Paying for free things

[Daniel]

Does anyone out there notice that a lot of people pay money for things that other companies are willing to provide for free?

Now don't get me wrong there are certain things which are worth paying for like Microsoft Office when compared to Open Office which is just not as good as people make it out to be.

One prime example of what I mean is remote access software. There are always adverts for www.gotomypc.com (http://www.gotomypc.com) on tv and they expect you to pay £107.99 for a year of use of their software when www.logmein.com (http://www.logmein.com) provide something just as good for FREE and even if you do upgrade to their pro software it costs you £41.20 for a full year. I bet gotomypc do a roaring trade though.......

Anyone else got any funny examples of where people pay for things they can get for free?

[christophulus]

Funny examples? No, but people do this with all sorts of computer software. I've never had a problem with the built in firewall and free anti-viruses.

[anthonyvop]

I see 1000's of Europeans who hop on a plane to pay for quality healthcare in the USA when they can get "Healthcare for free in their home countries.

Sorry, Couldn't resist.

[Rollo]

I seem to recall people saying "You'll pay for this Captain Planet" but I don't ever recall him actually paying for anything.

The most ridiculous thing that I've ever seen was sales of bottled tap water.

http://tapdny.com/media.php

Tap'd NY make no attempt to even hide the fact that they simply open the tap, put the water in bottles and sell it for $1.50.

[J4MIE]

I have used logmein quite a few years ago but it was only a 30 day trial but never looked at it since, does the free one stay free and keep letting you use it? :eek: Could this be the answer to not being allowed onto youtube whilst at work? :D

[Daniel]

I have used logmein quite a few years ago but it was only a 30 day trial but never looked at it since, does the free one stay free and keep letting you use it? :eek: Could this be the answer to not being allowed onto youtube whilst at work? :D
You need to use Logmein free :) Not sure whether it does sound though....

The IT company that manages the servers here at the school I'm temping in use logmeinfree and it does everything they need it to do :)

[J4MIE]

Yeah I don't need sound or file transfer so doesn't bother me too much.

However, just tried it and my work have blocked logmein.com, bar stewards :(

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Bottled water is one a good example. But it is something i'm guilty of buying in the past.

I've never paid to have photographs developed. We always just do it at home.

[555-04Q2]

Anyone else got any funny examples of where people pay for things they can get for free?

Yes. Idiots who buy cars like the BMW 3 Series and pay an extra whack of cash for the extras they offer on the standard spec. There are other brands that offer the "extras" included with their price with change to spare vs the base price of, for example, BMW 3 Series. Think Ford Mondeo. Better than the Beemer and far cheaper to buy, run etc.

Look past the badge, yuppies!

Also people who fork out premium dollar for cars like the base spec 2009 VW Polo 1.4 when for 20-30% less you can get a 2009 Kia Rio 1.4 with full house. And in our market, a 2009 Kia Cerato 2.0 full house (including motor plan for 4 years) is the same price as a 2009 VW Polo 1.6 with the base spec level (and no service or motor plan at all).

Crazy :crazy:

Again, look past the badge.

[Sonic]

Best example I've seen does involve bottled water.

Everytime I visit Vegas there are guys selling water on street corners for $1. They do a roaring trade as its sooooo hot, but this one guy had set up his stand right next to a public water fountain, and people were still buying it!

[Daniel]

Yes. Idiots who buy cars like the BMW 3 Series and pay an extra whack of cash for the extras they offer on the standard spec. There are other brands that offer the "extras" included with their price with change to spare vs the base price of, for example, BMW 3 Series. Think Ford Mondeo. Better than the Beemer and far cheaper to buy, run etc.

Look past the badge, yuppies!

Also people who fork out premium dollar for cars like the base spec 2009 VW Polo 1.4 when for 20-30% less you can get a 2009 Kia Rio 1.4 with full house. And in our market, a 2009 Kia Cerato 2.0 full house (including motor plan for 4 years) is the same price as a 2009 VW Polo 1.6 with the base spec level (and no service or motor plan at all).

Crazy :crazy:

Again, look past the badge.
Well the thing people don't get is perceived quality. Things like a solid sounding clunk to the door when it shuts and other things are what manufacturers spend millions on to fool you into thinking their cars are better built than others.

That's why if someone's German car breaks down it's unlucky or just what happens but if our Fiat broke down it'd be because it's badly made out of crappy parts :confused:

[airshifter]

Best example I've seen does involve bottled water.

Everytime I visit Vegas there are guys selling water on street corners for $1. They do a roaring trade as its sooooo hot, but this one guy had set up his stand right next to a public water fountain, and people were still buying it!

