Price gouging is rampant

 

I know this has been discussed in other threads.

Some people are just plain crooked and greedy!

The other day I went looking online for "Cold-Eze", since I'm hunkered down at home - I'm in the "High Risk" category and I am not going out to check every store in town.

Well, of course, couldn't be found anywhere locally online, but Google Assistant popped up and said they had it. Guess what, an outside vendor had it for $49+ for a box of 18 lozenges. Can you believe that? Normally it sells for $4.97 at Walmart (12 lozenges) (when they have it LOL).

So today I was going to complain to Amazon about it, but it's been removed. Now, the lowest price at Amazon is $17.94 for 18 lozenges or you can get a box of 6 18 ct. boxes for $44.00. What a rip!

If you are running low on TP and are a member of Sam's Club, log in and keep checking for TP a lot. Eventually it will become available (usually between 11 AM and Noon) and order it. Don't just put it in the cart and dawdle around looking at other items. Place the order right then (free shipping for Plus members) and pay for it, else when you are ready to check out you might see the order cancelled from your cart because they sold out - that happened to my wife just once (lesson learned).

Stay safe everyone.

--
Metricman DriveSmart 76 Williamsburg, VA
Page 1>>

Which is better?

Which is better, supplies at a higher price or no supplies at all?

It has been hard for stores to get supplies, and many supply chains are strained right now, leading to increased prices for transport, materials, etc.

Transportation costs?

telecomdigest2 wrote:

Which is better, supplies at a higher price or no supplies at all?

It has been hard for stores to get supplies, and many supply chains are strained right now, leading to increased prices for transport, materials, etc.

I made a typo and have corrected it - it was $49+ - not $19+, Increased transportation costs do not justify a 10x markup. This is why it was removed.

The vendors listing the price under $20 are just as bad, but not as greedy. I'm sure that they bought it at a retail store. Read the reviews on Amazon where they respond to bad reviews about the price by saying how they had to drive out to get it from other sources. Just taking advantage of the situation is what they are doing.

If transportation costs have gone up, why are retail prices at the big box stores the same as they were 3 months ago? Fuel prices have been cut by over 1/2 most places. And most manufacturers were already running 24/7 as it's too costly to shut down and restart every day.

--
Metricman DriveSmart 76 Williamsburg, VA

How about the guys in TN

They bought up a bunch of hand sanitizer with the intention of reselling it at a big mark-up. They got caught and wound up not being unable to unload it and eventually gave it to several organizations in Kentucky and Tennessee. (At a big monetary loss to them, I might add.)

--
With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

.

telecomdigest2 wrote:

It has been hard for stores to get supplies, and many supply chains are strained right now, leading to increased prices for transport, materials, etc.

That's not it. Some individuals (not stores) are getting into get rich quick scheme hoarding stuff and selling them 10 to 50 times higher than the normal price. Amazon is doing a very good job cracking down on those individuals, blocking their account.

I can understand if retail stores jack up their price a bit due to shortage.

How about the guy in Ohio

maddog67 wrote:

They bought up a bunch of hand sanitizer with the intention of reselling it at a big mark-up. They got caught and wound up not being unable to unload it and eventually gave it to several organizations in Kentucky and Tennessee. (At a big monetary loss to them, I might add.)

"Ohio Sues Chagrin Falls Man for Hoarding, Price Gouging on Thousands of N95 Masks"

The state of Ohio threw the book at this guy:

https://www.wkyc.com/article/money/chagrin-falls-man-who-hoa...

This is the salient part of the article:

Ohio Attorney Genera Dave Yost announced Wednesday that Mario F. Salwan will pay back his customers more than $15,000 he charged them in total for the masks, along with $1,500 to the state for legal costs. The arrangement is part of a settlement reached after Yost's office sued Salwan last week.

This guy also had to forfeit another 650 N95 masks to the state.

Phil

--
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."

Well not selling

chewbacca wrote:

That's not it. Some individuals (not stores) are getting into get rich quick scheme hoarding stuff and selling them 10 to 50 times higher than the normal price.

They are trying to sell at higher prices !!! If you buy at those prices you're a sucker !

Where I live the government has prohibited price gouging !!!
Grocery chain stores even still have special sales sometimes at 50% less than regular price.

--
Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

I have not seen any gouging yet.

