I’ve been buying a lot of stuff lately. Most of them are electronic devices or their accessories. I usually do not feel bad about buying them, because I only buy them on sale. For a power supply that I got for $55, I got another one the following week because it was on sale, for $5 after rebate.

Prices keep dropping for electronic devices. Compact flash cards used to be so hot and expensive, now there is nobody selling used ones on eBay–even brand new ones are only a few bucks a piece. Really, who would buy anything with original prices now?

I did a little inventory for just the last three months of my purchasing. Quite astonishing indeed.

• Power supply. Original price $55, on sale for $5
• Wireless PCI network card, $40 rebate
• CF card, $40 rebate
• Laptop RAM, $40 rebate
• Laptop, $200 rebate
• LCD monitor, 15% discount and coupone, plus 3% cashback
• New cell phone plan, $300 rebate
• Contact lens, $40 rebate
• …

Is it just me or the way the companies do business has changed? When have we started buying everything at full or above full price, and only buy them at such high price because after rebate price is a “good deal”? We end up having all these things that we get for cheap (if we get the rebates) and nobody is willing to buy used ones. Just not long ago my friends are still talking about how there are all kinds of stuff being sold on eBay for ridiculously high prices, and now nobody is selling or buying used CF cards? Even 512mb ones!!

Something is wrong with people’s mentality in purchasing… I am fed up with filling up rebate paper and keeping track of 15 rebates at the same time. I think I still have $400 worth of rebates that I am waiting for. That means, I had spent more than twice as much as $400 on some junk that I would not be able to sell later!

I gotta stop buying things with rebates. It is killing me and my wallet.

But sometimes, I think I really do not have a choice. For example, the same brand of contact lens that I have been using for the past few years now introduces the rebate marketing scheme, too. I have to use contact lens, so I have to buy them at above full price, and get the rebates later.

It gotta stop.