Have you ever kept a bargain for yourself? Not posting to OzBargain?

Wallyt99 on 03/08/2019 - 12:30

The recent HP laptop pricing error has shown one thing…. If you find a crazy good bargain - you are probably better off NOT posting it on OzBargain.

Posting it up here will likely:

  • Make it sell out instantaneously.
  • Make people call the store to 'check if it's real'
  • Flag alerts / warnings on the store's site due to the unusual traffic
  • Guarantee you won't get your product.

In the event that you didn't post it - you would be far more likely to receive the product as it might just 'slip through the cracks'.

Have you ever kept a bargain a secret? Would you?

General Discussion

Comments

  • bargainbot12 on 03/08/2019 - 12:53
    +100

    I don’t post deals in the fear of being ridiculed by ozbargainers…. the hate and hassle isn’t worth it sometimes!

    • Godric on 03/08/2019 - 13:02
      +13

      Username doesn't check out, bot's have no emotions

    • DuckKnight on 03/08/2019 - 13:21
      +4

      But you receive far more gratitude than criticism when posting deals that follow the guidelines.

      • abuch47 on 04/08/2019 - 15:26

        karma from online strangers means nothing.

        You do it to help others that is all.

        • toristo on 04/08/2019 - 19:25

          What?! You mean I've been collecting this online karma for nothing? Why didn't someone explain this sooner

    • altomic on 03/08/2019 - 17:28
      +18

      It's better to have posted and been negged than to have never posted at all.

      • khomeini on 04/08/2019 - 09:42

        Truer words have not been written. Merci poet altomic

    • Sage on 03/08/2019 - 17:42
      +20

      yeah, me too. I've posted some deals and people really judge the choice of the product in addition to whether it's a bargain.
      essentially it's a popularity contest, and only certain approved items are upvoted. it's rarely about the savings and mostly about whether people like the product you're posting about.
      also even if you post a good deal, there are always questions for more details like people aren't satisfied.

    • try2bhelpful on 03/08/2019 - 18:27
      +32

      Amen on that, even if you are within the rules. Beyond me why so many people are determined to bite the hand that feeds them. It you’re not interested in something then “move along, nothing to see here”. Insightful, or witty, comments excepted but too many of them aren’t.

      My view is:-
      - be encouraging
      - make helpful suggestions in a respectful manner
      - try to make funny, or at least groan worthy, jokes.
      - highlight known issues with the product or seller
      - STFU if I can’t do any of the above.

      • ely on 04/08/2019 - 15:39
        +1

        Groan worthy jokes should have been #1

        • jackspratt on 04/08/2019 - 16:04
          +4

          Is that you, jv?

          • ely on 04/08/2019 - 20:01

            @jackspratt: No, but I have clicked the +1 next to jv on more than one occasion.

    • subywagon on 03/08/2019 - 18:35
      +13

      Same. I tried a couple of times and copped flack so I just leach now. Not worth the hassle.

      • Baniya on 05/08/2019 - 00:34
        +1

        That’s disappointing.

        C’mon OzBargainers, we’re better than that!

    • outlander on 03/08/2019 - 20:09
      +2

      When you let the things you hate define how you live, it rarely leads you to good places.

      I don't worry too much about the haters.. probably because at the end of the day I really don't acknowledge them as people. Not alot going on in those noggins, you know?

    • watwatwat on 03/08/2019 - 21:15
      +7

      Yep, big culture problem here. Needs better leadership from the site operators.

      • Dungeon Master on 03/08/2019 - 23:43
        -7

        Good critical feedback stops the system being gamed.
        There are bigger problems than hurt feelings.

        • smartazz104 on 04/08/2019 - 11:30
          +9

          There's critical feedback, then there is people just being pricks. Usually we see the latter.

        • captaincabinets on 04/08/2019 - 11:38
          +1

          Agree with wat, to some degree. I assume you refer to 'system being gamed' as people 'unjustly' accruing internet dork points. I don't care about upvotes, I'd just rather people weren't hypercritical dicks to those just trying to share a bargain.