I have not seen any price gouging so far for anything I needed. Went to the grocery store this week. Almost everything was in stock. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Lots of toilet paper and some of it was on sale. Lot of flower but only one brand from a local water powered flour mill. No yeast. They had yeast last week. It was comercial packed. Writhing on it, in sharpy, what it was. Eggs in 1 dozen cartons as usual but also in 2 1/2 flats. Normally what you would see in a restaurant. The frozen vegetable freezers are full again. So mostly getting back to normal.

They should have gone to prison too ...

maddog67 wrote:

They bought up a bunch of hand sanitizer with the intention of reselling it at a big mark-up. They got caught and wound up not being unable to unload it and eventually gave it to several organizations in Kentucky and Tennessee. (At a big monetary loss to them, I might add.)

Side note: I was in my local Costco on Wednesday. They had a TON of bathroom tissue.

--
Garmin DriveSmart 5 My other toys: IMac quad-core i3, Mac Mini M1. MacOS: Ventura 13.3.1 The dog's name is Ginger.

No S**T Sherlock

Melaqueman wrote:
chewbacca wrote:

That's not it. Some individuals (not stores) are getting into get rich quick scheme hoarding stuff and selling them 10 to 50 times higher than the normal price.

They are trying to sell at higher prices !!! If you buy at those prices you're a sucker !

Where I live the government has prohibited price gouging !!!
Grocery chain stores even still have special sales sometimes at 50% less than regular price.

Price gouging during pandemic is illegal. I have seen the price of a dozen eggs going from around $2 (regular price) to $7 or $8. That's fine with me. I'll get them elsewhere and if all stores charge the same price, I'll skip having eggs.

.

During my travels at work last week I saw a few guys selling sanitiser out of their trunk in Philadelphia, PA. No idea how high their prices were, but I doubt it was a great deal.

https://i.postimg.cc/9F1FNwWJ/20200428-143233-0.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/8kj2VFBZ/20200428-143408.jpg

--
. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

can't be sure

but probably none of us experienced WWII. They are saying this "is" our generational WWII. For example, my wife got a peapod grocery pickup and ordered $160 worth of food. She came back with $39. I personally can't remember a time when we couldn't get this or that.

The first time we tried pickup was Whole Foods--good luck. Prices are so high there isn't much a non wealthy person could buy, but we did get Easter hams--it was gonna be Spam otherwise, no lie.

Anyway, the first time I remember any gouging, was around January 1998. I was living in upstate NY and an ice storm hit Montreal. So Quebec'ers drove over the border to get needed generators, only to see they had doubled or more, since the storm. I love NY alright.

Since then my recollection of gouging has been with hardware type goods during storms. Sandy was particularly awful--hmmmm....5 gal gas cans for $65? You couldn't even find them at any big box store etc. Generators and anything else needed.

Times like these. Well, my buddy in Jacksonville told me you may as well think there is no virus. People really close at Walmart, and nobody has a mask (this is a pet peeve of mine if masks help why were we told not to wear them, pride?).

Here's where I think Costco Wholesale shines big time. Observing physical distancing, limiting people, and having the flow go one way. Trader Joe's is good too. Hate to say it, does paying a membership fee buy safety in these times?

Toilet paper we managed to get an amazon commmercial box of 80, 100% virgin 2 ply. Cost $43. I read the reviews it's on par with Costco. i figure it's about 2 2/3 packs of the Costco.

I thought of this because of the mention of preloading a cart. With amazon you want to save for later--however, the toilet paper is hard because if unavailable, you'd have to put it on your list.

We went to costco 45 min before closing last Sunday and there was no meat. We would like to think it's because it was near closing. imho life is changing, and might be for a couple of years.

disclosure: I do own Costco and amazon stock. They benefited from the pandemic but amazon got crushed today due to their spending all of the 4 bil quarterly profits on covid 19--I think it's the right thing to do.

IIRC

johnnatash4 wrote:

~snip~

(this is a pet peeve of mine if masks help why were we told not to wear them, pride?).

~snip~

IIRC they told us not to wear them (at first) because there was a shortage the medical (and other) professionals needed. If they told us not to wear them then maybe the supplies would be there for those that needed them. Plus they were supposedly still learning about covid-19 and didn't know what was or wasn't needed yet.

