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The Stacked Ball Acrylic Table Lamp
By You | August 28, 2007
Yes, this is a very very specific product review, I do realize that. I think the lessons of the review, however are well applied to many other products and options. That lesson is going to be Hey You! Shoppers Rule No. 7: don’t buy the first thing you see. There will be many other items out there either just like it, similar enough to it that you won’t know the difference, or actually nicer than the first one. The price will be better, might better, or the item ultimately a better value for your money.
Case in point is this lamp (this is the only link you’re getting, and it’s not the best one, it’s just illustrative of the lamp I’m talking about). We originally saw something like it while registering for our wedding. It was at Pottery Barn, it was $179 for just the lamp base and another $40-something for the shades. That’s well over $200 for a table lamp. The Husband fell in love with the thing, so we registered for one for him to have as his side table lamp in the bedroom. No one bought us one.
So after we moved, we’ve been on a quest for something like the original lamp we saw at Pottery Barn, but now that we were paying for it ourselves, at a cheaper price. There was one at Fortunoff for $99. Slightly different but not enough to matter. Then the few online places. Prices ranged from the $59 in the linked item to way more. We saw versions in the JC Penny Catalog. Pottery Barn reissues. Even TJ Maxx had one, but at the outrageous price of $119 - and that was for one that was damaged and we haggled with them. And on and on.
Needless to say, when confronted with all of these different knock-offs of the same lamp at a range of pretty high prices, we just didn’t buy anything. Until, that is, the fateful day I was in Urban Outfitters. The exact lamp pictured in that link was there for $38. I kid you not. I snap a photo with the trusty Treo. Email it to The Husband. He calls and says “YES!!!!!’ and that was that.
So we got what was originally something that would have cost well over $200 for $38. Similar enough to the original that there’s really no difference at all. With a little patience and a little looking, that’s what can happen.
Topics: Health & Home |
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