Reply to comment

I would definitely agree with the "don't get suckered into buying this years model for full price when you can buy a perfectly good version of last year's for half the price". I personally follow this "cheap" version of living.

But I am still VERY cautious of these "older" models, because I often ponder the question: WHY is this product over-stocked? Most often, it is because the product is lame-o. The climbing harness I bought was an "overstocked" model, and there were many left over because it was not a good product. I have had this same failure occur with a pair of running shoes and with a backpack. I no longer trust these "sale" items. Whenever I see "overstocked", I take that to mean "not many people wanted these things". The fact that the item is "overstocked" is, in and of itself, a very telling "review" of the item. There are some deals out there, but I still think the failure rate is in the 30-40% range with the products that I have purchased.

Back to the cars/shoes example (or even bicycles). This IS an example of somebody looking to sell something quickly. The key thing is to know WHEN this will occur, and to make you sure you are out buying on these days. There is a short window in which the big deals exist, and it is a fine line because there is the balance between waiting for the great deals but also not wanting to be too late. You have to wait for the price to drop, but you can't wait too long or the good stuff will be gone. I once read a quote from a millionaire who said, "I buy my straw hats in the winter." You can get GREAT deals on a straw hat in the winter, but you have to anticipate AND plan for it. "Anticipate" and "plan" rarely get mentioned when talking about things that are "on sale".

Thanks for the comment!