NationStates Jolt Archive


Should customers exercise more of their power?

Wong Cock
18-05-2005, 12:27
All what the companies and governments want is your money.

It's up to you to whom you give your money.

Do you inform yourself about the practise of certain companies and states or do you just act according to: "Cheap is best"?
Kryozerkia
18-05-2005, 12:30
What is the best quality I can get for cheap? Unless of course I'm buying for my computer, in which case, as long as it's fast, I'm happy!
Cannot think of a name
18-05-2005, 12:32
"Vote with your dollar/checkbook."

Though our ability to do even that is being reduced more and more as our government takes more intrest in protecting them than us.
Helioterra
18-05-2005, 12:44
I do pay attention to whom I give my money.
It means that I have to pay a little extra but I think it's more important to support companies which customs can face daylight. And I rather give money to small local (as local as possible) companies than to gigantic multinational monsters like CocaCola, Nike or Monsanto.
Funky Beat
18-05-2005, 12:58
I figure
"Hey, they're going to get my money somehow, whether it be by legal or illegal means."
so I just decide to get something in return for my dollars.
Wong Cock
18-05-2005, 13:09
Well, if they want my money, they should do something about it, like please me and make me happy.
Phylum Chordata
18-05-2005, 13:39
All what the companies and governments want is your money.
My government is throwing the damn stuff back at me. "Take it!" I cry. "Give me more services! Improve education! Build infrastructure!" but do they listen to me? No. Stupid government.

Cheap is often good. If it's cheap it's probably been make fairly efficiently, and the CEO will have less profit to spend on driving cocaine and snorting sports cars.
Jeruselem
18-05-2005, 13:40
The problem is these same companies get government handouts/charity/subsidies while the small businesses of this world can't buy the influence of their corrupt pollies and get nothing.
Dominant Redheads
18-05-2005, 13:43
I do pay attention to whom I give my money.
It means that I have to pay a little extra but I think it's more important to support companies which customs can face daylight. And I rather give money to small local (as local as possible) companies than to gigantic multinational monsters like CocaCola, Nike or Monsanto.


Me too! And I avoid places like Wal-Mart and KMart as much as possible.
Helioterra
18-05-2005, 14:08
Me too! And I avoid places like Wal-Mart and KMart as much as possible.
I realise it may be a lot easier for me to buy products from small local (or at least national) companies than for anyone living in USA. A small country has small companies...
Some complain that's hard to avoid Nestlé products but I can't see why.

Then again. I do have a car...That's one area where I can't avoid giving money to big companies.
Markreich
18-05-2005, 14:16
All what the companies and governments want is your money.

It's up to you to whom you give your money.

Do you inform yourself about the practise of certain companies and states or do you just act according to: "Cheap is best"?

Yep. I do not buy any goods from Communist nations. (China, Viet Nam, Laos (rare to find those) anything marked "Korea" instead of South Korea, or Cuba.)
Alien Born
18-05-2005, 14:31
We use a strange concept called 'best value'. Cheap is not the best if you have to replace the item so many times that you end up spending more in total.

There is a personal judgment to be made as to the quality of the goods concerned, and as to the acceptable standards for you. Once this has been made thaen you can find the lowest priced item that meets your requirements.

This way you support companies that have a concern for quality, without paying in the end for the privelege.

It does. however, require a certain level of available capital. For the poor this is not an option as all they can afford is the cheapest, and they end up paying more over time.

As to the question in the title of the thread. Customers should be pains in the butt to salesmen. The salesman wants you to buy his product, he makes money on this, so make him earn his money. Don't worry about appearing stuid, don't worry about wasting his time. He is there to serve. That is his job. Customers also have a social obligation to insist on their legal rights. If goods are not fit for the purpose for which they were sold, get them changed, get your money back, do something about it. Don't just shrug and throw the money away.
Dragons Bay
18-05-2005, 14:34
Do you know why I'm on NS? Because all the stuff my friends talk about is how to spend their money on the next model of the mobile telephone or i-Pod or digital camera, and never talk about the "serious" stuff like theology or politics.

It serves to exemplify how much the corporations have taken control over us. Smart spending is smart, only that we have too much money at our disposal.
Catushkoti
18-05-2005, 16:12
My government is throwing the damn stuff back at me. "Take it!" I cry. "Give me more services! Improve education! Build infrastructure!" but do they listen to me? No. Stupid government.

