What Bargains Will You Refuse Based on Moral/Ethical Grounds?

StrayfireX on 29/05/2018 - 09:54
Last edited 29/05/2018 - 09:59

Out of curiosity, what bargains will you refuse out of moral/ethical concern and why. Well apart from firearms, they are well discussed.

Do you insist on Fair Trade Tea/Coffee/Chocolate?

Do you refuse to buy imported fruit and veg?

Do you ignore all grey imports? (I know a friend who wants to ban them altogether, no they aren't Gerry Harvey).

Do you only adopt pets from shelters?

Do you avoid 7/11 because of their shoddy labour deals?

Do you only buy second hand things to reduce the waste in the world?

Etc.

I'm curious how people stand on this stuff and their reasoning.

Food & Grocery

Comments

  • cypher67 on 29/05/2018 - 10:06
    +8

    I refuse to pay RRP on anything over $50 - Because then it wouldn't be a bargain.

    • Scrooge McDuck on 29/05/2018 - 16:33
      +2

      By saving money I save the production of plastic banknotes and electricity, thereby saving the environment.

  • Ryanek on 29/05/2018 - 10:12
    +12

    I'll never buy anything from JayCar.

  • Georgevic on 29/05/2018 - 10:14
    -7

    Israeli products, of course

    • Hybroid on 29/05/2018 - 11:35

      Agreed, things like Sodastream, Keter and dates/olive products.

    • myusername on 29/05/2018 - 11:36

      freepalestine

  • apple2016 on 29/05/2018 - 10:31
    +4

    I refuse to buy food with certification like Kosher, Halal, Free range, Organic etc….

    • Ryanek on 29/05/2018 - 10:54
      +3

      That's odd… why? They're just different ways of growing/developing/preparing foods.

      • [Deactivated] on 29/05/2018 - 12:18
        +1

        And all add to the expense.

      • apple2016 on 29/05/2018 - 12:42
        +4

        I dont mind the different ways of growing/developing/preparing foods. Just refuse to pay extra for certification which in my opinion is a scam.

        • Hybroid on 29/05/2018 - 13:24
          +1

          What if they were cheaper? What if free range eggs were on offer below normal caged eggs?

        • TheBilly on 29/05/2018 - 13:30

          I hear it all usually comes out of the same factories and the certification is loose as. So your not wrong in avoiding it. I.e. I have a mate that delivers fruit to woolies and also fruit shops. Right next to a woolies was an "organic shop". He literally delivers the same boxes to both, just the organic shop charges double to the people willing to pay for it.

        • Scrooge McDuck on 29/05/2018 - 15:55

          @TheBilly:

          A fool and his money are soon parted.

      • Scorpex on 30/05/2018 - 09:05

        No - they are primarily different ways of marketing foods

        • Ryanek on 30/05/2018 - 09:11

          Well no, lets take Kosher food for example. Jewish law prevents animals dying in pain so they use different methods to slaughter the animals. This involves overhead / different techniques and consequently can cost more.

        • Deridas on 30/05/2018 - 16:23

          @Ryanek:

          Then there is extra costs of paying for a random organisation to certify it as "kosher".

  • Clear on 29/05/2018 - 10:38
    +7

    Freebies that I don't need.

    • ozzpete on 29/05/2018 - 19:28
      +2

      I get freebies I dont need . then give them away to people that do need/want them .
      I have draw full of energy drinks from when 7/11 was giving away the new natural energy V drink bottles.
      I have about 24 bottles of wine (but I dont drink wine) from freebie deal years ago. $50 free credit or something, off graysonline (no minimum spend).
      Gave many bottles of this alcohol punch drink away, from grays online freebies.
      I get plenty of freebies that dont cost anything (besides my time, filling out formz etc) , then gift them to others.

  • tanguyen on 29/05/2018 - 10:56
    +2

    Do you insist on Fair Trade Tea/Coffee/Chocolate?
    Do you avoid 7/11 because of their shoddy labour deals?
    Do you refuse to buy imported fruit and veg?

    I would agree with all those things, but currently too lazy to do the research to be active about it

    Do you ignore all grey imports?

    My mind is always arguing over whether I would need the warranty support. Of all the items I've bought so far, have only used the warranty service on one thing (a gopro3) and fortunately bought it from an Australian seller

    Do you only adopt pets from shelters?
    Do you only buy second hand things to reduce the waste in the world?