--
. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

Masks

Mask do absolutely nothing for YOU !!!
If someone has the virus or is otherwise sick then wearing a mask will prevent it being spread. Having said that, if ANYONE has the virus they should NOT venture out at all !!!!!

--
Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

.

soberbyker wrote:
johnnatash4 wrote:

~snip~

(this is a pet peeve of mine if masks help why were we told not to wear them, pride?).

~snip~

IIRC they told us not to wear them (at first) because there was a shortage the medical (and other) professionals needed. If they told us not to wear them then maybe the supplies would be there for those that needed them. Plus they were supposedly still learning about covid-19 and didn't know what was or wasn't needed yet.

That is correct but I disagree with your last statement. I'm positive the experts knew we needed face protection since the beginning. They pay close attention to China. In China, most wear face mask. I've seen videos of people being dragged and beat up (by cops) when they refuse to wear one in public.

Their advice was based on availability, not science. I remember the CDC recommendation for young and healthy people who contracted the coronavirus to not seek help right away but quarantine themself at home. Seek help if it becomes worse. Sort of like telling us to just "walk it off", you'll be fine. It sounds really insane.

.

Melaqueman wrote:

Mask do absolutely nothing for YOU !!!
If someone has the virus or is otherwise sick then wearing a mask will prevent it being spread. Having said that, if ANYONE has the virus they should NOT venture out at all !!!!!

Newsflash
You can still infect others when you're asymptomatic. That's the bummer part of this virus. Some don't realize they're spreading the virus. Some are COVID positive and not sick at all. Crazy virus.

If they know they're sick and still go out, they should be put in jail instead of hospital. That is terrorism.

masks

Thinking a mask will prevent Covid-19 is like thinking your undershorts will stop a fart.

--
Garmin Nuvi 765T, Garmin Drive 60LM

N95 masks work

Jery wrote:

Thinking a mask will prevent Covid-19 is like thinking your undershorts will stop a fart.

Real N95 masks do work at prevention - not fakes. They do restrict the air flow though and they don't stop the virus from entering through the eyes. Visit the CDC website for more info.

--
Metricman DriveSmart 76 Williamsburg, VA

I

think the mask thing is funny. Many have said it's a cultural thing. I saw joggers today jogging face to face, I get it. People are saying I'm not stopping my life for this. But I was wondering, just cuz you're buddies, how do you know you can't get COVID 19 from a good friend? The logic I thought was as a family, it's not realistic that say 4-6 people in a household avoid contact with another. Or not realistic that 4-6 people can social distance in a household.

Anyway, back to the gouging. Forgot to mention we finally got our Wahl hair clippers, so me and my 6 y.o. will attempt to cut our own hair today. We got a USA made version for $33. Ordered on 4/4, got it on 5/1. We ordered a $25 version as well just in case, backordered. Now we can cancel and let someone else have it, hopefully not a reseller.

That $25 version is $21.99 on the Wahl website, but out of stock.

On eBay? Trends at $80, with sellers charging $65-$160. $65 is almost 3X the face value.

Price Gouging is Unethical

Is is unfortunate that some people try to monetarily benefit off the misfortune of others. We have seen this happen many times in the aftermath of some major storms. Now we are facing price gouging due to CV19 by many unethical people who, in reality, are not good people. Buyers beware and complain to the appropriate entities or State Attorney Generals about the unscrupulous actions of these dishonest people.

another

example, wife wants to bake, shucks, needs a teaspoon of baking soda.

Check amazon, third party sellers. $6.99/box, 8 oz., when you buy 2 hahahahahahahahahahahahaha (with shipping about $8 x 2 = $16)

Not positive but I think at Walmart two 4 lb. boxes cost less than that and 8 oz. might be less than a dollar!

Wife just checked because she has a Walmart pickup scheduled, 16 oz. Arm and Hammer is 97 cents. I thought Amazon was shutting down the resellers who did that?

instacart beware

Just received my order from insta-cart. I told them not to substitute for any of my items. They delivered an item I did not order and I asked for a refund. The said they would give me a credit for the item on my next instacart order. They refused to credit my card for the full amount which included the wrong item, tax and delivery.
I just filed a dispute with my credit card company.

Somebody has to complain

johnnatash4 wrote:

example, wife wants to bake, shucks, needs a teaspoon of baking soda.