Cheap is often good. If it's cheap it's probably been make fairly efficiently, and the CEO will have less profit to spend on driving cocaine and snorting sports cars.

Fairly efficiently meaning in a sweatshop. Way to consume ethically :rolleyes:
Santa Barbara
18-05-2005, 16:20
As usual, Alien Born says it much better than I do.

I'd add that I don't buy politically, I don't boycott companies or make silly political statements by wearing or not wearing some kind of clothing or whatever. I go for what I can afford, and what I need.
Swimmingpool
18-05-2005, 16:25
It's up to you to whom you give your money.

Do you inform yourself about the practise of certain companies and states or do you just act according to: "Cheap is best"?
I agree, but I always try to buy Irish and from a small to medium size business. But I'll buy from a big business if I know them to be ethical. I avoid buying anything from sweatshops.

Then again. I do have a car...That's one area where I can't avoid giving money to big companies.
Get your petrol at Statoil.
Helioterra
18-05-2005, 16:49
Get your petrol at Statoil.
Excuse me, where? Not around here...

Well there's Neste (finnish oil -eh- energy company) but it has to buy the oil from others.
Swimmingpool
18-05-2005, 16:51
Excuse me, where? Not around here...

Well there's Neste (finnish oil -eh- energy company) but it has to buy the oil from others.
Statoil is the Norwegian state oil company. They have a large chain of petrol stations here, I assumed that they also had them in Finland. In any case, they are more ethical than Esso.
Druidvale
18-05-2005, 16:54
Yes, spending money in an ethical manner is difficult. Lucky for me, the past few years there's been some kind of "public protest" in my country (a very quiet one, but still) on unethical means of international production. Nike, Adidas, Siemens, etc. they've been in the public eye, and not in a good way. That makes it somewhat easier to gather info on a company in articles and news-reviews. I try to get to know a company before I buy any of their products - I never go "for the cheapest there is because it's the cheapest". This probably sounds stupid, but if I would then I would feel unhappy and, well, ... - it jusn't doesn't sit wel, I'd feel bad (I'm pretty karmic about that). Probably sounds silly to die-hard capitalists, but that's just how it is for me.
Druidvale
18-05-2005, 16:56
Statoil is the Norwegian state oil company. They have a large chain of petrol stations here, I assumed that they also had them in Finland. In any case, they are more ethical than Esso.

Over here, I buy gas at Q8, because it's the only locally available fuel company I've never heard anything bad about... Kinda sad, it is...
Phylum Chordata
19-05-2005, 04:37
Given a choice, if everything else was equal, I'd buy a product made in a sweatshop over one made by robots. Forgive me for being a lifeist, but I think it is more important to provide work oportunities for people than for robots.
LazyHippies
19-05-2005, 04:44
Unless the companies policies are overwhelmingly terrible, I dont much care how they conduct their business as long as I like the product. The only company I dont buy from is Shell due to its involvement with the incarceration and execution of Saro-Wiwa.
Wong Cock
19-05-2005, 05:36
I try to avoid financing the Middle East. And by walking I hope I can avoid financing Phama companies a little while longer. Just too bad I have to use the plane for leaving the city.

I also try to avoid financing China, except when it comes to produce - then I prefer local produce. There are some organic farms already working in Hong Kong, and they also give work to the elderly, who don't have any pension income otherwise.
Incenjucarania
19-05-2005, 06:06
I try to avoid things like Wal-Mart and Nabsico products (Tasty, yes, and appearantly owned by a group that produces cigs, which I'm against... no wonder oreos are so addictive.).

Nike.. yeah. I wouldn't touch those ugly, badly-made shoes even before I knew how they were made....

Same with the GAP. Also, I avoid Old Navy, because, while 'made in America', they're still helping to finance the GAP people.

You have to go further than the obvious to really do anything.
Inebri-Nation
19-05-2005, 06:19
... i dont understand how tommy hilfigure is still in business... anyone that owns anything from that company should be ashamed of themselves
Selgin
19-05-2005, 06:19
I don't know how you folks have the time to research every company you buy products from.

