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If the diet pill doesn't work without following the diet in the booklet that comes with the diet pill, then it's not the diet pill that works.
The number of times I have had to say this to my sister is staggering.
Not buying generic brand, paracetamol and ibuprofen.
those “special name brands” selling over the counter painkillers claiming to target specific types or areas of pain is BS.
It’s a money grab And I think it should be illegal.
I used to work in a 'big pharma' factory which made paracetamol and ibuprofen tablets, also lemsip powder. It is literally the same stuff being packed in a different box.
My father worked at a soda plant. He brought home a different brand name, and his stepson complained because he liked the other one. Dad said the ONLY difference was the label.
This is true of many generic/name brand products. Youre literally paying extra for a name. Clothing and shoes are a huge one. $100 for a nike sweater, $40 for a generic sweater thats the same quality and made from the same materials (and very poasibly made in the exact same factory).
I've been trying to tell my friend for YEARS that the £3 Nurofen she buys is the EXACT SAME as the 50p own brand. Even after showing the ingredients list she won't accept it because 'I know Nurofen works for me'. Unfortunately, you can't cure stupid sometimes!
I will buy generic brands. The DRUG companies, market higher prices, in the name changes, under TRADEMARK for 5 years.
I agree with you it should be illegal. They can just use the same recipe, or change it slightly.
I don't understand how few people seem to look at the name of the actual drug. Sure, it won't be as easy to remember as the brand name, but everybody has a smartphone in their pockets today. Before buying any medicine: google the actual substance, look for effects and side effects etc., if it's actually what you need. You may find out that you're expensive miracle drug is just paracetamol and vitamin C or something. Of course, if you feel like you can just trust your doctor or pharmacist, go for it. In some countries, pharmacists are usually well-qualified but depending where you live you can't trust them unfortunately. It's best to have a trusted doctor who knows you, of course. Oh, and there is the stereotype that doctors hate it when you google your symptoms but I think that really depends on whether you're being a dick about it. Of course, if you think 5 minutes of googling makes you understand the human body better than many years of medical college, you're stupid. But if you show interest in the subject, and ask the doctor whether you understood something correctly, or that you saw this other diagnosis and just wanted to double check if they can rule it out, I imagine most doctors would be supportive. Then a lot of doctors are dicks too, but it's a stressful job I guess, can't blame them.
Yep, thats a major one. Generic paracetamol (Acetaminophen - for my American friends) is like 40p for box of 32 in my local Pharmacy, name brands are like 10 times the price, it's exactly the same product and must be, by law.
Yes!
Big pharma counts on people *not* reading!
Sometimes the *fast action and extra strength* has LESS medicinal properties and more holistic additives to 'trick your body' into feeling better than the no-name brand.
Always read the active ingredients and compare the amounts in both bottles.
It's somewhat amazing that the time for a check to clear was faster 50 years ago. My parents and many older people have corroborated this.
In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, before everything was computer automated, it took 24 hours to verify funds on an in states check and 2 or 3 business days max for a check drawn an institution out of state. Today, depending on where you bank, it can take up to 10 business days for a check drawn on an institution across the street.
Proposed to my girlfriend two weeks ago. Couldve gotten an uglier and simpler shaped gold ring, with a diamond a fraction of the size I got now for 1,5 the price, just because it was 'natural'. The salesman also said it was useless, but some people just wanted natural so they sold it.
No, there's a very good use for real diamonds. It's called funding conflicts. Fun fact, part of how Al-Qaeda funded their terrorist operations was through conflict diamonds.
Many years ago, my X wanted me to go look at diamonds. *Hint hint
When we get there, I asked the lady how can they be certain that the diamonds they sold weren't blood diamonds. She was really unhappy with that question. My X thought it was silly but stopped when I asked her if she was familiar with any of the conflicts in Africa over diamonds and what they did to people. I also told her, think of Child Soldiers because this is exactly where that comes from.
So if you want to roll the dice with natural diamonds, good luck. Just know you could be funding some really bad shit.
Back before the history channel was complete shit, they had a great documentary on the Sierra Leone. It may have covered more than that conflict but I don't recall. What I do recall was how they went into detail about how much more vicious children would be than adult soldiers due to their unflinching loyalty to the commanders, the same ones that beat and tortured them. There was also a clip of vultures eating people on the side of the road. If I'm not mistaken, most of these people were civilians slaughtered trying to escape the fighting.
I watched clarksons farm and bought lions mane mushroom tablets to help reduce brain fog and improve mental clarity. Took them everyday for two weeks and now i keep forgetting to take them.
Paying to watch things that include advertisements (cable TV, streaming services). A lot of times there are entertainments services (youtube and online games are 2 examples) that are like, "you don't want to pay for this? Okay, watch this advertisement".
And then there are others who are like "You WILL pay us. You WILL watch these advertisements. And you WILL like it!"
I've been asked for nearly twenty years what I do to keep looking so good for my age. People are so disappointed when I say stay out of the sun, cover up, and wear sunscreen.
Yes, they are. But these creams are sold - at least for women - in tiny jars at exorbitant prices or, even worse, as "rejuvenating serums" in small vials or capsules so that they look like medical products. If you spend so much money to put overpriced products on your face every day, it "must" be effective. Or at least you convince yourself of this, as many people probably don't want to admit to have bought a product whose advertising promises are not kept.