          • KBZ on 04/08/2019 - 13:29
            +2

            @captaincabinets: Maybe if we got rid of the viewable positives like instagram did with like views.
            People would stop trying to have the last laugh or make people the butt of jokes.

    • AustriaBargain on 03/08/2019 - 21:19
      +3

      I don't even downvoted bad deals anymore either, you'd think you'd insulted someone's mother just by clicking the red button.

      • try2bhelpful on 03/08/2019 - 21:28
        +8

        If you are downvoting them explain why. People have gone to the effort to put a deal up here, if you aren’t happy with the deal then explain why. I’m more than happy for people to tell me if there is a better deal out there, provided they are respectful about it. However “this deal sucks” is not it. I’m happy for my posts to be a starting point, I might get told of a better deal. Go ahead and insult my mother, she’s dead but she could still stand up for herself.

        • Dungeon Master on 03/08/2019 - 23:45
          +1

          If your Mum was charging bargain prices, that's a compliment around here.

        • Ozpit on 04/08/2019 - 09:52

          I’m getting buried vertical too.

    • KBZ on 04/08/2019 - 13:24
      +2

      Look at what you've done jv.

  • Diji1 on 03/08/2019 - 13:00
    +3

    Kind of a weird question because anyone can find it and post it.

    • Ulysses31 on 04/08/2019 - 20:06

      Huh?
      In that case, you believe all deals are/were here?

  • Quantumcat on 03/08/2019 - 13:07
    +2

    I would always post it if I wasn't planning to buy it myself. But I hardly ever come across anything worth posting so I would probably be too excited to have something worthy of posting and post it anyway

  • Kangal on 03/08/2019 - 13:10
    +4

    Yes, and No.
    I haven't posted a Deal yet, but I do put it in the comments when I find something good.

    I did this like 4 years (?) ago when I found a Nexus 5X deal. After 24hours I commented about it here, and people started buying, and someone actually published it as a deal. Eventually the deal was prematurely stopped/out of stock, and some people were pissed. I only found it early because I was looking for it at the time, and it was a happy coincidence. Well, my second-hand Nexus 5 died (bad QC) which was bought since my backup Note3 mysteriously died as well (suspected rain moisture), so I really needed a phone.

    I think if you really want/need it, you're better off buying it and waiting for 24-48 hours to post it. At which point your payment has properly been accepted, and the store has likely started the processing of the item. At which point even if you put it on eBay, they might cancel everyone's deal, but not yours because its been processed in their systems. Of course, it really depends on the deal, and I encourage people to share as much as they can, but not at their own expense/opportunity.

  • Clear on 03/08/2019 - 13:30
    +19

    Free samples is something I always avoid posting because it'll get OzBargain'd which normally results in a lot of people getting something they won't use or the entire lot of freebies will be cancelled.

    • DuckKnight on 03/08/2019 - 13:41
      +6

      Agreed, we've seen reps from small businesses admitting they're making a loss fulfilling all orders.

  • wordplay on 03/08/2019 - 14:18
    +6

    house next door was selling for a very low price, but I did not post it as did not want people to figure out where i live and have had people post nasty things when they thought the deal I posted was not good before.

  • Tuftsdude on 03/08/2019 - 14:23
    +1

    I always hesitate because the deals I post usually end up being dupes/shit and the ones I don't, someone else would and it'd hit 100+ votes. I recall this happening 2 or 3 times. I'd like to contribute more but someone would usually beat me to it.

  • Tuftsdude on 03/08/2019 - 14:24
    -1

    Also, disappointed the whole HP laptop thread got taken down instead of being moved to the forums.

    • Quantumcat on 03/08/2019 - 18:14

      What was that?

      • Tuftsdude on 03/08/2019 - 18:27
        +1

        HP Omen laptop for $500, a laptop which is worth around $2000. There was 7 or 8 pages worth of comments. Pretty entertaining. Speaking of, I got my cancellation email this morning.

