulse items? (And I don’t ordinarily use coupons, because I generally buy store brands. The coupon for a name brand product brings the price down to about the same as a store brand, but I hardly bother.) This grocery store is doing massive business, the workers come and stay there forever. When they did have a handful of job openings, there were over 800 people showing up to apply. Including me, and I did a little shopping as long as I was there before I went home.
I don’t think communists understand the concept of free enterprise and should therefore have all of their money taken away and put into individual trust funds to be micromanaged. This would help the unemployment situation by creating more trust fund operators.
What makes you think you deserve that $25 more than anyone else? You can obviously afford to buy groceries and impulse items. What about the people that can’t afford to eat?!?
200 million people are unemployed world wide, that $25 might have fed one of them for a month.
But that’s besides the point, brand name manufacturers need money too, they employ people, real people, honest hard working uh, let’s just say Americans. Your choice to switch to off brand labels means someone is out of a job while Mr No Name can get rich. Why won’t he even tell us his name? What is he hiding?
Seriously: why aren’t we as a nation willing to overpay for the products we buy?
If concentration of wealth is such a big deal, why not side step it buy paying directly to the low level employee in the form of a cash tip?
What could possibly go wrong? It’s obvious our government isn’t going to increase taxes or impose tariffs, so it’s up to us, the consumer, to redistribute the wealth the way we see fit.
It seems 86% of Americans want tariffs, so it shouldn’t be a problem for 86% of Americans to pay more than the sticker price.
Na, I would have bought it any ways, all garden stuff I needed for the summer. But not stuff I was willing to pay $60 for.
Bullshit. We live in a competitive world. A merchant can either sell at a price I’m willing to pay, or he can keep his merchandise and I’ll buy from the merchant next door. What happens to his business and/or employees is not my problem.
If it makes you feel better, I bought $10 of pet food from the $25 I saved with coupons and gave it to the Humane Society, and sent $10 to a local charity I support (every little bit helps). The other $5, I spent on ME, at Taco Bell, thereby enriching the life of a fast food worker. I did this quick while I actually had the $25, otherwise I would have had that much extra cash to spend next week in the same grocery store.
Ordinarily I save up any spare cash I can and when there’s enough, we go out and spend it on the movies or a restaurant, enriching countless lives with the cash we fling around. But I think those who live on donations deserve a bit, and I always try to do my bit.
But don’t you see, it’s not the employees that are uncompetitive, it’s the owner. If his business shuts down he doesn’t care, he’s both rich and evil. It was probably just a tax shelter for his friends, or something to keep his wife busy. Point is, it’s the employees that suffer as a result, the owner stays rich and powerful. Chances are he owns both stores anyways, running one at a loss to make the other look better (ie Bestbuy and Futureshop; or ATT and Verison).
Can’t you see, we live in a plutocracy, where the rich are insulated from us little peons. The execs at that store probably got huge bonuses right before it closed, but it’s the employees that are out on the streets.
And now that those employees are unemployed, who is going to buy stuff at the other store?
Roll your eyes all you want, but this problem is real!
Okay, I’m convinced, you’re a good person. Unless you deduct it from your 2011 taxes.
But have you considered that your local grocery store probably supports a local charity? Without your $25 they have less to give.
Target gives on average over $3 million away every week in charitable donations, over $150 million per year. If you spend less, they have less to give.