Free Stuff!

We all love free stuffs, don't we?

Ben & Jerry gave away a scope FREE ice cream on certain day. I happened to visit shopping mall. It was just around lunch hour. I was amazed to see the long queue of people for waiting to receive the FREE ice cream, many of them are of white collar class....

Another day, I received the invitation to preview sales in IKEA together with FREE breakfast. I needed certain towels, so went with my mother. We arrived IKEA at 8:00am. However, we didn't get FREE breakfast, not because we were too later, but because....there were too many people like me....:))) Many people who came later than us did look disappointed, but, IKEA shop was filled by people, many of them with shopping trolley filled with shopping stuffs. A lively sight in the midst of recession, good for IKEA.

That reminds me of an economic truth "There is no FREE lunch under the sun."

People easily forget, when we pursue some FREE stuffs. It may look FREE, but in fact cost us time, energy, attention and other unnecessary consuming...

Similarly, some "cheaper and better" deals may look attractive, but very often there are some "hidden costs"

One day I asked An aircon company to service my air con. Their service staffs came, and I enquired about service charge. He told me the company list price, then very alluringly, he offered me the "personal service" which is half of the list company price. It looks "good" deal, but I know, the cost of such deal may not be born by me, but by someone else, in this case, the company he works for. In the long run, it will spoil the market, jeopardize the company profits, indirectly affect the social economic as a whole.

Some of my associates run their own business. They abhor such behavior. This type of moonlighting is totally unacceptable and unprofessional.

So when you are offered some Free or Cheaper, make a point to find out where is the hidden cost, and who will bear the cost, most likely, it is yourself!