Nov 26th, 2008
The Power of Now
One of the people I work with is looking for a new digital SLR to replace hers which apparently has a broken flash.
This is certainly a higher dollar purchase than many, and I’m not sure that the buyer could even afford the first camera, let alone the second. A discussion about having the flash repaired (or going with an external flash) ensued, which resulted in research about the cost to repair the flash, the cost of an external flash, and the apparent desire of the photographer to have a perfect camera.
Searches on Amazon and eBay ensued, price comparison was done, until the potential buyer stated that she didn’t want to wait for a camera to ship; she wanted it, and she wanted it now, and it was worth several hundred dollars in price difference to have it now.
While I certainly understand that sometimes there’s a pressing matter that needs to be attended to where price becomes less of an issue, and there are advantages to buying locally. But an item like this–definitely a luxury, as it does not relate to her livelihood in any way–is a case where this seems to be simply a matter of desire overwhelming everything else.
The power of now–at least in this case–is a couple of hundred dollars.
Is that worth it?
Shoots, that’s the only thing keeping local retailers (with online competitors) alive!
But really, couple hundred dollars? Yow.