The Gamble of Purchasing

Dave Ramsey explains in his podcast that there are two types of people when it comes to handling money: “Spenders” and “Savers” (Ramsey Solutions, 2021). As someone who gets satisfaction out of saving money, I definitely identify as the latter, always having an eye out for sales and discounts, trying to score a deal.

Of course, being a saver comes with its own problems. As the “Boots Theory” outlines, you can sometimes save more by spending more (Roth, 2018). And this was the challenge I faced when I had to buy a bed frame.

To be honest, the bargainer in me was really tempted to the idea of buying from a second-hand marketplace. Bed frames generally last for years, and seeing as how I could get something almost brand new at a discounted price, I had a hard time arguing against it. But here’s the bad part of buying second-hand; unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, it is hard to pinpoint any faults with a product. And with no after sales support, you better be sure that you’re happy with what you bought.

That’s when I turned my eyes to Wayfair. No doubt, more expensive than buying from the Facebook marketplace, but the variety of options lead me to easily find something in my budget. The assurance of getting a brand new product certainly beats the dissatisfaction of buying something used, finding a fault with it, and going through the tedious process of finding a replacement — or worse — continue using it as is. With the return policy (Wayfair, 2022), I had enough time to satisfy myself. And within the second week, my new bedpost had become my favorite piece of furniture in the room. Safe to say, I’m very satisfied with my purchase.