Frugal Shopping – Examine the Goods!
Writing about my fountain pen made me think of an aspect of frugality that’s subtle but significant: the necessity nowadays of examining merchandise before purchasing. All too often, people buy goods, open them, then return them, after which they’re resealed and resold. Often this is not a problem, but sometimes it is. The frugal shopper should be wary of opened items, and, in general, avoid them if possible.
How did the fountain pen call this to mind? I usually use ink cartridges for it. They’re commonly available at larger office supply stores. However, I’ve learned to be very careful about examining the packages before purchase.
Something is usually wrong with the packages I find in these stores. The cartridges come 8 to a small box, sold in a simple, cardboard-backed blister pack. Often, even though the blister pack appears whole, examination reveals ink stains on the box. This shows me that one or more of the cartridges has been punctured.
A fountain pen is designed to puncture one end of a cartridge when it’s installed, to allow the ink to flow to the nib. I have a theory that people buy these cartridges, try them out on their pen, and discover that the particular style does not fit their writing instrument. They return the punctured cartridge to the box, and return them to the store. I don’t know if they carefully seal the blister pack at home to make it appear unused, or if the store is cleaning them up for resale. Either way, it matters, because the next person to come along gets a pre-punctured cartridge! This not only means less value (how long ago did it get opened? How much ink is left?) it also means that if the punctured cartridge isn’t immediately used, there’s loose ink in one’s drawer or pocket!
Recently, I shopped for cartridges. I found 3 packets available. A quick examination showed me that only one of them had not been used previously. Often, I’ll go through a rack of packets, and find none that are unused.
Mine is a minor example. I’ve found other merchandise that’s been fully installed for its intended use, broken, burned out, or otherwise destroyed, and returned to the store shelf to be sold again. It’s a sad commentary on our society that this sort of thing happens, and that those of us who want maximum quality for our dollar must be so vigilant. As the ancient saying warns, Caveat emptor—buyer beware!