        • Quantumcat on 03/08/2019 - 19:02

          Shame to lose all that conversation, can understand being annoyed at the deletion instead of moving to forums

          • Tuftsdude on 03/08/2019 - 19:19

            @Quantumcat: Yeah it sucks. Especially because the 1c Razor Phone got moved to the forums, I was expecting this one too, there was actually a chance orders might've been fulfilled but we knew they were probably gonna cancel them, especially now that it was on Ozbargain with 20k+ clicks or something.

            • ssquid on 03/08/2019 - 19:29
              +4

              @Tuftsdude: ??
              It did get moved to the forums: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/474336

              • Tuftsdude on 03/08/2019 - 19:35

                @ssquid: Thanks for that. My bad, I couldn't find it. I will be going through that that thread soon, have all the +1's!

                • ssquid on 03/08/2019 - 19:39
                  +1

                  @Tuftsdude: The tl;dr version is we've grabbed our pitchforks and are heading to the ACCC.

                  • Tuftsdude on 03/08/2019 - 20:08

                    @ssquid: Ohhh, interesting. You think HP took advantage of the price error and purposely kept it up for a day or so? Cause it did take them a long time to fix it, and my cancellation email did take almost 2 days or so..

                    • ssquid on 03/08/2019 - 20:24
                      +3

                      @Tuftsdude: Personally I think they intended to jack prices when the sale began, and the promo codes took that into account but they forgot to do the actual jacking. You can see on their site now that all the laptops with promo codes have had their prices increased to ridiculous values.

                      It's blatant price-jacking to make sale discounts appear larger than they actually are. If they really wanted to offer a $1500 discount they should have honoured the $499 price.

                      • Wallyt99 on 03/08/2019 - 21:39

                        @ssquid: Great pickup and very worthwhile pursuing with the ACCC

                        • Clear on 04/08/2019 - 01:02
                          -1

                          @Wallyt99: I love these kind of threads so much. Despite the fact that not honouring a "price error" is legal the ACCC will not act upon complaints from individuals.

                          Achieves nothing but wasted time and stress.

                          • ssquid on 04/08/2019 - 01:32

                            @Clear: Right, that's why Kogan is facing court for running a misleading promotional sale - exactly like HP currently are.

                            • Clear on 04/08/2019 - 07:03
                              +2

                              @ssquid: Kogan are facing court action for price jacking which is illegal and something I didn't even mention. This "price jacking" you refer to did not happen at the time of the price error that I referred to.

                              Contact the ACCC for information about your consumer rights and obligations, and possible courses of action you might take. While we don’t resolve individual complaints, we will use the information you provide to help us understand what issues are causing the most harm to Australian business and consumers, and where to focus our compliance and enforcement efforts.

                              https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-protection/where-…

                              • ssquid on 04/08/2019 - 13:26
                                -1

                                @Clear: HP's "price error" is due to them forgetting to jack the prices. They're still offering the same discount amounts, just with huge increases to the base prices. If it was an error to offer a $1500 discount why are they still doing it? Why did the cost of the system increase by $1300 when it had previously been the same price for months before the promotion?

                                • Clear on 04/08/2019 - 13:32

                                  @ssquid: At the time of the deal it was a price error.

                                  • ssquid on 04/08/2019 - 13:34
                                    -1

                                    @Clear: Which price was wrong? The base price which was the same as before the promo, or the discount code which is still active?

                                    • Clear on 04/08/2019 - 13:34

                                      @ssquid: It says price error. If it was not a price error it would say so.

                                      • ssquid on 04/08/2019 - 13:35
                                        -1

                                        @Clear: Because companies never lie…

                                        • Clear on 04/08/2019 - 13:36

                                          @ssquid: scotty is a company?

                                          • ssquid on 04/08/2019 - 13:40
                                            -1

                                            @Clear: Scotty doesn't know.

                                            We regret to inform you that your order has been cancelled due to either payment clearance issues, incorrect shipping address details, suspected fraudulent activity, inability of HP to get in contact with you or other issues.