Check amazon, third party sellers. $6.99/box, 8 oz., when you buy 2 hahahahahahahahahahahahaha (with shipping about $8 x 2 = $16)

Not positive but I think at Walmart two 4 lb. boxes cost less than that and 8 oz. might be less than a dollar!

Wife just checked because she has a Walmart pickup scheduled, 16 oz. Arm and Hammer is 97 cents. I thought Amazon was shutting down the resellers who did that?

Somebody has to complain. They don't have the means to compare every vender's price - unfortunately sad At least, not yet.

--
Metricman DriveSmart 76 Williamsburg, VA

the

metricman wrote:
johnnatash4 wrote:

example, wife wants to bake, shucks, needs a teaspoon of baking soda.

Check amazon, third party sellers. $6.99/box, 8 oz., when you buy 2 hahahahahahahahahahahahaha (with shipping about $8 x 2 = $16)

Not positive but I think at Walmart two 4 lb. boxes cost less than that and 8 oz. might be less than a dollar!

Wife just checked because she has a Walmart pickup scheduled, 16 oz. Arm and Hammer is 97 cents. I thought Amazon was shutting down the resellers who did that?

Somebody has to complain. They don't have the means to compare every vender's price - unfortunately sad At least, not yet.

Wahl hair clippers we just got for $33 (again ordered 4/4 arrived 5/1), on the amazon website a 3rd party is selling it for $154.99. The good news is free shipping! Seller has a77% positive rating an 1,173 ratings, so not brand new. I woulda thought there is an algorithm.

Not sure if everyone is aware, an amazon seller can cancel a transaction after you purchased an item. Once, I saw some pliers that seemed to be about 35% of the expected price, so I ordered qty. 4. Then, I found my order was simply canceled, and the price went up to about 20% more than I would have thought. Hey, I gave the seller a negative review, as did lots of others. Laughable, for every negative review, would pop up 1-2 positive 5 star reviews. What gave it away was some of the positive reviews said people were crooks and trying to buy items at incorrect prices....what a joke.

Price gouging

billybovine wrote:

I have not seen any price gouging so far for anything I needed. Went to the grocery store this week. Almost everything was in stock. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Lots of toilet paper and some of it was on sale. Lot of flower but only one brand from a local water powered flour mill. No yeast. They had yeast last week. It was comercial packed. Writhing on it, in sharpy, what it was. Eggs in 1 dozen cartons as usual but also in 2 1/2 flats. Normally what you would see in a restaurant. The frozen vegetable freezers are full again. So mostly getting back to normal.

Same here, the local stores and chains now seem to have about everything except sanitizer and disinfecting wipes. I understand that it might be June before they are back in stock. For the most part, the smaller local stores seem to have had things like eggs, meat and produce when the chains were wiped out. I do see temporary outages. An item on my grocery list may be out of stock the day I go, but it is there on the next trip.

When it comes to price gouging, I find a way to go without. I prefer to shop locally and if a local business does that, I let them know I'm going elsewhere for good, but if they are out of something because their supplier chooses to overcharge them, then I will support that and will continue to shop with them for what is available and priced normally.

--
"There's no substitute for local knowledge" nüvi 750, nüvi 3597

Interesting, Hong Kong flu

Interesting, Hong Kong flu of 68 killed 100k in the US thru the course of the flu season with no flu shots. SARs 1 had a 10% mortality rate, MERs had a 34% mortality rate, SARs 2 (Covid-19) nobody knows exactly but it is about 1-2%. It is mostly only fatal if you have underlying conditions, just like the seasonal flu was before flu shots. Over population is going to continue to occur and Mother Nature is going to say, not so fast. Who has more power - people or Mother Nature? Pandemics will continue to occur every few generations with increasing mortality I'm afraid. This virus is a warning shot and people are freaking, common sense should prevail.

metricman wrote: If you are

metricman wrote:

If you are running low on TP and are a member of Sam's Club, log in and keep checking for TP a lot. Eventually it will become available (usually between 11 AM and Noon) and order it. Don't just put it in the cart and dawdle around looking at other items. Place the order right then (free shipping for Plus members) and pay for it,......

Stay safe everyone.

GREAT ADVICE, THANKS !!!!!

--
rvOutrider

Online is fine, but many

Online is fine, but many have restricted shipping to locations.

