Of course it was all Chicken McNuggets back then . . . .

I still clearly see that day when my co-worker caught an unconscious cliché spiller in the act. “You get what you pay for”; that’s what the seasoned-pro said to us. It may be the most commonly used line to defend a price position, in the history of time.

So my wise co-worker responded with this little quiz for the seasoned pro;

Q: Have you ever had chicken McNuggets?

A: Yes (Everyone had, of course.)

Q: How much did you pay?

A: $2.49 (Back then I think they were $2.49 for a six pack.)

Q: But they go on sale for 99 cents every so often right?

A: Yes

Q: Do you get 2.4 nuggets instead of 6 or 60% smaller nuggets for your .99 cents?

A: No . . . . .

So you don’t actually “get what you pay for”, you pay for what you get; he said. And the embarrassed, seasoned-pro porky pigged his way through the discussion . . . .

I thought of that yesterday when my quest for laminated pouches took a surreal turn. New to the exciting field of laminated report samples and such, on Tuesday I took to the local nationally recognized Office Supply store to purchase laminated pouches. The respected National Brand sold for $22.99 for a pack of 25, glossy, 9 x 11.5 pouches, about 92 cents a pouch. The Office Supply Store private label sold for 27.99 per pack of 50 glossy 9 x 11.5 pouches, about .56 cents per pouch. Naturally, being a seasoned-pro, I chose the store label brand for a huge 39% savings.

Yesterday, out purchasing items at BJ’s wholesale, I was knocked for a loop, I tell ya. As I strode blissfully past the office supplies I saw a display for laminating pouches, 9 x 11.5 from the acknowledged premium manufacturer for $6.99. Surely, it must have been a pack of 5 or maybe 10 pouches; it was BJ’s after all. But no! To my stunned amazement, it was a pack of 50! That’s right, 50 pouches, same size, same gloss, from the leading manufacturer, for .14 cents per pouch. That’s an 84% savings.

So these pouches had to be defective, right? Or maybe the finish was crummy, or maybe . . . . .

Nope; every bit as good, probably better when I tested them out.

Kinda makes one wonder, just how much even seasoned-pros like ourselves we can negotiate, or save even by accident if we keep our eyes, ears and minds open.

Maybe we don’t get what we pay for . . . .maybe we just pay for what we get.