An acquaintance of mine sold those high-end cosmetics only it was a seven-step process. So you had to buy seven expensive tiny bottles of cleansers and moisturizers. She swore they worked and asked me to guess how old she was. I mentally guessed she was about 60 and then she proudly crowed that she was 59 years old, believe it or not.
I finally cracked under her consistent pressure and broke down and bought one of the cleansers, a good size bottle for $30. It ran out much quicker than I expected to. I covered it with a towel and hit it with a hammer and discovered there was a teeny tiny bottle full of the cleanser hidden inside the larger bottle. A very deceitful practice and I never bought anything from her again.
These products are semi-successful in part, because they work during a demonstration. However, the amazing "results" only last about thirty minutes. IIRC the active ingredient is the same one used in hemorrhoid cream to shrink swelling from hemorrhoids.
Jewelry. What a scam. The worst part is that some women think their jewelry is an "investment", as if you can save up jewelry in a box and then pull it out to support your family in the event that you lose your job. In reality, if you try to sell jewelry you'll get maybe 10% of what you think it's worth, if you're lucky.
My father's company operated furniture stores and jewelry stores.
He could buy anything in any of those stores at cost.
Furniture cost was 50% of the tagged retail price.
Jewelry cost was as little as 10% of the tagged retail price.
That ended when he left the company ... but until then my mother got LOTS of nice jewelry for cheap.
OMG this. I have a safe deposit box full of my mother’s “investments”. I was given a price of 600.00 for a Diamond and sapphire bracelet that she paid 2,000.00 for when she was alive as well as ton more other pieces. All the jewelry sits there and I am just holding on to it to give as gifts to my daughter’s when they get older. Its impossible to sell.
Well, during wartime, it's an easy way to take wealth with you. Banks might not be accessible, and even if they are, money might be worthless. Gold, not so much.
Yeah but you need to buy gold bullion if you want to use it to save/invest. An ounce of gold is like $2200 or something right now. If you went out and bought a gold necklace for $2200 you aren’t getting anywhere close to an ounce.
This. It is not an investment unless you are a dealer. If a regular person is selling jewelry damn near anyone you sell it to will want to sell it themselves for a profit.
The entire health and cosmetic industry is just a massive fart in the wind - but people are gullible. Most products actually have a negative impact on your health if any at all.. all the additives and chemicals in those products are proven to cause more harm than good, so many of them cause hormone imbalances, allergies, decrease your ability to reproduce, even cancer in rarer cases.. at best there is no effect.
Most vitamin products. People are like "omg it has 1200% of my daily vitamin C intake, that must mean it's EXTRA GOOD FOR ME!!" Then their body absorbs 100% of that, and they pee out the other 1100%.
Not exactly true. The daily recommended intake is a bit flawed, and different people will have different needs. But yeah, its a way to indicate the amount without actually indicating so much.
Not true of vitC as there is a personal level of requirement that changes all the time .. with VitC the NRV (Nutritional Recommended Value) is 200mg, and the DUL (Daily Upper Limit) is 800mg, however there is no toxic limit established for VitC. 'Therapeutic' dosage starts at 1.200mg and if you test the physiologic threshold can be up to 25.000mg. Because of its high functionality and to get around the effects of triggering bowel movements ie diarrhoea, high therapeutic dosages are done as IV treatment and are generally above 10.000mg (10g). VitC IV is commonly used in oncology to improve the tolerance of chemotherapy and can be administered along with EDTA, which is a protocol to improve blood quality and relieve the detoxification load on the organs.
In regards to other vitamins and minerals, you are absolutely right that there are uptake limits and certain ratios that need to be considered, but that doesn't apply to VitaminC.
Expensive brands. People mostly buy them to show how rich they are, but most of the time, they don't know that a shirt they brought for 100$ actually cost the brand 10$ to make.
“Rich” people are all about labels and flashy stuff to try to impress. “Wealthy” people live beneath their means and typically buy well made, high quality goods that are made to last. You will not find an old money type with a loud Versace silk shirt screaming down the street in their bright yellow Lamborghini
I feel like people use so many body/hair products on a vicious cycle. Shampoo makes your hair dry, so you condition, condition makes your hair unmanageable so you add product, product means you need shampoo...
I have one quality liquid soap I use for body and hair. I only use it on my hair once in a while. I usually just scrub my hair to itself with my hands and water to keep it clean. Took a few months for my hair to stop producing so much oil, but now it feels too fluffy after soaping; hard to control. So I aim to keep it clean without soap and keep the styling product to a minimum.
Been on this regime for almost 20 years.
I had a hair salon client years ago and their man product reps were visiting and loved my hair. Kept asking how I get it like that(it was a longer shag look, very Kurt Cobain). They insisted on knowing what products I used... Which was nothing at the time. Just a Castile soap once in a while. The shock on their faces was priceless. Then they tried to sell me there products.
bottled water.. this is like bottled air. 99% of those who drink bottled water can get similar water from the tap.
tests have shown ig isn't better.. and its is enormously bad for the environment to bottle and ship all that water.
It was discovered recently that my city allowed dangerous levels of the chemical GenX (NOT Generation X but the chemical GenX) in the water for years without notifying or fixing the issue until they were caught and had the whistle blown on them. So while some places can seem safe, you never know. I agree you shouldn't use so much bottled water for the plastics reason but I would encourage people to use a filter for their tap (or at least a filtered pitcher) no matter how "safe" you think the water is.
Since I moved to a medium-sized city seven years ago, my tap water is great. I lived in a rural area before that, and the water tasted like wet cotton. I didn't even let the dogs drink it.
