How to Spot a Bargain?
A bargain is an item or service that is sold or given at a better price than what is normally charged for it, provided you have the means to buy it or pay for it. The price should be considerable lower than normal.
Another way of looking at a bargain is something sold at a perceived reduced price. Where an item is a Known Value Item where everybody knows the price more or less like a bottle of Coke or a 2L milk jar, it is not a perceived reduced price.
A perceived reduced price is where an industry sells a certain product at a price from a minimum upwards and nobody really knows what it should cost and it is sold for a price way under the minimum, like in the case of installing network points for a computer network. Nobody really knows what it should cost.
It can also be that for one person the price of a house is ridiculously high and the next perceive it to be a bargain.
A lot of people think that they are buying this bargain item on an online auction because the price is lower than what they would pay in a store, but when the shipping cost is added they pay more or less the same price.
You can also think that you are buying a bargain if the item you are buying is not really what you think it is. Like these Minolta cameras with the little sun and cloud on them. Everybody knows that Minolta cameras are good quality and relatively expensive so the perception is that you are buying something of great value, but in actual fact you are buying an instamatic.
Be very careful when buying items off the street. The vendors give the impression that they are selling a high value item, but if you go to your regular flea market or Asian traders you will find the same item at a fraction of the price. The vendors give the impression that the item was stolen and trick you into believing it is of more value and you can get it at this wonderful price.
Other items sold with the impression of being of value at a reduced price are fake brand names or fake trademarks like sun glasses, sports ware and clothing.