I wish I had seen the water thing coming, I'd be rich!

I used to contract to Nestle US, and the profits of the waters and Purina dog foods were almost half of the profit in the US military market. When they had big sales people would buy 10-15 24 packs of WATER. Insane.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I drink tap water at home with a Brita water filter. Never buy bottled water except on the road in the truck, where I buy one gallon jugs of spring water for the price of Dasani bottles at 250ml....

[MissZ]

One prime example of what I mean is remote access software. There are always adverts for www.gotomypc.com (http://www.gotomypc.com) on tv and they expect you to pay £107.99 for a year of use of their software when www.logmein.com (http://www.logmein.com) provide something just as good for FREE and even if you do upgrade to their pro software it costs you £41.20 for a full year. I bet gotomypc do a roaring trade though.......




As for me I use PC File Transfer.
GoToMyPC, the same way as Pc file transfer (http://pc-file-transfer.com/), has one great advantage that it uses HTTP and works transparently through firewalls without port forwarding, which makes it usable anywhere. The big disadvantage of gotomypc is its cost. The £41.20 Logmein (not free version) works well for users who also need to transfer files easily and print remotely. And Pc File Transfer costs $29.95 and works perfectly. It's only my opinion.

[Mark]

I drink tap water at home with a Brita water filter. Never buy bottled water except on the road in the truck, where I buy one gallon jugs of spring water for the price of Dasani bottles at 250ml....

Even Britta filter is a rip off. You can get jugs and filters for half the price with generic brands.

[Alfa Fan]

As for me I use PC File Transfer.
GoToMyPC, the same way as Pc file transfer (http://pc-file-transfer.com/), has one great advantage that it uses HTTP and works transparently through firewalls without port forwarding, which makes it usable anywhere. The big disadvantage of gotomypc is its cost. The £41.20 Logmein (not free version) works well for users who also need to transfer files easily and print remotely. And Pc File Transfer costs $29.95 and works perfectly. It's only my opinion.

Does this not strike anyone as a suspicious first post?

[Easy Drifter]

Bottled water is huge in Canada. Sure most is spring water but a lot is tap water, sometimes extra filtered.
When we lived in Severn Twp. our well water was probably the nicest I have ever had.
At our store in Waubaushene we used bottled water as the tap water was often heavily chlorinated and as it came from a relatively shallow area of Georgian Bay and very warm in the summer.
Here in Victoria Harbour it is still Georgian Bay water but not as chlorinated but still warm in the summer.
My answer is old plastic juice containers uncapped in the fridge. Within 12 to 24 hours the Chlorine has dissapated and I have cold unchlorinated water.
Tastes pretty good.
For the track I take a couple or 3 bottles pre frozen (and capped) which keep the cooler cold and provide cold water to drink. Keeps the other liquid refreshments cold too!

[Mark in Oshawa]

Even Britta filter is a rip off. You can get jugs and filters for half the price with generic brands.

I haven't found one that works as well, so maybe in Canada they are more rare and I paid 12 bucks for 2 filters. That is 6 bucks for 3 months. I think that is pretty reasonable.

[Garry Walker]

Best example I've seen does involve bottled water.

Everytime I visit Vegas there are guys selling water on street corners for $1. They do a roaring trade as its sooooo hot, but this one guy had set up his stand right next to a public water fountain, and people were still buying it!

That is crazy. Everytime I go to the gym, there are loads of people buying water to drink in the gym, whereas I just fill the same plastic bottle with tap water for free.

[Mark]

I haven't found one that works as well, so maybe in Canada they are more rare and I paid 12 bucks for 2 filters. That is 6 bucks for 3 months. I think that is pretty reasonable.

Depends on your water I guess. Wor lass won't drink water straight from the tap, says it tastes funny. But personally I think it's fine and drink it all the time! The filter jug is mostly so we can keep some chilled water in the fridge.

[Daniel]

Depends on your water I guess. Wor lass won't drink water straight from the tap, says it tastes funny. But personally I think it's fine and drink it all the time! The filter jug is mostly so we can keep some chilled water in the fridge.
I think if you move you just need to take time to get used to the taste of water in a new area. I certainly remember not liking the water in this house when I moved here 3 and a half years ago but I'm used to it now and quite like it. Went back to Perth at easter time and hated the water :p

[Dave B]

The water round here is so chalky you wouldn't want to drink it straight from the tap. We use a Kenwood jug with some no-name filters and the result is fine.

[Drew]

The most obvious one to me is those ringtone adverts, why pay that much for a song when you could legally download it and then send it to your phone for much cheaper?