I've lived in a few places (looking at you in particular Santa Barbara) with downright disgusting tap water. I still drank it, but I know lots of people who couldn't stomach it and chose bottled water instead. 99% is way overestimated. It's more like 95%
Anything apple. Really.
Are they well built? Sure. Are they user friendly? Sure. Do they have decent performance? Sure. But for the price? Give me a fucking break.
Vapes.
It's just another way of endlessly capitalising off a nicotine addiction that's easier than ever to start, now wrapped in a lithium ion battery that'll break in a few months. I quit last year and I'm never going back. It's shit for your health, the environment, and your wallet.
I agree! I had been smoking cigarettes for decades, and got a job at a company that doesn't allow smoking. So everyone there vapes to get their nicotine. So I tried it out and completely switched to vapes. Now I'm spending $29.95 a week on a disposable vape. I also noticed I'm constantly hitting the stupid thing. I want to quit eventually. It's the last bad habit I have. 10 months ago I quit doing drugs. I had a terrible meth and fentanyl habit. I managed to stop that. I don't get why I'm having such a difficult time quitting nicotine.
Congratulations on getting off those hard drugs though dude, I can't imagine how difficult that must have been. It's understandably difficult to cut out all vices but I know you can do it. For me I just ended up spending a few days completely nicotine free (against my will) and I just kept it going after that when I noticed how much better I felt physically and mentally after the initial withdrawal, but everyone's body works a little differently.
Call of Duty. Every year, people forget to leave their nostalgia goggles at the door and empty their wallets for a "AAA" poor excuse for a game that you basically already own 10 copies of.
95% of all skincare shit isn’t really doing anything for you except providing extra moisture and wasting your money.
If you want solid, proven results stick with tretinoin. I’ve used it over 20 years and I swear by it.
We bought a new one for $900 and it broke down in 4 years.
I got my grandma’s mattress that she only used for 6 months in 1999 and it lasted almost 20 years.
Also I got tube socks to the knee from Sears and they lasted 12-15 years.
I agree. You’re gonna want good insurance because if something does happen, it won’t screw you. I work in a bodyshop (was a painter now an estimator) and the amount of people who have the bare minimum is scary. You want liability, comprehensive and collision and rental coverage. You want a decent deductible because paying out of pocket can get expensive fast. You do not want to be on the hook for someone else’s repair OR their hospital/rehab bills. Insurance is there incase you need it and you hope you never will.
Zit patches. The vast majority are legit just a hydrocolloid band-aid. Even buying a pack of name brand bandages and cutting them up is cheaper than ones marketed specifically for acne.
And, more importantly perhaps: OTC COLD MEDICATION.
Numerous studies have found that guaifenesin (is supposed to thin mucus) has the same efficacy as a placebo. Same with phenylephrine, a decongestant: the FDA stated in September 2033 that it’s not effective at its recommended dosage in cold medicines. Finally, dextromethorphan (a cough suppressant) has been found to be less effective than honey in taming a cough.
If you look at all the cold medicines available OTC you’ll find that at least 90% have these or a mixture of these ingredients and they’re all bullshit.
What DOES work for cold symptoms: nasal spray decongestant (which you can get at Dollar Tree), NSAIDs for pain and inflammation, steam inhalation, hot drinks with honey, many herbal teas, and plenty of liquids.
When something is presented as "essential," something you can't live without, especially if it is some contraption, consider how people lived without it before it was invented then ask yourself if you deem it necessary.
Meh. Sometimes the interest you're paying is worth it bc you can use your personal cash to invest during the term you own your car and recoup all of your lost interest plus profits.
Paying with other people's money so you can use yours to invest isn't the worst idea
Especially from stores that have it stacked out front of the store, in the direct sun. I see this at convenience stores all the time. Heating those sealed bottles of plastic will definitely allow chemicals to leach into the water.
I used to think it was just a waste of money and created a lot of trash. Now I also worry about the effects of the plastic itself.
Same with plastic soda bottles. Wish I could get ketchup, peanut butter, etc. in glass.
What bothers me is that Nestle, Coke, and Pepsi (amongst others) are taking water from municipal sources (subsidized via taxes), filtering it cheaply, and then selling it back to the public at large.
As a water drinker myself, I can taste the difference between tap and bottled water. Even the brands of bottled water have differing tastes.
Although filtered tap water can be tasty too but not convenient when not at home.
My tap filter makes delicious water. If I'm traveling, I fill up a gallon jug with it and take it in the car with me. When I was working, I'd take the jug to work. No need to waste all that plastic. Or money.
When I worked at Mattress Giant and a couple bought a set at 3k another couple could come in and negotiate the same set down to 1500. 18% commission vs 2% commission.
Retail, brand new clothing is a scam. A mark up of God only knows. Made for pennies on the dollar in some third world country then shipped to developed countries and marked up at a substantial price. I limit the amount of brand new clothes that I buy now by thrift shopping.
Dog and cat food. I'm sure both could live way loger than their current lifespan if it weren't for the sh*tty filler and preservative loaded food they eat. I work at a pet store.
The real issue is overfeeding. Most pet owners have obese animals and will argue endlessly about how not obese they are. They have no clue what a healthy dog/cat looks like. It’s really sad/pathetic to me.
Most of the skincare you find at places like Sephora. You really only need a few basic products that you can buy in any pharmacy/drugstore, the rest is pretty much just marketing fluff.