Price Gouging

There are some laws that have been passed prohibiting price gouging.

The problem is it has been very lax in enforcement, maybe because of lack of man power resources.

First hand experience today.

First hand experience today. In addition to my daily medications I take a few supplements. I take so many things it almost counts as breakfast smile.

Anyway one of them is 500 mg tablets of Slo Niacin. Normally I get bottles of 175 tablets for about $17.00. I tried to find some this morning as I am on my last bottle, I buy 4 at a time. None of my 'go to' sites had any stock. Other places that are normally a little higher were extremely higher today, One place wanted $75 a bottle.

I asked my Dr. if he heard if the Slo Niacin was discontinued. No, he said, a lot of our medicines come from China and there are shortages of all kinds, and it will probably get worse before it gets better.

My PSA for today, if you take any supplements on a regular basis and you can get some with a good 'use by' date then buy them when you see them, you might not see them when you need them.

--
. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

Pretty much everything comes from China.

soberbyker wrote:

First hand experience today. In addition to my daily medications I take a few supplements. I take so many things it almost counts as breakfast smile.

Anyway one of them is 500 mg tablets of Slo Niacin. Normally I get bottles of 175 tablets for about $17.00. I tried to find some this morning as I am on my last bottle, I buy 4 at a time. None of my 'go to' sites had any stock. Other places that are normally a little higher were extremely higher today, One place wanted $75 a bottle.

I asked my Dr. if he heard if the Slo Niacin was discontinued. No, he said, a lot of our medicines come from China and there are shortages of all kinds, and it will probably get worse before it gets better.

My PSA for today, if you take any supplements on a regular basis and you can get some with a good 'use by' date then buy them when you see them, you might not see them when you need them.

Will we learn from this that we are to dependant on other Countries?

--
Nuvi 2460LMT.

Date

soberbyker wrote:

My PSA for today, if you take any supplements on a regular basis and you can get some with a good 'use by' date then buy them when you see them, you might not see them when you need them.

I had a girlfriend and her favorite saying was
" It says good until then, it doesn't say rotten right after"
She's absolutely right!

Another example, I had a sailboat and when I had to replace lines that haul the sail up the mast, you buy it by size and also how much load it can handle. The manufacturer gives it a load rating, but in real life it can handle much more. But the manufacturer gives advice to a certain load or time stamp for drugs and if you go over it it still works.

I use some tranquilizers every now and then and they are WELL out of date and still work!

--
Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

Price gouging

There is a lot more price gouging going on than the government can keep track of. In one store I went to the price of eggs doubled in one day at the very beginning of the pandemic. I asked the store manager why the price went up so high and he said that that they had to pay higher costs for the eggs. Meanwhile the refrigerator section had been fully stocked from the day before. There was no shortage and they were not making a new purchase which justified the price increase.

Yes I'm aware

Melaqueman wrote:

I had a girlfriend and her favorite saying was
" It says good until then, it doesn't say rotten right after"
She's absolutely right!

Another example, I had a sailboat and when I had to replace lines that haul the sail up the mast, you buy it by size and also how much load it can handle. The manufacturer gives it a load rating, but in real life it can handle much more. But the manufacturer gives advice to a certain load or time stamp for drugs and if you go over it it still works.

I use some tranquilizers every now and then and they are WELL out of date and still work!

Yea, for drugs it's the "best" by date, normally good for nearly a year after but as time goes on it does start to lose some of it potency.

--
. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

U.S. Military Knows This

pwohlrab wrote:
soberbyker wrote:

Snip---
Snip---
I asked my Dr. if he heard if the Slo Niacin was discontinued. No, he said, a lot of our medicines come from China and there are shortages of all kinds, and it will probably get worse before it gets better.

My PSA for today, if you take any supplements on a regular basis and you can get some with a good 'use by' date then buy them when you see them, you might not see them when you need them.

Will we learn from this that we are to dependant on other Countries?

This is why the U.S. Military insists that all parts for military planes, ships, etc. be procured from U.S. manufacturers. The LCD displays/screens you see in our jets, tanks, ships, etc. come from a U.S. manufacturer. It is located in the Northwest U.S someplace and a few years ago they were the only U.S. manufacturer making them. In case of war, you don't want to your enemy to also be the supplier of your parts!

The almighty dollar drives companies to get it made for the cheapest price. And look where it has put us - at the mercy of other countries.

