Don’t let “free” sway a decision.
Everyone seems to get excited by the word free. The mere notion of receiving “something” for “nothing” elevates sentiment towards an idea, company or product. However, what people oftentimes fail to realize is that items are rarely given away for free. The cost is recouped somewhere else. The prime example of this is the recent report that Abilene Christian University is giving away iPhones to all incoming freshman. This report would excite many people. A student trying to decide whether or not to attend that school could be swayed by the idea that if they go to ACU, they will get a “free” iPhone. While you aren’t physically being billed for an iPhone, lets think about this for a second. The iPhone being given to the students retails for $399. Usually when you buy in bulk, which ACU will be doing, companies offer discounts on products. Don’t tell me that Apple is not going to be slashing the price from $399 for a bulk order of thousands of iPhones. My guess is that the school is probably paying in the $200 range for each iPhone. With tuition standing at about 25K a year, ACU can spare $200 of that towards an iPhone for each student. To a student, receiving an iPhone seems like a wonderful, wonderful thing. I am not saying it wouldn’t be cool, but some may use the iPhone giveaway as the decision breaker to go to ACU. Is a $399 iPhone enough to sway a huge life decision? To me, a person must avoid being tempted by something free when making a decision. Use your better judgment and weigh the decision based on what each option offers. Discount the free item and make the choice based on your instinct and common sense. If you ultimately decide to go with the option that rewards you with a free item then good for you, just make sure it isn’t the reason you make the decision in the first place!
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