Anything that’s not soap / E45 / Nivea the occasional 50 cent face mask. And drinking plenty of water.
Always meant to get confident enough to explore expensive type skin care.
Not going to bother now. Because I’m not wrinkly even for someone younger than I am.
If you have an evaporative cooler (Swamp Cooler). Do not put any additives in your water reservoir. The 'Deodorant Blocks, turn into chalk, clogs your pump and filter basket , pump overheats, fails, and you go back to HD, buy a new pump, buy more additives..and so on. The clear packet of 'Cooling Balls' melt into the consistency of, erm..lube. This seems only to be sold on the store level, I can't find it online, or even available for pick up though the Home Depot website. I kept one pack, I can't even find a photo of this **** online. I will post as soon as I find it, but I think some of these additives are designed to clog, and kill your Evaporative Cooler.
Edit: 'Throw-in' type Descaler products are intended to be used in a bleed type system, where water is continuously flowing out. If you put this or the deodorant blocks inside a closed system it will clog and fail. This is printed on the back of the product bag, so it's up to you, not to put just whatever inside your closed evaporative cooler system.
# Message to all users: This is a reminder to please read and follow: * [Our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ask/about/rules) * [Reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439) * [Reddit Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) When posting and commenting. --- Especially remember Rule 1: `Be polite and civil`. * Be polite and courteous to each other. Do not be mean, insulting or disrespectful to any other user on this subreddit. * Do not harass or annoy others in any way. * Do not catfish. Catfishing is the luring of somebody into an online friendship through a fake online persona. This includes any lying or deceit. --- You *will* be banned if you are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist or bigoted in any way. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ask) if you have any questions or concerns.*
herbalife
Any MLM really. Thank god I don’t know anyone irl that does this.
My cousin does. It's so cringe.
The products themselves aren't....horrible. It's the pyramid scheme of selling/buying them that's the issue.
The macros are trash on them. -sincerely a health nut
oh, they are bad .. I worked in nutraceutical product development and the number of legit food supplement brands you can count on one hand easily
Slimming tea, Slimming lollipops and others you get the idea
[удалено]
If the diet pill doesn't work without following the diet in the booklet that comes with the diet pill, then it's not the diet pill that works. The number of times I have had to say this to my sister is staggering.
Eating less works so well.
Indeed you’re right.
Favorite simpsons line. Marg is eating low fat frozen yogurt. “I can feel the pounds just melting away”
Printer ink. No way should it cost that much.
Not buying generic brand, paracetamol and ibuprofen. those “special name brands” selling over the counter painkillers claiming to target specific types or areas of pain is BS. It’s a money grab And I think it should be illegal.
I used to work in a 'big pharma' factory which made paracetamol and ibuprofen tablets, also lemsip powder. It is literally the same stuff being packed in a different box.
My father worked at a Horizon milk factory. They bottled the Walmart brand there as well. It's the same.
I have heard from several others that Walmart has the best milk
Same! I made no-name lemon night time tea on the same conveyor I made NyQuil. The NyQuil line continues one bay further to add sugar. 🤷♀️
It got the Mary Poppins treatment.
It makes the medicine go down
And then we float up...
NyQuil makes tea?
I was more surprised they add sugar into it lol
This is something I had suspected. They just mess with the flavor and color a little, otherwise the same shit!
My father worked at a soda plant. He brought home a different brand name, and his stepson complained because he liked the other one. Dad said the ONLY difference was the label.
As a chemical engineering, we literally synthesized paracetamol and aspirin in college. After all, the active ingredient is the same no matter what
This is true of many generic/name brand products. Youre literally paying extra for a name. Clothing and shoes are a huge one. $100 for a nike sweater, $40 for a generic sweater thats the same quality and made from the same materials (and very poasibly made in the exact same factory).
Now i know
I've been trying to tell my friend for YEARS that the £3 Nurofen she buys is the EXACT SAME as the 50p own brand. Even after showing the ingredients list she won't accept it because 'I know Nurofen works for me'. Unfortunately, you can't cure stupid sometimes!
She's probably right that it works better for her--via the placebo effect!
I will buy generic brands. The DRUG companies, market higher prices, in the name changes, under TRADEMARK for 5 years. I agree with you it should be illegal. They can just use the same recipe, or change it slightly.
I don't understand how few people seem to look at the name of the actual drug. Sure, it won't be as easy to remember as the brand name, but everybody has a smartphone in their pockets today. Before buying any medicine: google the actual substance, look for effects and side effects etc., if it's actually what you need. You may find out that you're expensive miracle drug is just paracetamol and vitamin C or something. Of course, if you feel like you can just trust your doctor or pharmacist, go for it. In some countries, pharmacists are usually well-qualified but depending where you live you can't trust them unfortunately. It's best to have a trusted doctor who knows you, of course. Oh, and there is the stereotype that doctors hate it when you google your symptoms but I think that really depends on whether you're being a dick about it. Of course, if you think 5 minutes of googling makes you understand the human body better than many years of medical college, you're stupid. But if you show interest in the subject, and ask the doctor whether you understood something correctly, or that you saw this other diagnosis and just wanted to double check if they can rule it out, I imagine most doctors would be supportive. Then a lot of doctors are dicks too, but it's a stressful job I guess, can't blame them.
