The last time I went to one of the “big electronics retailers” to buy a pricey piece of electronics, I’d done my research, I’d narrowed down the options I did and did not need, and I’d found the lowest price. That was only the beginning of the purchase, though, as anyone who’s been to one of those stores lately surely recalls.

Suddenly, a sales clerk appeared at my elbow. (Where had he been when I was wandering around looking for the dang thing in the first place?) Then the high-pressure tactics began. Did I want a web camera to go with it? A printer? What about extra memory? No, no, and no.

At the checkout line the pressure continued. That’s where they try to scare you, oddly enough, by forcing you to envision this brand new piece of merchandise breaking down and all the expense that would entail. You haven’t even paid for it yet; it’s still in its box. But they want you to spend even more money on the possibility that something will go very, very wrong with the product you’re about to plunk down hard-earned money for.

It always feels like a con job. Why would they sell me a product (which had received 5-star reviews on their site) and then try to convince me that it isn’t just possible it will have problems but actually probable. If that’s the case, then why the 5-stars?

I know one obvious reason: they want to prey on fear. The fear that all of this money I’m spending now could be meaningless depending on the manufacturer’s warranty. With computers, for instance, you void the warranty the instant you open the box to install additional memory. So, naturally, the folks who want to sell you that memory also want to sell you an extended warranty that will allegedly cover your computer even then.

Me? I want to get a computer home and see how fast it is once I remove all the bloatware. Chances are, once that’s gone, I won’t need additional memory. At least not just yet. So why would I buy the extended warranty now?

Then the truly hard sell comes: get it while you can, because you might not be able to get it, later.

Hey, that kind of line doesn’t work with me when VH says it on Saturday nights. It sure isn’t going to work from some pimple-faced kid trying to convince me to add a $200 warranty on top of my $1200 machine.