                                            No mention of a price error.

                                            • Clear on 04/08/2019 - 13:41
                                              +1

                                              @ssquid: HP screwed up… again*

  • Some Human on 03/08/2019 - 14:35
    +4

    I find good in-store deals, but I don’t want to look like an idiot taking a photo of a rack in a shop. Not sure if you can post the deal without photo evidence.

    • try2bhelpful on 03/08/2019 - 18:31
      +2

      Looking like an idiot is temporary, being a legend lasts forever. I don’t think the stores mind because a lot of people take photos nowadays. I also do Google searches to compare prices on the net, whilst standing, discretely, in the store.

    • outlander on 03/08/2019 - 19:31
      -1

      Don't take this the wrong way, but if all that stands between you and looking like an idiot is a sideways phone, you got bigger problems .

    • DarwinBoy on 04/08/2019 - 09:31
      +3

      I often take photos because sometimes you get to the payment at the register and some specials dont scan. Easy then to pull out the camera then wait for them to send staff to search.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/08/2019 - 14:54
    +3

    My local Bunnings was selling a modular storage system at 90% discount to clear. I bought the lot so would be OOS by the time I reached the checkout.

  • altomic on 03/08/2019 - 15:13
    +5

    yes, but only when it doesn't meet posting guidelines.

    though I may post it as a forum post..

    or if it a supercheap price from a website I'll buy first and wait for it to actually arrive and then post.

    I post what ever I find to be a bargain. if a deal gets 100+ votes then awesome. if it gets 5 votes then awesome.

    if I can save someone money (or help them waste less) then awesome.

    my favourite deals are the ones where someone has posted something cheap at their supermarket and taken a pic of it.

    anyone can sit behind a screen and search websites for deals, or repost deals from other websites, but those posters who are just out and about and stumble upon a deal and post are great.

    • dufflover on 04/08/2019 - 13:48

      or if it a supercheap price from a website I'll buy first and wait for it to actually arrive and then post.

      Yep with so many brodens around too definitely wait to get it first or at least shipped. That'll solve most of the original issues.

      Usually anything that's online available to everyone people have already posted it anyway. It's only the odd instore clearance like Bunnings or Aldi I might spot a bargain to post.

  • ihbh on 03/08/2019 - 15:47

    Yes, my wife.

    • chumlee on 03/08/2019 - 18:22
      +3

      Feel free to post her as a bargain now

      • ihbh on 03/08/2019 - 20:15
        +1

        Are you kidding? I'm getting some after she puts the kids to bed.

        • Member 0230 on 04/08/2019 - 10:23

          You obviously found yourself some amazing value. That’s so good to hear — I can relate.

        • jackspratt on 04/08/2019 - 16:08

          Whose kids?

  • Pootie Tang on 03/08/2019 - 17:05
    +11

    Deals used to be quality back in the day.

    I post whatever I can, always a heckler pops up though. Very rare its a clean comment section.

    Ozbargain > Reddit

  • outlander on 03/08/2019 - 19:38
    +1

    Yeah, quite a lot. This website has gotten so big now, that I only really post the stuff that can be used on a large scale. I still see a lot of stuff thats probably of great interest to people within 20km of me, but posting it just seems to see it get buried, so its not worth the effort.

    There was talk a few years back of having priority for local deals, but nothing eventuated from it so I'm guessing its been put in the too hard basket.

    • Clear on 04/08/2019 - 01:05
      +1

      but posting it just seems to see it get buried, so its not worth the effort.

      Agreed. Unfortunately too many people have some false mentality that you can only pos vote if you've purchased the deal. People say it all the time.

  • askme69 on 03/08/2019 - 21:54

    Ll the time.

    Only Woolworths deals which pertain to my local. :)

  • hammershammered on 04/08/2019 - 08:24
    +1

    "We don't do any discount like this. This is a scam."