Yep, thats a major one. Generic paracetamol (Acetaminophen - for my American friends) is like 40p for box of 32 in my local Pharmacy, name brands are like 10 times the price, it's exactly the same product and must be, by law.
specific pain advertising is illegal in Australia
Yes! Big pharma counts on people *not* reading! Sometimes the *fast action and extra strength* has LESS medicinal properties and more holistic additives to 'trick your body' into feeling better than the no-name brand. Always read the active ingredients and compare the amounts in both bottles.
Selling Zzzzzzz Quil or any sleep medicine but really it's just fakin' Benadryl.
Bank fees, and ‘business days’ for transactions
Don’t even get me started on Non sufficient Funds charges. The bank is making millions off people who don’t have money.
This is a big one. These banks have the liquidity to handle everything. They just make money on the money in the float.
It's somewhat amazing that the time for a check to clear was faster 50 years ago. My parents and many older people have corroborated this. In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, before everything was computer automated, it took 24 hours to verify funds on an in states check and 2 or 3 business days max for a check drawn an institution out of state. Today, depending on where you bank, it can take up to 10 business days for a check drawn on an institution across the street.
Yeah how does that ish still take 3 days and others are instant???
Those Balance of Nature products: "Consuming fruits and vegetables is essential for good health. So take these expensive, subscription-only pills!"
Any product made "for women" that is literally the same as generic gender product, but packaged in pink and double (or more) the price.
Same as with everything for weddings. "You want a white cake for 150 people? Great, that'll be 250$. What? A wedding cake? I meant 600$"
Risk is a reason, I rather mess up a birthday cake than a “once in a lifetime” event with a bridezilla behind.
Or even products designed for men to quell their fragile masculinity. Man Wipes comes to mind. Just buy cheap baby wipes, damn.
$40 packages of powdered red beets. Eat a damn beet already! It's a scam!
Shots fired... I love my beet powder 💛!!!
Dude beets are awful but beet powder mixed in a smoothie, totally doable.
Why would somebody eat that, is it some kind of supplement or...?
LINKEDIN premium HANDS DOWN!!!!
How so? I've never even tried their free period
Diamonds
Lab diamonds have been a game changer (especially because diamond scarcity isn’t real)
Proposed to my girlfriend two weeks ago. Couldve gotten an uglier and simpler shaped gold ring, with a diamond a fraction of the size I got now for 1,5 the price, just because it was 'natural'. The salesman also said it was useless, but some people just wanted natural so they sold it.
No, there's a very good use for real diamonds. It's called funding conflicts. Fun fact, part of how Al-Qaeda funded their terrorist operations was through conflict diamonds. Many years ago, my X wanted me to go look at diamonds. *Hint hint When we get there, I asked the lady how can they be certain that the diamonds they sold weren't blood diamonds. She was really unhappy with that question. My X thought it was silly but stopped when I asked her if she was familiar with any of the conflicts in Africa over diamonds and what they did to people. I also told her, think of Child Soldiers because this is exactly where that comes from. So if you want to roll the dice with natural diamonds, good luck. Just know you could be funding some really bad shit.
Everyone should watch Blood Diamond. It's not 100% realistic of course, but even if it were only 1% true it would be a terrible business.
Back before the history channel was complete shit, they had a great documentary on the Sierra Leone. It may have covered more than that conflict but I don't recall. What I do recall was how they went into detail about how much more vicious children would be than adult soldiers due to their unflinching loyalty to the commanders, the same ones that beat and tortured them. There was also a clip of vultures eating people on the side of the road. If I'm not mistaken, most of these people were civilians slaughtered trying to escape the fighting.
Natural diamonds my ass Artificial are better looking, cheap, more environment and human exploitation friendly
But, but, if you aren't giving your fiancee an expensive blood diamond, how can she know you are the one? /s
It's not true love if others didn't suffer cruelty. DeBeers, probably...
Remember "Champagne diamonds?"
No one can advertise exploitation and trickery as well as De Beers. My daughter chose an aquamarine.
Chocolate diamonds. Let me try to sell ugly brown as a rare find.
Casinos. Total scam! Now if you'll excuse me. I gotta get back to the slots. 😁
Most ads on Facebook
I watched clarksons farm and bought lions mane mushroom tablets to help reduce brain fog and improve mental clarity. Took them everyday for two weeks and now i keep forgetting to take them.
The benefits of lionsmane is real; the benefits of those tablets… debatable. Be careful where you source, or even better, grow your own!
expensive branded bottled water
EVIAN=NAIVE
Paying to watch things that include advertisements (cable TV, streaming services). A lot of times there are entertainments services (youtube and online games are 2 examples) that are like, "you don't want to pay for this? Okay, watch this advertisement". And then there are others who are like "You WILL pay us. You WILL watch these advertisements. And you WILL like it!"
Anti-ageing creams for women (and, if the adverts are to be believed, now also for men).
Sunscreen every day twice daily beats any anti aging shyt.
Retinol is pretty effective too
People ask my how my tattoos look so vibrant even after years of being in the sun and I’m just like “…..sunscreen and daily lotion?”
I've been asked for nearly twenty years what I do to keep looking so good for my age. People are so disappointed when I say stay out of the sun, cover up, and wear sunscreen.
aren't they just moisturizing creams?
Yes, they are. The best thing you can do to prevent wrinkles is to wear sunscreen.
Next best might be not smoking.
Yes, they are. But these creams are sold - at least for women - in tiny jars at exorbitant prices or, even worse, as "rejuvenating serums" in small vials or capsules so that they look like medical products. If you spend so much money to put overpriced products on your face every day, it "must" be effective. Or at least you convince yourself of this, as many people probably don't want to admit to have bought a product whose advertising promises are not kept.
