Are free items worth the hassle any more?

   I just saw a deal posted for a free doughnut.  Until a couple of years
back, I would jump all over deals for a free scoop of ice cream, doughnut -
you name it.  However, gas prices have changed all of that for me.

  My Buick gets about 30 mpg.  Gas is now over $3 per gallon, so I'm paying
over 10c per mile when I go anywhere. (the car is debt free, so I'm not
going to be buying another one any time soon - the gas savings still would
not outweigh the debt involved)  It is roughly 10 miles from here to the
area where most of these freebies are given away.

  So, to take advantage of a free doughnut offer, I need to drive 20 miles
round trip.  That means I spend $2 of my money on fuel, and also use up
about 25 minutes of my time sitting in the car.

  I really never thought about it much any more, but these 'free' deals just
don't sound all that great any more.  In order for a deal to be at all
worthwhile these days, it would need to save me at least $5 or so.  Or, it
could save me a smaller amount on multiple items that I would have purchased
anyway.  The free single items are rarely worth the trip any more.

 
Ride a bicycle to get your free donut.

 I am sure you wouldn't have driven 20 miles round-trip just for a
donut or for a scoop of ice cream. It is not worth your time even if
the gas was free.

But, I completely understand your situation - because I am in the same
boat as you are. I used to go to local Micro Center or Best Buy just
to look around or to look at a specific product (with no intention of
buying). Now, I don't make such trips any more due to two reasons: (1)
gas price (2) environmental concerns.

So, in order to lure people like us, retailers have to offer bigger
sales and deeper discounts so we will think the trip was worth it.
Then they have to raise prices of some other products to make up for
the losses. This is probably one of the reasons why inflation rises
with gas prices.

 
OhioGuy wrote:

They never were worth the trip. And it took you all these years to
make a cost benefit decision. I'm not surprised at all based on your
other posts.

When an offer is made you weigh the costs. If it's practical, say you
are right there shopping anyway, then it can make sense. Otherwise,
save the Buick. By the way it doesn't cost you 10¢ per mile. It cost
you maybe three times that including brakes and other wear items.

Step one: Understand the basics or just give your money away.

 

It depends on the deal and the circumstances. There is very little
reason, if any, to justify going out of your way to get a free donut.

A few months ago, at work, I received approval from my boss to fly down
to Orlando (a 2 hour flight) to attend a conference that has a $1,600
price tag, not including the travel costs. Even though I received full
funding from my boss, I got the idea to try to save my employer $1,600
so I was determined to talk the host of the conference into giving me a
free ticket. I got in touch with a marketing manager for that conference
and, it took a few weeks of negotiation, but I succeeded and I got my
free admission. My boss was thrilled to save $1,600 out of his training
budget. So I attended the conference, learned a lot that benefits me and
my employe. The man who agreed to invite me there as a guest was also
happy. That free deal was a win-win situation and I am going to try to
do it again next year, and I would be very surprised if I can't arrange
the same deal again for the 2008 conference.

In your situation, if the free donut involved only a one mile drive to a
donut store, it would have certainly been worth the trip, but even then
only if you would go in that direction anyway because a few cents really
isn't worth getting excited about, but if the free deal was worth
$1,600, then you would absolutely be crazy not to make that 20 mile
drive. In my case, other than actually flying down to Orlando, which
cost my employer around $250, that free $1,600 was still worth the
effort. Even the total cost of my per diem, hotel, and rental car,
didn't come up to $1,600 so my employer still got a great deal.