    Don't have a pet but if I were to get one, it would definitely be an adopted pet.
    Usually I try and buy second hand everything to hopefully promote people to reuse stuff, but I have an affinity in the hunt of looking for a second hand absolute bargain. Makes me feel like I've worked for everything rather than impulse bought something.

  • iforgotmysocks on 29/05/2018 - 10:58

    I never buy anything that hasn't been endorsed by PJC.

  • Almost Banned on 29/05/2018 - 10:58
    +14

    I don't buy cage eggs regardless of price

    • Scrooge McDuck on 29/05/2018 - 16:05
      -1

      Me neither, I only buy hatched cages.

    • ozzpete on 29/05/2018 - 19:30

      Caged eggs is one thing I always try to avoid. I understand how some people cannot afford to buy non-caged eggs. I have been in circumstances before where I genuinely had no choice but to buy the cheapest of everything.

  • tsunamisurfer on 29/05/2018 - 11:19
    -1

    Do you insist on Fair Trade Tea/Coffee/Chocolate?

    No I will actively avoid Fair Trade because I refuse to support paying those workers above market rates.

    Do you avoid 7/11 because of their shoddy labour deals?

    I actively support 7/11 because of their willingness to get around the high minimum wage, and more importantly the willingness of their workers to work for less.

    • moph on 29/05/2018 - 11:37
      +4

      No I will actively avoid Fair Trade because I refuse to support paying those workers above market rates.

      Ah yes, because of the entirely fair and free labour market operating in developing countries, which is being terribly distorted by Fair Trade ensuring workers get a very tiny increase in their pay.

      • Georgevic on 29/05/2018 - 12:07
        +2

        Can't expect people born into the bank and hotel of mum & dad to understand these things.

    • outlander on 29/05/2018 - 13:50
      +1

      I actively support 7/11 because of their willingness to get around the high minimum wage

      You can support them even more by showing your willingness to get around their high prices, by exploiting a five finger discount

  • afoveht on 29/05/2018 - 11:30
    +2

    I hold 2 positions, 1 always trumping 2:

    1. Deontological - I won't buy something if I know it must, as a matter of necessity, even in an ideal world, violate someone else's basic interests in the process of obtaining it. It's an open and shut case.

    2. Utilitarian - If I know something (potentially) involves harm and has an available substitute involving less harm I will tend towards the latter option. This is essentially a balancing act of harm, preference, convenience and price; imprecise and variable.

    • Hybroid on 29/05/2018 - 11:38

      Please elaborate further, particularly option 1, sounds interesting.

      • afoveht on 29/05/2018 - 18:42

        1. Some things might only be obtainable by causing a direct and intentional harm to another person without their consent. An example is body parts**, or forced services / labour (which includes child labour - which always, like nonhuman labour too, should be assumed to be non-consentual), or (most often but not necessary "illicit") substances which are guaranteed to involve violent criminals, etc. It doesn't matter how these might be dressed up - humane, best practise, ethical, whatever - they are intrinsically a breach of another individuals right to be left free and unharmed.

        2. Some things could be done better if we tried. Example: Mobiles can be made in sweatshops but they can also be made under fair conditions. So mobiles aren't an issue in themselves, but there will be consideration of their provenance. Sometimes this information is difficult to obtain (surely by the profiteer's own design!) and in the absence of this info decisions need to be made. So there is chance I might be purchasing a sweat-shop mobile even if I don't want to, but I don't let this absolutely preclude me from the opportunity of purchasing a mobile; I may sometimes (often?) make mistakes, or I may consider the utility that a mobile provides enough to balance out the negative utility it causes somewhere else. If these mistakes become gross negligence, or if the cost/benefit ratio diminishes they may morph into case 1 above. This category also includes other indirect harms like pollution, waste, support for policy, etc.

        (** The case of human body parts is probably quite extreme and a need for human body parts is most probably wrought of very exceptional circumstances. In these cases, such as a life-or-death situation I wouldn't really abide by my own standards, nor anyone elses; it's like the "vegan on a desert island" hypothetical - of course I'd eat the pig, I'd even eat my mother if I really had to.)

  • [Deactivated] on 29/05/2018 - 11:48
    +2

    Literally a post for virtue signalling.

