Empowered by Knowledge

"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?  
Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish." 
Luke 14 : 28 - 30.

Some people would admit that within a time frame of as short as about two hours of discussion and interacting with others , that they would have formed their first impressions of that adult or child.
They would  be able  to guess what are the levels of those  persons' social background , their education and their overall mentality.
Basing their judgement  on  their very first meeting , people have been known to decide to form relationships or to reject any further  interactions with persons whom they see as not "fitting the bill " of their expectations.
 For those who rely on their first impressions or first instincts, they could change their mind and decide  to defer their final judgement on that person until after they make extra efforts  to find out more about the person . Usually this decision  to "get  to know better" would arise if and only if such persons  have aroused their interest because they find them physically attractive or because they think that such  persons could be useful to them in future.

Life becomes less complicated if one knew what one should know about products before buying them, as I wrote in my previous blog  titled " Reviews-powered Shopping".
As well, life would be hassles-free if we knew before hand what and who we allow to come into our lives.
Just as we have the guidance of products reviews , wouldn't it  be nice to have " people - reviews" too?
Having the foresight provided by the medium of  honest and reliable recommendations is vital in aiding us in assessing  people before we decide to  reject them or admit them into our lives .
 How wise is it  to depend on human knowledge when forming a first impression about anyone ?
Using our own limited human knowledge , it is not possible  to know the true picture about anyone .
Whatever the information or knowledge is , which we are searching  for to enable us form our impressions about people , there is the need for moderation and caution .
Divinely - inspired revelations about people and things are the ultimate source of  knowledge which can guarantee  fool-proof and error-proof decision - making .
The easy alternative is  to depend on our impressions or on "hear-say".
If you do that, you could make the costly mistake of

Reviews-powered Shopping

“Buy what you don’t have yet, or what you really want, which can be mixed with what you already own. Buy only because something excites you, not just for the simple act of shopping.”
― Karl Lagerfeld
                                       
For savvy  shoppers , it has become a popular  option  to conduct thorough Products and Prices reviews and checks  before embarking on their shopping sprees on line and in stores .
Recently , I decided to treat  myself and give my kitchen "a make-over" ; by replacing the kitchen gadgets I had used for years  with  new and latest designs of  a bigger frost-free fridge - freezer , a  new washing machine , a complete Tea set , a  shiny Red four-slice toaster and a shiny Red kettle.
To get the best products and prices reviews , I decided to check for them on the websites of products reviews experts who know which sellers are offering the best deals for the products I desired to buy.

With a vast array of products choices before me.,  to say the least is to say I was spoilt  for choice,
 I had loads of fun and laughter reading all the products reviews !
After reading all the product reviews , I couldn't decide which ones to choose, because there were so many lovely products to choose from , which were within the same price range.
 
Finally , as usual,  I decided to choose the best quality products with the best brand reputation, though they were a bit more expensive than the ones with lower brand names .
Surprisingly , minutes after I logged off the various shopping  sites , my Amazon and eBay accounts , my smart phone , email and the side panel of my Face Book accounts were inundated with flashes of adverts of more and more top of the range designs of frost-free  freezers , red four -slice toasters and kettles , and washing machines ; the latest deals in the market!
This would give you an idea of how competitive sellers have  become .
How, you may wonder, did these stores know my phone number , my email , Face book accounts and other accounts ?
They know because the websites  use internet cookies and because prior to that time , I had shopped and paid for some other goods on their websites using my lap top or my smart phone.
When you shop on line , you pay with bank cards or with store cards only. These cards contain all your contact details including your home address , phone number and email accounts.
Also your email address and phone number could have been obtained in the past from you by the stores to enable them to confirm your payment for the goods by text or by email and to inform you of your goods delivery tracking.
As for how these stores would trace any one's Face Book account, the stores like anybody else could easily trace that one out .
Goods on offer in stores and on line which compete for the shoppers' attention range from the smallest items like office or  household bric-à-brac to essential stuff like foods , drinks , medicines , insurance policies , fashion wears , cosmetics , perfumes , jewellery and then the "heavies" such as computers, electronics , household gadgets, lap-tops, mobile phones ,cameras , cars , trucks , heavy machinery and even  caravans , flats and houses and the list goes on.
It is the desire of every shopper  to get value  for  their money .
 When numerous similar  products are claiming to be the best of the deals on offer , the decision to buy which one becomes a challenge and a time consuming effort .
Like I always do, when I am " at sea " about which product  to choose, I  would get the best deals by resorting  to checking independent products reviews and comparison websites. 
Product reviews and price checks are essential for  millions of shoppers , especially for those who shop for high-priced goods on line , whereby  it is  impossible  for them to do physical checks  before they purchase their desired goods and  for people who do not have the luxury of the time to spend on conducting  such thorough reviews.