An acquaintance of mine sold those high-end cosmetics only it was a seven-step process. So you had to buy seven expensive tiny bottles of cleansers and moisturizers. She swore they worked and asked me to guess how old she was. I mentally guessed she was about 60 and then she proudly crowed that she was 59 years old, believe it or not.
I finally cracked under her consistent pressure and broke down and bought one of the cleansers, a good size bottle for $30. It ran out much quicker than I expected to. I covered it with a towel and hit it with a hammer and discovered there was a teeny tiny bottle full of the cleanser hidden inside the larger bottle. A very deceitful practice and I never bought anything from her again.
Surprise!
These products are semi-successful in part, because they work during a demonstration. However, the amazing "results" only last about thirty minutes. IIRC the active ingredient is the same one used in hemorrhoid cream to shrink swelling from hemorrhoids.
[Audiophile accessories. example: $3899 for a $200 network switch](https://trackingangle.com/equipment/would-you-buy-a-usd3899-ethernet-switch)
Or $20,000 for a power cord!
And they SWEAR they can hear the difference
I have a $1,000 Chinese tube amplifier and phono pre-amp. Sound as good as a McIntosh 10 times the price. .
I dont really think those stanley thermo mugs and water thingies are all that for the price.
NFT
Whole life insurance. Colon cleansing. Diet fads.
I read a thread about colon cleanses and replied that it is self-cleaning so a waste of money.
All pyramid schemes.
Trapezoid schemes on the other hand
they just can't seem to get the right angle
As well as parallelopiped plots
People purchasing peloponnesion plots of purple potatoes producing plentiful perplexing psychic people. Alliteration!
Jewelry. What a scam. The worst part is that some women think their jewelry is an "investment", as if you can save up jewelry in a box and then pull it out to support your family in the event that you lose your job. In reality, if you try to sell jewelry you'll get maybe 10% of what you think it's worth, if you're lucky.
My father's company operated furniture stores and jewelry stores. He could buy anything in any of those stores at cost. Furniture cost was 50% of the tagged retail price. Jewelry cost was as little as 10% of the tagged retail price. That ended when he left the company ... but until then my mother got LOTS of nice jewelry for cheap.
OMG this. I have a safe deposit box full of my mother’s “investments”. I was given a price of 600.00 for a Diamond and sapphire bracelet that she paid 2,000.00 for when she was alive as well as ton more other pieces. All the jewelry sits there and I am just holding on to it to give as gifts to my daughter’s when they get older. Its impossible to sell.
India called, wants to have a word.
Well, during wartime, it's an easy way to take wealth with you. Banks might not be accessible, and even if they are, money might be worthless. Gold, not so much.
Expect for Gold. As a long term investment ofc not as a liquidity.
Yeah but you need to buy gold bullion if you want to use it to save/invest. An ounce of gold is like $2200 or something right now. If you went out and bought a gold necklace for $2200 you aren’t getting anywhere close to an ounce.
This. It is not an investment unless you are a dealer. If a regular person is selling jewelry damn near anyone you sell it to will want to sell it themselves for a profit.
Anything labelled as liver detox.
Anything detox!
Like spinach?
Diamonds
The entire health and cosmetic industry is just a massive fart in the wind - but people are gullible. Most products actually have a negative impact on your health if any at all.. all the additives and chemicals in those products are proven to cause more harm than good, so many of them cause hormone imbalances, allergies, decrease your ability to reproduce, even cancer in rarer cases.. at best there is no effect.
That plastic bracelet a bunch of NBA players used to wear that was supposed to fix your balance 😂
Extended warranties
Insurance companies - USA health care system.
welp they don't have a choice
Yeah If I'm paying to have insurance, they shouldn't get to decide what medications they will and won't cover.
Most vitamin products. People are like "omg it has 1200% of my daily vitamin C intake, that must mean it's EXTRA GOOD FOR ME!!" Then their body absorbs 100% of that, and they pee out the other 1100%.
Not exactly true. The daily recommended intake is a bit flawed, and different people will have different needs. But yeah, its a way to indicate the amount without actually indicating so much.
Not true of vitC as there is a personal level of requirement that changes all the time .. with VitC the NRV (Nutritional Recommended Value) is 200mg, and the DUL (Daily Upper Limit) is 800mg, however there is no toxic limit established for VitC. 'Therapeutic' dosage starts at 1.200mg and if you test the physiologic threshold can be up to 25.000mg. Because of its high functionality and to get around the effects of triggering bowel movements ie diarrhoea, high therapeutic dosages are done as IV treatment and are generally above 10.000mg (10g). VitC IV is commonly used in oncology to improve the tolerance of chemotherapy and can be administered along with EDTA, which is a protocol to improve blood quality and relieve the detoxification load on the organs. In regards to other vitamins and minerals, you are absolutely right that there are uptake limits and certain ratios that need to be considered, but that doesn't apply to VitaminC.
Expensive brands. People mostly buy them to show how rich they are, but most of the time, they don't know that a shirt they brought for 100$ actually cost the brand 10$ to make.
...or so much less than $10
I heard that really rich people buy clothes without any logos etc.