I work a full time job and a part-time job. I buy based on convenience, price, value, and, if I have the luxury of time and/or a few extra dollars, the ethics of the company involved.

Worrying about corporate ethics in the products bought is a luxury only the idle upper middle class and wealthy can afford. For the rest of us, we try to make ends meet the best we can.
Incenjucarania
19-05-2005, 06:30
I don't know how you folks have the time to research every company you buy products from.

I work a full time job and a part-time job. I buy based on convenience, price, value, and, if I have the luxury of time and/or a few extra dollars, the ethics of the company involved.

Worrying about corporate ethics in the products bought is a luxury only the idle upper middle class and wealthy can afford. For the rest of us, we try to make ends meet the best we can.

Yes. This is a problem.

It's also why this is allowed to continue. Lowest common denominator (not saying you're such, but, financially...) doesn't have time for stopping the world from sucking, anymore than they have time to learn how to not be drawn in by fads and other garbage.

I'd say there should be a group for making a huge list of 'to-protest' products, but it would either be corrupted by money, or corrupted by extremists in a matter of seconds.
Helioterra
19-05-2005, 07:29
Statoil is the Norwegian state oil company. They have a large chain of petrol stations here, I assumed that they also had them in Finland. In any case, they are more ethical than Esso.
Yes, I knew that. I swear I buy my petrol from Statoil everytime I go to Norway with a car. *hand on the heart*
I've done it once... :D
But it was so nice that I suppose I'll go back there one day. (I've visited the country 3 times but only once with my own car)
Helioterra
19-05-2005, 07:34
Unless the companies policies are overwhelmingly terrible, I dont much care how they conduct their business as long as I like the product. The only company I dont buy from is Shell due to its involvement with the incarceration and execution of Saro-Wiwa.
Yeah, Esso, Texaco and all the others are so much more ethical...
Ken Saro-Wiwa was just one of the thousands.
Helioterra
19-05-2005, 07:57
I don't know how you folks have the time to research every company you buy products from.

I work a full time job and a part-time job. I buy based on convenience, price, value, and, if I have the luxury of time and/or a few extra dollars, the ethics of the company involved.

Worrying about corporate ethics in the products bought is a luxury only the idle upper middle class and wealthy can afford. For the rest of us, we try to make ends meet the best we can.
It takes too much time to research every company but basic awareness of how business is usually made helps. Almost all companies have done something unethical but at least some of them actually try to change their customs. Computers, cell phones, cars and products like that are basically always somewhat unethical. Nokia itself may not use child labour or sweatshops but the component producers often do. Being loud about it can help.

Obviously for you the ethics of the company is not as important to you as it is to me. I'm quite sure I have much less money than you. If I can't afford to buy the ethical choice I rather buy nothing at all. (and again, I admit that this is the way I TRY to follow, quite often it's too hard. But e.g. with food. I only buy organic milk and eggs. It costs more but as long as I'm not starving, there are no other options for me.) Actually, buying nothing at all, is one option quite many have completely forgotten.

You don't have to be überethical all the time, every time you think about it helps. As you said yourself, trying to make ends meet the best you can is already a good thing.

Sorry, I realise I'm lecturing and I hate it. What I really want to say that people can make easy little choices in their everyday life without constantly thinking about it. Just pick the local product from the upper shelf, buy organic and avoid insanely overpriced labels.
Bitchkitten
19-05-2005, 08:19
I'm poor, so somebody has to really piss me off for me to boycott them. Cracker Barrel has a policy of firing gay empoyees, so even though my aunt loves to eat there, I won't step foot in the place.
Great Beer and Food
19-05-2005, 08:59
All what the companies and governments want is your money.

It's up to you to whom you give your money.

Do you inform yourself about the practise of certain companies and states or do you just act according to: "Cheap is best"?

I buy blue:

http://www.buyblue.org/

:D
Helioterra
19-05-2005, 10:03
I'm poor, so somebody has to really piss me off for me to boycott them. Cracker Barrel has a policy of firing gay empoyees, so even though my aunt loves to eat there, I won't step foot in the place.
More ethical doesn't necessarily mean more expensive. Quite often the most famous brand is also the most expensive one. Buying local or smaller products can save your money. Just think about Nike, Tommy Hillfiger, CocaCola etc.