--
Metricman DriveSmart 76 Williamsburg, VA

Car Insurance rebate

Got an email from my insurance broker telling me that due to the lockdown and the fact that I am not using my vehicle as much, they will give me a 15% refund of my insurance premium.
Might be worth checking with your broker to see if you can get the same deal.

--
Nuvi2797LMT (2) Nuvi260,Ford Sync3 Navigation. Captain Cook was a Yorkshire man too.

Same here

bpaine wrote:

Got an email from my insurance broker telling me that due to the lockdown and the fact that I am not using my vehicle as much, they will give me a 15% refund of my insurance premium.
Might be worth checking with your broker to see if you can get the same deal.

I think that a lot of car insurance companies are doing that. My kids have different insurance companies and they're both getting refunds. In my case it's 5% of the annual premium. Then check this out from the insurance company:

"You can calculate your dividend using this simple equation: Annual premium as of April 1, 2020, multiplied by .30 / divided by 6."

For me it's about $50. The insurance company will be mailing out refund checks to everyone by mid-May, which means any day now.

Phil

--
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."

the % don't add up

State Farm said they are giving 25%. That's larger than anyone.

However, they said it will translate to $20/mo. per car, for 2 months. How is that 25%? That would imply they have very low rates, on average. I guess they do. I've had them all, and they are cheaper than the hands people and the lizard.

My 2007 car, it listed for $47k. Brand new, it cost $840/yr. to insure, 12 months. By 1 year ago? The hands people were charging me like $1000/yr to insure, and the wholesale value was like 10k! No accidents!

Jake pants got it back down to about $700 per year--but this is a going on 14 y.o. car. Still doesn't make sense I should drop comp/collision, but I don't.

My dad was never one to get collision, but he got comp. There was one car that was wrecked in his lifetime of paying insurance, and he started driving when he was 18. That car, was wrecked by me when I was 18. So, in reality, if it weren't for me, he woulda beat the insurance people 100%. think about all the money spent over decades for absolutely nothing. And when you do need them, they nickel and dime until nothing is paid out.

I got 15% off from Geico too.

I got 15% off from Geico too.

15%

15% from Liberty Mutual, not sure how they figured it but I received $91 back.

--
. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

Allstate Did Send Me A Refund, But

it was a very low percentage.

- Tom -

--
XXL540, GO LIVE 1535, GO 620

I got $33 from Liberty, plus

I got $33 from Liberty, plus nearly a months refund. I went with another company. Over 25 years and they haven't done anything but raise rates. I got a better policy and saved over $500 a year.

--
Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

I wish more people got the

I wish more people got the book thrown at them for this!

--
an94

I

wonder how I would see the State Farm credit?

I pay monthly--interesting that State Farm simply takes the semi annual amount, plus the homeowners divided by 2, and divides by 6. There is absolutely no upcharge or fee to pay monthly by credit card, earning 2% cash rewards.

With the hands people? I paid the homeowners 1 year in advance, and the auto 6 months in advance, from checking, to take advantage of the discount. It would cost more to do monthly.

State Farm saved me around $950/yr, $800 of which was auto. It's sickening to think about how much money I threw in the garbage. One should not be able to switch and save $950/yr. I had to look up my email to the hands people to get the number. They played the, "Well it likely is not for the same coverage" game.

Insurance folks know how this game works, but I've never seen them post online to explain (likely it would cost them money). A buddy at work says, NEVER EVER not shop after 39 mos. You don't stay with the same co. for 8 years like you did, that's how they get you.

The only thing I would say, is, when I switched and saved, it was the result of an unsolicited email offer. Both times. To the hands people, and to Jake pants. The email already had vehicle info that they pulled somewhere. Every time I would go online by myself, to try to get a better price, it would work out same or more. I can only report what I see, I'm sure no expert. I hate the idea I threw away $950/yr. State Farm even went down the 2nd 6 mo period, not up. But the 2007 car reaching $1000/yr should have been a clue, that's more than when brand new and never ever even had a claim.

If you want better rates,

If you want better rates, stay away from those who advertise on TV. Look to your local brokers who handle companies like Erie, Cincinati, and others like this. They are MAJOR companies, in most cases rated higher than the TV bunch, that don't have multi-million advertising budgets.

