Expectation vs Reality in Sales

The field of sales can be tricky on both sides of the deal. The salesperson has to make the sale, while the customer has to decide if the sale is worth it or not. When you’re on the receiving end, especially with online purchases, the decision on whether or not to buy can be extra difficult. While you’re always hoping the price and the images are exactly what you’ll get, keeping your guard up is extremely important. It’s always a sour day when reality doesn’t meet your expectations.

Undoubtedly, my worst experience with reality being worse than expectations happened several years ago, in late 2012. I was a young boy deeply invested in the Beyblade franchise at the time. There was one set I had seen in a store that looked especially fun. It featured four beyblade tops, two launchers, and two launcher accessories, plus some extra goodies. The set was produced by Hasbro and had distinctive packaging. Not to mention, I was very knowledgeable about the contents of the set. It seemed like getting this would be a piece of cake.

My mom went online and found a listing for the set. It had the correct product images, and the description outlined the contents of the set. She went ahead and purchased it. The package arrived shortly before Hurricane Sandy struck our area. When I opened it, however, I wasn’t greeted with the set I was expecting. Instead, I had received a knockoff set that looked very similar to the real Hasbro one, but don’t mistake it, for the quality was dreadful. The tops themselves were completely broken within a month; the other parts were in trash by five months after opening. Had it been the real McCoy Hasbro set, I very likely would still have all of the tops and accessories in my collection today.

The reality with this sale was simply not doing enough research. Had we been able to go out to the store and find the set, we would have been far more successful in getting the real one. Instead, the reality was that I had to live with a low-quality, fragile set of fighting spin tops that couldn’t fight after four weeks. Reality was mean to me on this one.

When it came to buying my second car, however, the reality was actually better than my expectations. I was in need of a new car after my first one had been totaled a few months prior. I was looking online, specifically for inexpensive 4-cylinder cars with two rows of seats and a manual transmission. After a few weeks, I came across a really good-looking listing. The pictures were nice, there were a decent amount of them, and the dealership that put up the listing wasn’t too far away.

My dad and I took a trip out to the dealership to see if the car was worth buying. Oftentimes, when buying cars online, images and pricing can be extremely deceiving. Sometimes it’s impossible to tell if a car is a perfect runner or a shell with nothing inside to make it run. The only way to find out is to go and see the car in person. When my dad and I saw the car that would become mine, it was just as good as it looked in the images online. When we test drove it, the car ran smoothly, and there was nothing concerning us. The sale went smoothly, and we drove off the lot the same day.

It’s been just short of two years since I bought the car, and I still have it in great working order today. It’s been fortunate to have survived two accidents as of this writing. The first was a close call that resulted in my bumper rubbing against a metal railing. After inspecting the car, there were no problems with the internals, and all that showed was a little scratching on the front bumper and fender. The second was a collision. Again, when I inspected the car, there was no damage. After doing a quick engine check, nothing was loose, missing, or damaged. The most it had was a minuscule blemish that’s barely noticeable on it. Looking at it and riding in it, you wouldn’t be able to tell it had been in a collision.

So not only did I buy a car in great condition, it’s also proven itself to be nearly invincible in every situation it’s been faced with. Now granted, I am a bit of a car nerd, and I absolutely love driving my car because it's a stick shift. After learning how to drive my car, I don’t think I’ll be able to drive anything but stick until I’m in my 60s or 70s. Not only was the car in great condition when it was purchased, but it completely blew my expectations out of the water. I love the car so much that I’ve got plans on completely overhauling it so I don’t have to get a new one after it dies (although I’m hoping to have at least two of my dream cars by then).

Sales, especially those done over the internet, are certainly a gamble in a lot of cases. There’s plenty that goes into ensuring you buy what you are looking for. Researching the product, looking at verified sellers and listings, checking price comparisons to make sure you aren’t being scammed, etc. Regardless, it’s the reality of what you get versus your expectations that makes or breaks a sale for you. If you buy something you think looks good, but it doesn’t live up to your expectations and lands in the trash a few months later, you’re probably not going to be too happy. But sometimes you’ll make that one purchase that lasts you a lifetime and gives you joy like no other.