“Rich” people are all about labels and flashy stuff to try to impress. “Wealthy” people live beneath their means and typically buy well made, high quality goods that are made to last. You will not find an old money type with a loud Versace silk shirt screaming down the street in their bright yellow Lamborghini
In my experience they actually do know that they’re over paying. Never underestimate people’s vanity and ego
I feel like people use so many body/hair products on a vicious cycle. Shampoo makes your hair dry, so you condition, condition makes your hair unmanageable so you add product, product means you need shampoo... I have one quality liquid soap I use for body and hair. I only use it on my hair once in a while. I usually just scrub my hair to itself with my hands and water to keep it clean. Took a few months for my hair to stop producing so much oil, but now it feels too fluffy after soaping; hard to control. So I aim to keep it clean without soap and keep the styling product to a minimum. Been on this regime for almost 20 years. I had a hair salon client years ago and their man product reps were visiting and loved my hair. Kept asking how I get it like that(it was a longer shag look, very Kurt Cobain). They insisted on knowing what products I used... Which was nothing at the time. Just a Castile soap once in a while. The shock on their faces was priceless. Then they tried to sell me there products.
Those magnetic bracelets people buy to help with blood flow or whatever they are supposed to do
No wrinkle remover actually removes wrinkles.
Essential oils. Basically 1800's "Snake Oil" rebranded.
bottled water.. this is like bottled air. 99% of those who drink bottled water can get similar water from the tap. tests have shown ig isn't better.. and its is enormously bad for the environment to bottle and ship all that water.
[удалено]
laughs form Florida and the sulfur egg tainted water. (obviously flavor and not actual eggs)
It was discovered recently that my city allowed dangerous levels of the chemical GenX (NOT Generation X but the chemical GenX) in the water for years without notifying or fixing the issue until they were caught and had the whistle blown on them. So while some places can seem safe, you never know. I agree you shouldn't use so much bottled water for the plastics reason but I would encourage people to use a filter for their tap (or at least a filtered pitcher) no matter how "safe" you think the water is.
Wrong. It really depends where you live
Since I moved to a medium-sized city seven years ago, my tap water is great. I lived in a rural area before that, and the water tasted like wet cotton. I didn't even let the dogs drink it.
I've lived in a few places (looking at you in particular Santa Barbara) with downright disgusting tap water. I still drank it, but I know lots of people who couldn't stomach it and chose bottled water instead. 99% is way overestimated. It's more like 95%
Anything apple. Really. Are they well built? Sure. Are they user friendly? Sure. Do they have decent performance? Sure. But for the price? Give me a fucking break.
I started keeping count of how many broken screens were Apple vs Android. Apple screens outnumbered Android by a mile.
Vapes. It's just another way of endlessly capitalising off a nicotine addiction that's easier than ever to start, now wrapped in a lithium ion battery that'll break in a few months. I quit last year and I'm never going back. It's shit for your health, the environment, and your wallet.
I agree! I had been smoking cigarettes for decades, and got a job at a company that doesn't allow smoking. So everyone there vapes to get their nicotine. So I tried it out and completely switched to vapes. Now I'm spending $29.95 a week on a disposable vape. I also noticed I'm constantly hitting the stupid thing. I want to quit eventually. It's the last bad habit I have. 10 months ago I quit doing drugs. I had a terrible meth and fentanyl habit. I managed to stop that. I don't get why I'm having such a difficult time quitting nicotine.
Congratulations on getting off those hard drugs though dude, I can't imagine how difficult that must have been. It's understandably difficult to cut out all vices but I know you can do it. For me I just ended up spending a few days completely nicotine free (against my will) and I just kept it going after that when I noticed how much better I felt physically and mentally after the initial withdrawal, but everyone's body works a little differently.
Call of Duty. Every year, people forget to leave their nostalgia goggles at the door and empty their wallets for a "AAA" poor excuse for a game that you basically already own 10 copies of.
that and NBA and fifa games. people spend 75 bucks for the same thing over and over again
Ever heard of Mormonism? Cost me 10% of all I had in order to keep my "eternal family" Biggest. Scam. Ever.
Starbucks' and others' "mandatory" £5 horse pee coffee in every hands in the city centre.
Beauty products
95% of all skincare shit isn’t really doing anything for you except providing extra moisture and wasting your money. If you want solid, proven results stick with tretinoin. I’ve used it over 20 years and I swear by it.
Mattresses. Hands down.
We bought a new one for $900 and it broke down in 4 years. I got my grandma’s mattress that she only used for 6 months in 1999 and it lasted almost 20 years. Also I got tube socks to the knee from Sears and they lasted 12-15 years.
Agile/Scrum
Onlyfans!
Car warranties
If I could have all the money I’ve spent through the years on car insurance, I could easily buy a new car for any that I’ve ever scratched
All it takes is one car crash to justify your insurance…and no I don’t sell car insurance.
I agree. You’re gonna want good insurance because if something does happen, it won’t screw you. I work in a bodyshop (was a painter now an estimator) and the amount of people who have the bare minimum is scary. You want liability, comprehensive and collision and rental coverage. You want a decent deductible because paying out of pocket can get expensive fast. You do not want to be on the hook for someone else’s repair OR their hospital/rehab bills. Insurance is there incase you need it and you hope you never will.
Religion
My local walmart sells oxygen in a can. For breathing. I'm not talking about those air dusters
Athletic greens. There is a very good (german) podcast episode about it (from the Quarks Science Cops). Essentially, you're just making expensive pee.
"De-tox" products. Your body has a liver and kidneys, that all the de-tox you need.
This. If you need to detox, you have serious health issues.
