December 30 Day Rule/Focus Pix & Discussion

Thanks, Dave!

 

Happy that you are enjoying the soap, Cliff.

 

Thank you, Joseph. It most certainly was a compliment. All kidding aside, your posts are insightful and educational. I appreciate your honest appraisals of the products and gear you're using. I've made purchase decisions based on what I have learned from you. Regarding aftershaves, I've also considered paring down to a few favorite colognes only. It seems that a spray or two of cologne mixed with witch hazel would make a great aftershave.

I hope you're having a good day, my friend. We got outside and completed chores here at home. I also picked up a couple of bottles of Riesling, Amaretto Disaronno Originale, and a favorite IPA. We streamed Christmas music this afternoon. I also plan to slice into a Kentucky bourbon fruitcake tonight ... a good one...and yes, I am a fan. I will shave this evening, and then we are traveling with Rick Steves (along with 2000 other people) to some Christmas celebrations around Europe via Zoom. Rick always drinks his favorite wine and snacks on cheese during the call. We have enough goodies to keep up with him tonight.

 

Thank you Gents.

 

Thank you Jeff.....I'm glad I discovered Sir Hare, but when I run out of this soap, I will re-order the same, unless there's more variety by that time. They have a Bay Rum, but I still have a lot of the Jeeves to go, and they have a Barbershop, but I just received a second Grandpa's Barbershop from Central Texas Soaps.

 

I haven't been able to but all three of my other split personalities have been freed from it

 

Excellent shave and setup, Cliff!

 

Thanks Jeff! It's why I usually don't shave every 24 hours, especially with a brand new DE blade.

 

Ha lol.


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Fantastic shave and photo Joe. Congrats on the new soap.

 

Great looking shave and photo Cliff. Everyday is a great day for Bay Rum.

 

When I was newly married I really really wanted a new Toyota Tacoma. We were just looking at prices and dreaming, but somehow ended up in the salesman's office negotiating price. We felt really foolish because we didn't even intend to talk to a salesman. We were just window shopping. There we were in a high-pressure sale when we knew we couldn't afford it. Trying to find a polite exit we made an extremely low offer and refused to raise it at all. For some reason we let them run our credit and it got worse. They kept telling us we could afford it because they had run our credit and they sell cars to people with worse credit all the time... We told them more than once, we had a budget and we couldn't make the payment even if we did qualify. Of course, they asked what we could afford and we told them what our budget would allow... of course, they had some 8-year financing option and were proud they could meet our budget needs. We told them we weren't going to be upside down on a car for 7.5 years. We were there for 4 hours politely waiting for them to end the conversation so we could leave.

While I was embarrassed that our no-cost-newlywed-window-shopping date ended in 4 hours of high-pressure sales, but we learned a lot. We learned that the salesman will work very very hard to secure financing. They will find "deals" and other ways to reduce the sales price far beyond what you'd think. Even after 4 hours, the salesman followed us out the door finding new ways to make it "affordable" for us.

What I learned is, dealerships make 75% of their profits from financing, fees, and add ons. That's 3x the markup on the car. They will lose money on the sales price if they think they can make it up in finance. I purchased two other cars for cash and realized I couldn't get the salesmen to work as hard as they did when I was a broke newlywed. I've walked out on several cash offers where the salesman just wouldn't work with me. So, this time I hinted I was a financially wounded father with a broken-hearted daughter who had to have the right color, which wasn't that important to me. The pre-approved loan was the real chum in the water. Simply saying I was pre-approved sent the message I was financially desperate and likely to accept a crappy loan. That got them to the base price agreement which we both initialed. Then I asked them about the fees. I told them I didn't need the theft recovery service which was another $500. When I suggested the $299 doc fee was pure profit his tone shifted. I'd reached his breaking point and he was about to back out so I told him I wouldn't argue it and immediately asked if he'd make that deal if I didn't finance through them. He said yes and I asked if he was sure. He reassured me he would make that deal even if I financed with someone else. That's when I told him I'd like to pay cash. The agreed price was about $1,500 over the Kelley Blue Book (KBB) trade-in value for that car. I let them have the dealer documentation fee so they made about $2000 on the car, but that was less than they were expecting with financing kickbacks. The total price, the amount I wrote the check for, was still below average bluebook.

I just got off the phone with the insurance adjuster. The cash value of the totaled car was only $1,000 less than we paid for the car in February. We lost our deductable, TTL, and that dang documentation fee, but the total loss is about half of what we expected. Happy day!

 

Great Riga shave, Blair! You and Joe do love those shave hatchets! Enjoy your shaves!

 

Great shave, Patrick!

 

Nice pic, Gary! Good evening!

 

Thanks, Danny!

 

BTW, the Aramis Tobacco Reserve has now been discontinued, so the prices are starting to skyrocket. I did keep it, because it is an outstanding juice.

 

Thank you Dave. You as well.

 

Everything you said is true. Like I stated earlier, they rather lose the upfront commission and wallop you on the back end with the F and I mgr with creative financing,etc. Unfortunately, they rely on people to be ignorant. When I purchase any car, I let them spill their guts without telling them that I was in the business. Finally, I turn the tables on them and explain to them that I know their shell game because I was sitting in the same seat years ago. I tell them who I worked for and sprinkle the necessary jargon that only car salesmen would know. The look on their face was priceless when I laid out my cards on the table. I told them this is what I am paying with your profit of 500 dollars. Take it or I walk. It is like declawing lions when you are in the drivers seat.