 The best  products reviews  are obtained when the buyers do their own searches by using ready-made  independent reviews and the recommendations of experts and of  consumers  who have used these products  for some time;  and so they  have had a first-hand  knowledge of the quality of the goods.
 Are products' reviews and products prices comparison a waste of time and effort ?
Since when did looking before leaping become a waste of time?
It is a waste of time and effort to return goods purchased in a hurry .
When the quality of goods do not match what their advertisements described them to be; they are not fit for purpose . As such,  more resources and time are wasted in in returning them to the sellers and ordering for  their replacements .
" Since hunters have learnt  to shoot without missing ; birds have learnt  to fly without perching ".
It is  not enough to rely on the manufacturers and sellers glowing reviews and descriptions of their products . For the reason of making high figure  sales , these advertisements could  be embellishing the facts about the quality of their goods.

Professional and reliable product reviews and price checks for all goods and services  are best obtained from the independent product reviewers such as the Consumers' Protection Groups which are made up of popular review sites like : Which?, GoCompare, Confused.com, CNET , CompareSearch.com , TopConsumerReviews. com , AskJeeves.com, Buzzillions.com, reevoo.com, OmgiliProductsReviews, hotdiamonds , Ask.com , Epinion.com etc.

Usually , sellers would give previous  buyers of their products the chance  to rate them and to write products reviews and recommendations beside the products on display on their website; with messages  by the sellers on their websites like  these:
"On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate this product's performance ;10 being the highest score?"
"Would you recommend this product  to a friend ?"

Recommendation  stars are awarded by products reviewers ranging from zero stars to 1,2,3 ,4 or 5 stars.
Getting favourable  raving reviews and the highest numbers of stars from independent reviewers is the name of the game for  attracting customers and huge sales.
The higher the number of stars and the number of the "Yes , I would recommend this ....!" reviews ,  the easier it is for people  to decide to opt for its purchase .
 
Some popular top quality products score up to 5 stars and they could have up to one hundred positive comments and reviews attached to them on line .
 Since anonymous comments and previews are allowed to be posted on line , people do have a field day , feeling free to writing the facts they know  about the products which they are reviewing .
Some customers see it as their civic responsibility  to warn potential buyers ; and so they  would  not hesitate to give a straight answer like : "No! Not recommended ", if they were not impressed by the standard of the quality of any particular product.
Most of the products reviews and comments I have read on line are positive ones.
Products  reviews even when they are negative ones , they are not  glaringly malicious negative  reviews. .Some products deserve negative reviews and such reviews if many , could put off potential buyers.
Unfavourable  reviews , putting them mildly , would  read like these :
 " HANDS OFF! DO NOT BUY THIS! " , "This is junk stuff!" , " DON'T even go there !", "What was I thinking when I bought this ?!",  "I bought this and returned it two days later!", "Not fit  for Purpose!", "Not recommended!" ,"Did you say ; "this is top of the range ?"  "Bull !"; and so on.
Some products get so many bad reviews and unfavourable comments that your heart would go out  to the sellers and  you would wonder what the sellers of those products were thinking when they decided  to give people the privilege  to write reviews of  their  not-so-good products on their websites!
For all it is worth , whether good or bad ones , independent consumers product reviews are here to stay .
They aid  not only the consumers but the manufactures and sellers as well.
For the big companies , their Customer Relations Departments  monitor all the comments  and reviews which are made about the quality of their  products  and their services to  members of the public .
The companies  use these comments and reviews for their staff training  purposes  and for improving the quality of their goods , leading  to better reviews for them in future.

“A shopping cart flipped upside down forms a cage that I use to protect myself from consumerism.”
― Jarod Kintz, Who Moved My Choose?