It is 2pm ... KLCI still not moving down much despite DOW down by 100+ points and also technically showing signs of moving lower. We are really the boleh-land.

http://www.financetwitter.com/2012/10/unbelievable-markup-products-that-you-may-not-know.html

This is a nice one ... about how prices inflated, mark-up hugely ... only to tell us they are giving us a good deal, best buy and ... as we are their loyal customers, they want to give us the cheapest .. in town!! Yeah ... that is how biz is done, how marketing people trying to convince majority ignorant public and ... of coz, we have to accept THAT should be the prices we HAVE to pay.

Check out the crazy in mobile/handphones ... pure craziness, right? If u do not have a smartphone, you are NOT smart enough. Afterall, that is why they named in SMART-phone, see? If you are aware of these marketing propaganda, those sales gimmicks ... you could only sneekily smile and move away. You know that you HAVE been a sucker before, you have been 'conned' many of times by these sales-people(tho not all are bad-people, they are just trying to make a living!) ... trying to promote items and things we may NOT even need, at a high mark-up prices!!

Imagine the movie-tickets ... those popcorns. Without those popcorns, can you called yourself watching movie? These are being drummed and shown again and again in advertisement. Hence, popcorn comes together with a movie. Especially if you are going for a movie in those 'higher' class cinema ... and bringing your girlfriend(as for boyfriend, u are EXPECTED to pay for the girl, not the not the other way around) ... shoot it, if you do not buy those combo-popcorn ... your comedy movie(supposingly) will turn into a horror ones when she makes a fuss ... WHERE IS MY POPCORNS? Drop it, guys ... she is aftering the popcorns and not you. Haha ... and after that, without the coloured-flavoring 'chat-time'(or now we have the whole taiwan, japanese, koreans, Chinese ... etc etc bubble tea!), you are no taste!! Haha ... those marked up prices of bubble-tea ... for RM8?

Use your imagination ... probe further. How these biz-men becoming very rich? They play on HUMAN needs ... psychological and emotional needs. To ask general public to understand 'finances', that is too huge a topic. We were never taught in our 15-20 years of schooling about finances!! We are being brain-washed to BUY and CONSUME. We are suppose to keep up-to-date, to compare with our neighbours, to lose our values(haha) and yes ... to use ALL the money we have(or don't have, if we purchasing those marked-up items using credit cards) ... to impress those people that we don't even like. Amazing?




So, how do we 'de-tox' ourselves from these crazy consuming-mania society? We were brain-washed since young ... through TV ... through our close family members, our so-called friends ... and yes, we ACCEPT it as OUR values. We are bombarded with all those BUY advertisements!! BUY IT NOW.

Ok .. going back to those mark-up prices. Ever wonder WHY we allowed to be a sucker in many cases or situations? Yes, our EMOTIONAL needs ... it is VERY strong. We needs a few basic things ... we need those basics to survive, yet those basics came free or with little value, monetary wise. Example ... the air and water that we took for granted. Once we have those basics, we need shelter ... a place to stay, to keep us warm and a place called home. We look further beyond a cave ... oopss ... I mean, a simple house. We want a larger house, to cater for tonnes of collective items ... wanted or not. We continue to buy-buy-buy ... and then we do not know what to do with those old or unwanted ones. We need bigger house ... we need to show to another friend of ours that we have a house larger or at least comparable to his. It is an EMOTIONAL thing ... rather than ... human basic needs?

Houses ... marked-up too ... and now, u cant find a simple house below RM100k in Klang Valley. The prices inflated, with the so-called fair-prices of housing given, accepted  .... unchallenged.

I could never understand why anyone would buy RM20 for a stalk of rose during V-day, while we could buy the whole pot of rose for less than that? I actually bought a whole pot. Haha.

Buying into trends is very unwise ... trends change. 

Which items in our lives NOT marked-up? Lets talk about fees for courses. Do you think it is cheap to study in colleges? The college fees increases in yearly basis ... and parents have to fork out more each year to be able to send their kids to colleges? DO WE HAVE A CHOICE? Well ... perhaps, education has it prices to pay.

So .. coming back to my mark-up prices in stock prices!! Why are we paying for the prices we are buying at current levels? How could a price goes up double/triple only to see huge sell-down? How about the 'Tulip-mania", perhaps ... human were stupid back then? How about now ... wouldnt you like to 'invest' in gold ... say with Genneva? Are the prices of stocks mark-up too? Will you apply Astro IPO when it valued at high-end? Values is what we are willing to pay for. Once everyone seeing the particular item does not match to the value given, or there is a change in mind ... the prices drop. Mark up or not, it is depending on your 'purchasing power'. haha.

I am talking about normal people with average income from monthly wages. As teachers are categorised in the lower than mid-income group, it is difficult to follow the trends ... like have SubWay for lunch, Chatime for tea-break, Serai for dinner ... watching Battleship with flavoured popcorns for two. ouch.

Well ... I lost my momentum as I am busy watching AMedia ... UMA out, dive it goes ...free fall.

TEH