Look Who Followed Me Home...

Look Who Followed Me Home..., originally uploaded by esmereldes.

I am such a victim of marketing, I'm afraid. Whenever I see something on sale, or have a coupon, I am easily pursuaded to buy it because it is a "good deal". I am also prone to buying things because I am afraid they will become rare. This turns into trouble with my toy collections, because I tend to rationalize that even if I don't want it, I can always resell it. But... so far my resell rate is pretty much at zero... ^^; So it would really be much smarter if I only bought things I really wanted, regardless of the price. That is, indeed, what 'financial experts' will recommend. But I never can stick to this, because I think at heart what I really enjoy is bargain hunting, and not so much owning things. That's probably a bad trait in a lot of ways, because I end up buying a lot of crap I simply do not need. And truthfully the fact that my room looks like a rummage sale is doing a lot more to dissuade me from buying things than looking at my bank account does. But on the other hand, this tendency has its benefits because I can be completely thrilled for weeks by buying stickers, or some silly $10 item. I think in a lot of ways I'm easily pleased, and I can be equally happy with, for instance, a blue sweater or a green sweater. So that being said, I tend to use price as the deciding factor. The one that is on sale is a "bargain" and so that one is more exciting to buy. And it might not be on sale next week, so that's a good reason to buy it NOW and not think so much about it!

Despite the fact that I *know* that this is a marketing trick, and that is why they put things on sale and issue coupons... well, I am apparently helpless in the face of it. My dad is always making fun of me for my coupon clipping, but I can't help it - my mom was the same way and I clearly learned it from her.

What does this have to do with anything? (is that a question that even should be asked on a blog? Blogs are pretty much the home of pointless rambling, no? But, I do have a reason for this discussion! Surprise!) Well, something like a year ago, local record store/comic book store/collectible toy shop Newbury Comics got in a couple of Pullips and Taeyangs. Namely, Filato and Eternia. Their price was higher than it would've cost me to buy them mail order, incl. shipping, so I just got into the habit of checking to see if they were still there or not when I went into the store. I was hoping they'd sell well and the store might carry more - preferably new models, and ones that I wanted more than I wanted Eternia and Filato. Because altho internet shopping is often a better deal, there's something a lot more satisfying to me about buying in person. However, months dragged on and altho Eternia sold, Filato never did. I gave up on the idea that Newbury Comics would want to carry Pullips regularly. Instead, I started thinking "hm, maybe there is an opportunity for a bargain here". I have a friend who says she negotiates lower prices at stores all the time (apparently this is a trend, but clearly I do not have the gift b/c when I decided to ask about the possibility of a lowered price on Filato I was told that they don't discount collectibles - if they don't sell they go on the company website. If they don't sell there, they go on ebay. This seemed silly to me, but I'm not assertive enough to push things, I guess. So... Filato sat there. And sat there. And sat there some more. And then suddenly last night I walked in and he was substantially cheaper! I was shocked. His price was now what he would've cost to buy new *without* shipping. This was a good deal! And... maybe now someone else would buy him! I had to act fast! Uh... didn't I?

So the question here is - is the moral of this story that my patience paid off? I waited it out and got a good price for something I wanted. Or, is the moral of this story that I got suckered into buying something I didn't really want or need because it was "on sale"? Because, the truth of the matter is that I didn't esp. want Filato. I just got two new dolls who are barely out of their stock outfits. So the timing is off - it's not time for me to be thinking of a new doll. And if I bought I new doll, my wishlist was Butler, Colline and then My Melody. And maybe Horizon. Oh, and Winter Bus Stop Momoko. And I kinda wanted a Freulein Revolvtech (which is what I was actually browsing for at the store) So this unexpected purchase is actually pushing back the purchase of dolls I wanted more. But, you know, he's a nice ordinary-looking boy, which is something I did kind of want (my collection is mostly girls). And the only new ordinary boy (William) was not grabbing me any more than Filato, and Filato was cheaper.

So I am having post-purchase waffling, and Filato is staying in his box for a while. If I don't start experiencing full-on regret and decide to sell or return him, I will just keep him in his box until I want a new doll again. Because at this point I have blown my dolly budget all the way into June... >.>