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Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

I agree

phranc wrote:

If you want better rates, stay away from those who advertise on TV. Look to your local brokers who handle companies like Erie, Cincinati, and others like this. They are MAJOR companies, in most cases rated higher than the TV bunch, that don't have multi-million advertising budgets.

phranc, I agree with you. In johnnatash4's prior post, someone he works with recommended to shop around at least every 39 months. Well, I've been with Erie Insurance for over 39 YEARS and am well satisfied with their prices. Over the years I've shopped around for better deals and so far haven't found any (although I confess it's been a few years since I last looked). We also have our home and car insurances bundled together.
As far as Erie Insurance in particular is concerned, one of the reasons they can keep their rates competitive is that they don't insure in higher risk counties. For example, I live in Lake County, Ohio, and they'll write there. The next county over is Cuyahoga County which is where Cleveland is and they don't write there.

Phil

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"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."

They have to make money

johnnatash4 wrote:

My dad was never one to get collision, but he got comp. There was one car that was wrecked in his lifetime of paying insurance, and he started driving when he was 18. That car, was wrecked by me when I was 18. So, in reality, if it weren't for me, he woulda beat the insurance people 100%. think about all the money spent over decades for absolutely nothing. And when you do need them, they nickel and dime until nothing is paid out.

The insurance companies are in the business of knowing the odds, more than anything else. In order to make money, they have to price your policy high enough so that on average they collect enough more from you than they pay out for your claims to cover all their expenses plus some profit.

So buying insurance you are not required to have is quite literally betting against the house. That is when you consider the long-term averages. It still may make sense if your circumstances or psychology would make a short-term severe hit a big problem.

Robert Heinlein wrote a spendid book titled The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. He imagined a penal colony on the Moon (sort of like Australia in a new century). Social organization was a bit different from Earthside. In one particular, if you wanted to buy insurance, you went to your bookie. Ever since I read the book I've kept that analogy in mind.

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personal GPS user since 1992

Safeco in Florida rebate

My rebate from Safeco in Florida, came out to $38.00.
Didn't expect them to give it in the first place.

--
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things!

when

archae86 wrote:
johnnatash4 wrote:

My dad was never one to get collision, but he got comp. There was one car that was wrecked in his lifetime of paying insurance, and he started driving when he was 18. That car, was wrecked by me when I was 18. So, in reality, if it weren't for me, he woulda beat the insurance people 100%. think about all the money spent over decades for absolutely nothing. And when you do need them, they nickel and dime until nothing is paid out.

The insurance companies are in the business of knowing the odds, more than anything else. In order to make money, they have to price your policy high enough so that on average they collect enough more from you than they pay out for your claims to cover all their expenses plus some profit.

So buying insurance you are not required to have is quite literally betting against the house. That is when you consider the long-term averages. It still may make sense if your circumstances or psychology would make a short-term severe hit a big problem.

Robert Heinlein wrote a spendid book titled The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. He imagined a penal colony on the Moon (sort of like Australia in a new century). Social organization was a bit different from Earthside. In one particular, if you wanted to buy insurance, you went to your bookie. Ever since I read the book I've kept that analogy in mind.

My wife when we first met was doing her FINRA exams. One concept that really made me laugh was in the area of life insurance. We're taught really young nowadays, no way, no how, would anyone ever, ever, ever, buy a whole life insurance policy. Term? Yes, that's to replace lost income in case.

Insurance cos. charge the policy holder, a "mortality risk expense" in case the actuaries are wrong. If you have a life insurance policy, they want you to live long and prosper. If you have an annuity, they would rather you didn't live that long. Either way, a mortality risk expense is added in case the insured does not live to correct age. In life insurance, you die too soon. With an annuity, you live too long. They'll bet both ways on one's existence, as long as it's profitable. With annuities, not so much anymore.

another example

The going rate on amazon for a 20 oz Comet cleanser is $8.49.

At Walmart, it's 82 cents. But you can't pick it up, you have to go inside.

Go In side

johnnatash4 wrote:

The going rate on amazon for a 20 oz Comet cleanser is $8.49.

At Walmart, it's 82 cents. But you can't pick it up, you have to go inside.

For that price difference I would put on a mask and go inside. To bad thing can't be better controlled, but gas stations and other stores have been doing it for years

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johnm405 660 & MSS&T
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