  • SupeNintendoChalmers on 29/05/2018 - 12:21
    +5

    Buy zero food from China or New Zealand (made in new zealand from local and imported ingredients- AKA China)

    Definitely no garlic
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOL5V0Pr9B0

  • TheBilly on 29/05/2018 - 13:21

    I dont buy products with Gelatine. Im not vegitarian specifically, but I do restrict my meat consumption out of choice to say once a week maximum twice if Im going out - the lighter foods make me poop nice.

    In the pursuit of this I researched what Gelatine was and started looking out for it and I was surprised how many products unneccesarily incorporate this, its crazy.

    So now I read the ingredients on everything and actively avoid it. You would expect you can just eat something basic like Jam or Bread without having gelatine in it, but so many things do.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/05/2018 - 15:03

      I researched what Gelatine was and started looking out for it and I was surprised how many products unneccesarily incorporate this, its crazy.

      Click bait rhetoric.

      What's wrong with gelatine and what's in it that doesn't require it?

      Why would a company pay to include something and raise production cost unnecessarily?

      I think you read too many hippie blogs.

      • joqob on 30/05/2018 - 08:45
        +1

        As someone who doesn't eat Gelatine (I'm vego), there are certainly products that don't require it, such as thickened cream, sour cream etc.

        My biggest lament is Cherry Ripes, it's probably somehow required for the consistency of the 'cherry' pieces.
        Have to say I've never found it in bread though.

      • TheBilly on 30/05/2018 - 17:56

        I got this from google, "Gelatine is made by prolonged boiling of skin, cartilage, and bones from animals". My issue isn't the animals part, frankly I don't give a shit, I go pig and deer hunting a couple times a year and I love it. I also don't care about eating meat, I just regulate how much I eat because when I eat less meat I take smoother dumps and that really feels great for my ringer.

        What my issue is why they have to use this product to make my sour cream, antibiotic capsules, cereals, bagels, alternative dairy products, sugars amongst many other things that are completely unrelated to boiled skin cartilage and bones from animals. There is no need to slip it in everything I eat when it has no relevance to the actual item at hand.

        Everything has it's place and shouldn't just be thrown into every item you consume slyly. Especially when there are so many other brands that don't do this yet still maintain good competitive products. I'll give you an analogy; imagine if every single food product in Australia had to be Kosher certified from tomorrow. Isn't that highly unnecessary to you? You wouldn't think why don't they just kosher certify the products going to Bondi? Everything has it's place, Gelatine does not have a place in the above, the same way certifying everything in Australia doesn't have a place when it can be easily targeted to an area with a high Jewish population.

        I think you read too many hippie blogs.

        Ok

        Why would a company pay to include something and raise production cost unnecessarily?

        I'm certain it reduces cost, it is a low quality ingredient substitute.

        What's wrong with gelatin and what's in it that doesn't require it?

        Nothing, if you want to eat it go for it. I personally don't want to.

        • [Deactivated] on 30/05/2018 - 18:41

          Comparing using gelatine for cost reduction to eating kosher at a higher price isn't exactly comparable.

          But I'm glad you already know that gelatine wasn't added for no reason. The reason is cost cutting. A very legitimate reason.

          You are not rejecting gelatine on a moral/ethical ground. You're rejecting it because it is low grade crap. I do the same.

  • ozzpete on 29/05/2018 - 19:33
    +1

    I've significantly reduced my purchasing of blood diamonds in the last 12 months. Moved on to ethically mined gold bars and non-enriched plutonium, as my current investment/savings portfolio.
    I will never use banks, on ethical/moral grounds.

    • StrayfireX on 30/05/2018 - 19:38
      +1

      Have you considered Eneloop Coin? The official currency of OzBargain.

  • joqob on 30/05/2018 - 08:41
    +3

    I don't buy Coles brand milk and opt for a (slightly) more expensive one which pays farmers more.

  • voiletmay on 30/05/2018 - 08:44

    Gloria Jeans because of it's links to Hillsong Church - gives me the heebie jeebies.

    • shortblack9 on 30/05/2018 - 10:23
      +2

      The Hillsong connection doesn't exist anymore. The original (Hillsong) owners sold the business a while ago. I don't go there because their coffee gives me headaches.

  • Pumpkin_rrr on 30/05/2018 - 08:48
    +1

    I don't buy Halal
    I don't get small free samples sent by mail
    I don't buy from cranky face

  • HeWhoKnows on 30/05/2018 - 13:28

    All up to the individual but most people here are happy for any bargain

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