The very foundation of business is to make as much money as you possibly can while putting in the least amount of time as you can. That is kind of the dream for any business owner, right. It is to get rich and retire happy. As such, getting ripped off is kind of a natural byproduct of business.
But getting ripped off doesn’t have to be as direct as that. Nor does it have to sound so fraudulent because, most of the time, rip-offs aren’t strange or illegal, they are just us allowing ourselves to have the wool pulled over our eyes.
We pay for things like graduation gown and cap hire just so that we can get an overpriced photo of ourselves holding some plastic tubing with a ribbon nailed into it. We pay more for travel-sized products because we can only take a certain amount onto a plane.
We get ripped off by landlords who have forced the previous tenants out by raising the rent knowing that someone else will pay that over-the-odds figure. And we opt for the cheapest product-slash-service we can get our hands on, only for it to be total rubbish, and then we wonder why.
Well, this needs to stop, and it needs to stop now.
Stop going cheap all the time
Never go with the cheapest option, and that is because cheap is very different from good value and that is what you are after. That is why you should be reading the reviews before you buy anything, or getting testimonials from people that have used the service before. Anything that can help you get the best value option without wasting your money or paying over the odds.
Get more than one quote
Yeah, it is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it is one of the most effective ways to stop yourself from getting royally ripped off. It could be that you need to get your car fixed or you want a logo designed or you are thinking of having an extension built; whatever it is, always get a collection of quotes and then compare them.
Use the Internet for what it is worth
For all the bad press the Internet gets, it does provide you with a fantastic opportunity to get a fair deal. Let’s say you are looking to lease a commercial property for your side-hustle done good; it would make total sense for you to use https://www.tenavox.com and quickly review the building, see what previous tenants have to say and what you should be paying.
The same goes for anything. It could be using Which? to get a good idea of a product, using https://www.checkatrade.com/ to make sure you haven’t landed a cowboy builder or using Skyscanner to make sure your flights are the cheapest ones going. Anything really.
Know your worth too
Getting ripped off doesn’t have to mean you are spending more than you should on something. It could also mean you are not getting paid enough for something too. Let’s say you have just gone solo as a freelance copywriter and you are trying to build your portfolio; always know what your worth is and stick to it.
You are providing a service that others can’t do to the same caliber and that is worth a lot. The same goes for when you are selling clutter. It is well worth getting the value of things checked before you put a 50 cents label on an antique and sell it at a yard sale.