Customization is becoming a word that automatically equates to dollar signs.  This isn’t always the case because it may often times be cheaper to get things customized for yourself, than to by standardized assembly products off the shelf.

A few examples of this concept is clothes and taxes.

Clothes:

I recently purchased three (3) tailored suits with an additional pair of pants for each suit (FYI, always get an extra pair of pants because they always wear out before your blazer) and 11 tailored dress shirts.  These items were manufactured by hand and produced in 3 days and 2 nights, where I was provided 3 fittings (Industry standard is generally 2 fittings).

The standard cost of a Men’s Warehouse suit off the rack that will make your ass look like the titanic will cost you about $300 dollars minimum.  I paid $2,000 dollars approximately for everything listed above.  A single Armani suit purchased at an outlet would cost more than $2,000 dollars.

I had all of this done by a professional in Hong Kong and he is now able to ship me any article of clothing custom tailored to my measurements anywhere in the world.  If you’re questioning the cost because of the airfare, then allow an accountant to properly break out the cost for you.

A “bespoke” or custom suit in New York City would cost you about $10,000 dollars starting.  An average tailor in Chinatown or of similar quality would still run you about $1,200 dollars a suit minimum.  Thus, the closest comparative cost is about $4,000 dollars.  That’s enough for my suits, my airfare and etc.

Taxes:

TurboTax is your run of the mill over-the-shelf product that will help you “self-file.”  Taxation in itself is an incredibly simple process because as long as you’re willing to pay more and do less, then filing taxes is easy.  But, if you’re looking to save or pay less taxes, then it becomes a beast.

Paying an accountant that can provide his professional experience to provide you a greater refund or greater amount of safety from the IRS is always worth more than an off-the-shelf alternative.

I will qualify this with the statement that this is meant for individuals with their own personal businesses, startups or other similar pursuits.  If you’re an employee and no other source of income, then TurboTax will probably be sufficient.

I am probably one of the cheapest guys you’ve ever met because I fundamentally hate over paying.  I grew up poor most of my youth and that consisted of living in basements for 10 years and working at random jobs like sweat shops and handing out flyers on the street.

So, I clearly understand the value of a dollar and I’ll stretch it to the end of the rainbow.

At this point, searching craigslist has become a habit on an almost daily basis.  Last week I was able to find a listing that offered an Asus G Series 17inch Desktop Replacement Notebook at a price of $1,000 dollars.

Obviously, I wasn’t willing to pay the full amount but I was more than willing to bargain!  So, I texted the guy, “Hey, would you be willing to trade?” and he answered fairly quickly, “What do you have?”

In craigslist, you’ll often see the phrases:

• Willing to Trade
• Exchange
• Barter
• For sale or trade
• FS/FT
• Trade

But, I’ll usually ask anyway just to be annoying because it never hurts to ask.  Rejection therapy man!

When someone is willing to trade it usually illustrates one of 2 mentalities.  (1) They don’t really care about the money and just want to get something out of the deal or (2) they know that their item isn’t an easy sale and would be easier to trade.  So, you’re usually at an advantage in this negotiation.

The guy who owned the laptop happened to be a Latino parking attendant that became obsessed with WoW (World of Warcraft) and almost lost his job, wife and family because of his obsession.  Lol, you can’t make this kind of stuff up on Craigslist haha.  He didn’t trust himself to have the computer around himself anymore because he felt that he might “regress back into WoW.”

So, I offered him a PS3 from 2008 with a market value of $150 dollars and a Nintendo 3DS with a market value of $150 dollars.  The WoW obsessed parking attendant snatched the deal and was willing to give me the computer tomorrow (BIG MISTAKE).

I forgot the basic rule in negotiation and craigslist!  When you’re getting a great deal like this (Ei., A $1,700 dollar laptop for $300 dollars in worthless crap I’ll never use again), you need to close the deal TODAY before they reconsider or make another deal.

The parking attendant calls me later that night and tells me that someone else is offering him a new PS3 with 50 games.  I’m thinking FUCK.  I knew I screwed up by giving him too much time.  So, I texted him on the spot with my final offer, “I’ll give you $200 cash plus the PS3 and Nintendo 3DS, final offer and pickup TONIGHT!”

The parking attendant agreed and I got off my ass at around 10:47pm and humped it over to Jackson Heights, Queens on the 7 train and met him at a Dunkin Donuts where I finally got my awesome piece of hardware.

BTW, when you meet this guy you totally believe the story about WoW destroying his life LOL.

Conclusion:

I got a $1,700 dollar computer for $200 dollars cash out of pocket, $300 dollars of crap that I don’t want and a little hustle.  A total cost of $500 dollars max, but a profit of $1,200 dollars.  The hunt for the deal and the reward is always rewarding on the ride home.

My next conquest is going to be a fujitsu s1500 scanner!