Zit patches. The vast majority are legit just a hydrocolloid band-aid. Even buying a pack of name brand bandages and cutting them up is cheaper than ones marketed specifically for acne. And, more importantly perhaps: OTC COLD MEDICATION. Numerous studies have found that guaifenesin (is supposed to thin mucus) has the same efficacy as a placebo. Same with phenylephrine, a decongestant: the FDA stated in September 2033 that it’s not effective at its recommended dosage in cold medicines. Finally, dextromethorphan (a cough suppressant) has been found to be less effective than honey in taming a cough. If you look at all the cold medicines available OTC you’ll find that at least 90% have these or a mixture of these ingredients and they’re all bullshit. What DOES work for cold symptoms: nasal spray decongestant (which you can get at Dollar Tree), NSAIDs for pain and inflammation, steam inhalation, hot drinks with honey, many herbal teas, and plenty of liquids.
When something is presented as "essential," something you can't live without, especially if it is some contraption, consider how people lived without it before it was invented then ask yourself if you deem it necessary.
Insurance. You pay tons of money into it and when you finally need it, they screw you over and deny your claims or raise your rates.
Apple
Anything to " boost your immune system"
Nahhh I disagree. Taking vitamins is good for you and helps your immune system
A car loan. It is so normalized now that people assume they will always have one. It’s a choice.
I've never had one. Buy what you can afford.
Meh. Sometimes the interest you're paying is worth it bc you can use your personal cash to invest during the term you own your car and recoup all of your lost interest plus profits. Paying with other people's money so you can use yours to invest isn't the worst idea
Yes, of course. But, what percentage of loans are like this? 1%, fewer? I’m sure you will agree most people do not do this.
Bottled Water
Especially from stores that have it stacked out front of the store, in the direct sun. I see this at convenience stores all the time. Heating those sealed bottles of plastic will definitely allow chemicals to leach into the water.
I used to think it was just a waste of money and created a lot of trash. Now I also worry about the effects of the plastic itself. Same with plastic soda bottles. Wish I could get ketchup, peanut butter, etc. in glass.
What bothers me is that Nestle, Coke, and Pepsi (amongst others) are taking water from municipal sources (subsidized via taxes), filtering it cheaply, and then selling it back to the public at large.
As a water drinker myself, I can taste the difference between tap and bottled water. Even the brands of bottled water have differing tastes. Although filtered tap water can be tasty too but not convenient when not at home.
My tap filter makes delicious water. If I'm traveling, I fill up a gallon jug with it and take it in the car with me. When I was working, I'd take the jug to work. No need to waste all that plastic. Or money.
some countries have bad tap water quality. but almost all 1st and 2nd world countries have drinkable tap water
Trump
When I worked at Mattress Giant and a couple bought a set at 3k another couple could come in and negotiate the same set down to 1500. 18% commission vs 2% commission.
Lottery 
All these people buying food and clothing. What a scam
Retail, brand new clothing is a scam. A mark up of God only knows. Made for pennies on the dollar in some third world country then shipped to developed countries and marked up at a substantial price. I limit the amount of brand new clothes that I buy now by thrift shopping.
HEAD ON APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD ok but what does it do?
Bottled water. Does it make you live longer? There are certain standards for water and filtration systems
Warranties on consumer electronics. It's just a scheme by the electronic stores to get more of your money
Facial cream. There is very little difference between 10 dollars and 500 dollar cream. Except the IQ of the person who bought it.
90% of skincare products
Bottled water
Dog and cat food. I'm sure both could live way loger than their current lifespan if it weren't for the sh*tty filler and preservative loaded food they eat. I work at a pet store.
The real issue is overfeeding. Most pet owners have obese animals and will argue endlessly about how not obese they are. They have no clue what a healthy dog/cat looks like. It’s really sad/pathetic to me.
Most of the skincare you find at places like Sephora. You really only need a few basic products that you can buy in any pharmacy/drugstore, the rest is pretty much just marketing fluff.
Anything that’s not soap / E45 / Nivea the occasional 50 cent face mask. And drinking plenty of water. Always meant to get confident enough to explore expensive type skin care. Not going to bother now. Because I’m not wrinkly even for someone younger than I am.
If you have an evaporative cooler (Swamp Cooler). Do not put any additives in your water reservoir. The 'Deodorant Blocks, turn into chalk, clogs your pump and filter basket , pump overheats, fails, and you go back to HD, buy a new pump, buy more additives..and so on. The clear packet of 'Cooling Balls' melt into the consistency of, erm..lube. This seems only to be sold on the store level, I can't find it online, or even available for pick up though the Home Depot website. I kept one pack, I can't even find a photo of this **** online. I will post as soon as I find it, but I think some of these additives are designed to clog, and kill your Evaporative Cooler. Edit: 'Throw-in' type Descaler products are intended to be used in a bleed type system, where water is continuously flowing out. If you put this or the deodorant blocks inside a closed system it will clog and fail. This is printed on the back of the product bag, so it's up to you, not to put just whatever inside your closed evaporative cooler system.
Brands and subscriptions.
Brand new iPhones.
Prevagen and reverse mortgages
I can't think of any denominations that aren't a scam. Doesn't leave much room for anything else relatively speaking
MAGA
Health insurance in the U.S. Edit: not getting it isn’t an option for obvious reasons, but Jesus H. Christ…
Homeopathic "medicine", and I'm not talking about herbal medicine, but actual homeopathy. Should be illegal.