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/203623

    Never got my macadamia nuts :(

  • piece on 04/08/2019 - 08:54

    Used to come here for the bargains. Now im here more for the comments (with popcorns).

  • singingwolf on 04/08/2019 - 09:31

    I have not ever held back with deals but have held back with "hacks" as if they get abused they will be stopped and I don't want that :-)

  • ozbjunkie on 04/08/2019 - 09:32
    +1

    Sometimes if its not a large saving or I'm not convinced its the cheapest.

    Eg, bought 2x240 tabs On opti-men the other day from eBay for around 110aud using biggie10.

    Didn't think that was post worthy, but was the cheapest price I could find.

    Most of the time I don't go looking for bargains, I just browse ozbargain because I can't think of anything to buy. It's just a rolling stream of things I have or cannot use. Makes life feel materially complete.

    • Wallyt99 on 04/08/2019 - 10:27
      +11

      I agree with this absolutely. I think there is a lifecycle to OzBargain membership:

      New Member - Gets a good bargain, starts to visit more often.
      Junior Member - Fairly addicted. Buys a lot of stuff that they absolutely don’t need from main page.
      Senior Member - Starts to trawl the new deals page every 20 mins to catch a good deal before they sell out. Wife begins to question this unhealthy addiction and credit card bill.
      Retiree - Has way too much useless shit already. Only buys if it was actually something they already needed and or were looking for. May wait up to 12 months for a bargain.

      • ozbjunkie on 04/08/2019 - 13:12
        +1

        Retiree confirmed.

        Now to buy those body weight scales I actually need, or just weigh in at the gym. Or just get fat and watch Netflix as I slip into everlasting slumber.

        Alright, off to try on down jackets at Macpac to celebrate the last month of winter (facepalming).

  • bobwokeup on 04/08/2019 - 15:10

    Yeah totally agree I don't post deals due to the backlash. What I hate is when I receive an email for an offer and as I work full time I don't always get a chance to order it until a few hours later, only to find it posted here and out of stock. When a deal first comes out we should wait for at least 24 hours to let people take it up and then post away.

  • lanjiao on 04/08/2019 - 17:55

    I've waited til I bought something from Dell factory outlet before posting because I actually wanted to buy shit.

    Otherwise I don't post often but I'm happy to give back to the community that has saved/wasted so much of my money even if the feedback may be negative. I agree with the sentiments here that there's a fair bit of (profanity) around, but remember that internet points are just internet points and it doesn't matter

  • burningrage on 04/08/2019 - 18:54

    I tried to post online but usually somebody else beat me to it.

    After 100x I gave up unless I know it from someone like eg a friend who is a boss of a restaurant having grand opening sale.

    Having said that there are some that I do keep otherwise a spy in this forum will let the company know and loophole closed.

    Recent example is Melb Airport Parking hack which is actually well known by most ppl before someone posted it as a bargain or hack here. Now I am bracing myself for losing this perk.

  • TEER3X on 04/08/2019 - 19:36

    Haven't really found anything yet in this country worth posting. In the US I was very active on Slickdeals, and only once did I withold a deal. It was for an Xbox One X and it ended up getting cancelled so I didn't bother to post.

    Most deals I found I posted, but I would think most people would keep it to themselves if there was a really good chance it would be cancelled because it was too good to be true.

    A lot of the best deals over there were in store clearance deals, especially Walmart, but the resellers killed the deals pretty quickly.

  • conza on 04/08/2019 - 22:18

    I simply haven't found one, besides the finders fee is easy, take advantage the post for everyone else

  • mixgrill on 05/08/2019 - 18:16

    Lack of remaining stock after grabbing what is there or the last one

  • [Deactivated] on 05/08/2019 - 20:06

    I'm not here for the bargains. I can't even remember the last time I bought something that I had seen on ozb. Must have been years😳

  • Taegukgi on 14/08/2019 - 22:05

    I post and unsubscribe immediately. If I haven't upvoted your gratitude, that's why.

    Users trolling posters is a fairly normal thing these days. Posters trolling posters is what I don't understand.

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