The Importance of Timing a Purchase

By Arthur Vidro
ON CONSUMERISM
A seldom discussed aspect of consumerism is timing a purchase.

When a year nears its end, car dealerships often lower the prices on the expiring year’s cars to make room for shipments of next year’s crop.

A salesman paid on a monthly commission might give you a better deal at the end of a month, solely to pocket his commission right away. In 1991, a used-car salesman begged me to make a purchase the day I was there, because waiting a day (as I had suggested) would have delayed his commission by a month.

If you purchase an I-bond from Uncle Sam, timing it right could bring you much more interest for a six-month period.

When you purchase a certificate of deposit, you are locking in an interest rate for a fixed period of time. Right now you can lock in a much higher rate than was possible a year ago, and probably higher than it will be five years from now.

When VCRs first came out, they cost about a thousand dollars apiece. Over the next few years, the price came down. That’s the pattern with televisions, radios, computers, and pretty much all electronic gadgetry – even Tesla cars. People who are first on their block to have an electronic possession tend to pay more – often a lot more – than folks who wait for the price to come down.

In 2010, the missus and I visited Borders in West Lebanon. We stared longingly at Star Trek DVDs locked in glass cabinets. Each of the three seasons cost $80 or $85. “Can we buy them?” my wife asked.

“Maybe we can buy one season at that price, but let’s try waiting instead.”

A year later, Borders was out of business, DVDs were being displaced by other technologies and coming down in price, and we eventually found much better deals for Star Trek DVDs, paying less than $30 a season.

At yard sales, if you truly want an object you know is being offered, try to arrive early, before others can beat you to the item. On the other hand, if you show up near the end of the sale, the owner is often willing to cut deals to avoid having to lug everything back inside. Some folks wait until a yard sale has concluded and then help themselves to unsold items carted to the curb for disposal.

I first became aware of the importance of timing back in July 1986. At a comic book show I visited, one dealer had, among other goodies, an issue of Green Lantern #8, from 1943. He let me examine it. It was the first time I ever handled a Golden Age comic book. Alas, the $120 price tag was more than I had in my wallet. But, like driving a car you can’t afford to buy, it was fun perusing the pages.

I kept one eye on that dealer’s shelf the rest of my stay. The comic book did not sell. No one else even handled it.

As closing time approached, I moseyed back to that table for one last wistful look at the Golden Age comic book.

The dealer pointed out I’d been eyeing it all afternoon, and did I want it?

“I’m afraid it costs more than I have,” I told him.

He didn’t want to take it home. “I’ll let you have it for what I paid – $60,” he said. This, though still a major purchase, I could afford. And thus I purchased a Golden Age comic book for the first time.

I still have that comic book. As I navigate my way through old age, I sell off more and more of my possessions. At an auction house today that comic book ought to fetch at least $600. Though I didn’t buy it as an investment, it has more than kept up with inflation.

By sheer luck, by waiting until closing time at the show, I perfectly timed the purchase. Yet if I wanted to buy it today, I wouldn’t be able to afford it.

Sometimes it pays to buy sooner. More often it pays to buy later.