Giving back: good deals go both ways
Lest I be accused of being a heartless capitalist trying to milk the system at every turn, I should be upfront about the other side of getting good deals–and that is giving them. Over a Drumsmith (my new favorite drum site, as of just days ago), a kid was asking for free gear. I have excess snare hoops lying around that I don’t need. If he pays for shipping, they’re his.
Also, recently on Ebay, I had drum bags I got in a deal that I didn’t need. So I listed them. The winner of 3 of the bags contacted me about the shipping price I had listed and my previous comment that I would combine shipping for the winning bidders. Turns out, my estimated shipping price was WAAAY too low. I still gave the promised combined shipping discount (which I offered as $20, even though it ended up costing me nearly $60 to send them). It ended up costing me more to ship them than I got in the auction total.
I wasn’t bummed. The reason why: I didn’t need the bags, they were taking up valuable space in my garage and they were worth more to me as a good deal to someone else than the possible monetary value. I was happy to essentially “lose” money on them. I had gotten the bags as part of a kit deal and they were a bonus to begin with. Long story short: Don’t hesitate to pass on good deals if you are in a position to do so. I think scoring a killer deal should go hand-in-hand with giving good deals when you can.
