“It’s not a good deal if you don’t need it”
We live in a world obsessed with deals.
Discounts, bundles, limited-time offers, “save 40% today” banners, end-of-season sales, and irresistible upgrades — all engineered to trigger the same psychological response:
“I’m getting more than I’m paying for… I’d be stupid to say no.”
But here’s the truth we often overlook:
If you don’t need it, it’s not a good deal.
It’s just a cheaper form of waste.
A purchase with no purpose is not a saving.
It’s an expense disguised as opportunity.
The illusion of value
A “great deal” is only great if it serves a real need, solves a real problem, or creates real value.
But we’re wired to respond emotionally to relative value (“was 199, now only 79”), not actual value (“do I truly need this?”). Markets thrive on this gap in human reasoning.
Good marketers know it.
Good leaders remember it.
Good decision-makers live by it.
Whether in business or personal life, the principle holds:
- Buying software your team won’t use is not “future-proofing” — it’s clutter.
- Hiring talent for capacity you don’t need is not “strategic scaling” — it’s premature burn.
- Stockpiling technology, subscriptions, or gear you never activate is not “cost-saving” — it’s leakage.
If there is no use-case, there is no value — only storage.
The emotional pull of the “deal”
Deals don’t sell products, they sell feelings:
- The feeling of being smart
- The feeling of gaining more than others
- The feeling of avoiding loss (“only 3 left!”)
- The feeling of reward (“I deserve this — and it’s cheaper!”)
This is not accidental. Behavioral economics calls it perceived gain bias — the brain pays more attention to what we think we’re gaining than what we’re actually spending.
That’s why we end up with:
- Clothes we never wear
- Tools we never use
- Apps we never open
- Courses we never finish
- Subscriptions we forget to cancel
We didn’t buy them because we needed them.
We bought them because they felt like a good deal.
The business version of this mistake
Individuals do it with shoes, gadgets, and gym memberships.
Organizations do it with technology, staffing, partnerships, and strategy.
Some common examples:
| The “Deal” | Reality |
|---|---|
| “We got 40% off a 5-year software license.” | But only 10% of features will ever be used. |
| “We hired extra capacity to be safe.” | Budget now locked in, ROI uncertain. |
| “We bundled three services at a reduced rate.” | But only needed one of them. |
| “We bought hardware in bulk before the price went up.” | Half will be outdated before deployment. |
A bad purchase at a good price is still a bad purchase.
The hidden cost isn’t the discount you gained — it’s the runway you lost.
Opportunity cost: The real price tag
Every unnecessary “good deal” drains something:
- Time
- Focus
- Storage
- Cognitive bandwidth
- Budget
- Optionality
When you commit resources to what you don’t need, you reduce your ability to invest in what you do need — often at the moment it matters most.
Nothing is more expensive than the wrong “yes.”
The discipline of “No, even if it’s cheap”
Smart buyers — in life, in leadership, and in business — don’t ask:
“Is this a good price?”
They ask:
“Does this serve a real need now, or in a clearly defined future?”
If the answer isn’t clear, the real discipline isn’t negotiating better.
It’s walking away.
The most successful organizations don’t win by taking every deal.
They win by protecting focus, resources, and priorities.
Great strategy isn’t about choosing what to do.
It’s about choosing what not to buy, not to build, not to pursue.
A practical litmus test before you buy
Ask these five questions:
- If this were full price, would I still want it?
- Do I know exactly how and when it will be used?
- Does it replace a current pain, or just add another thing?
- Will it make something else unnecessary — or will it create more maintenance?
- Does this purchase move us toward our actual priorities?
If any answer is vague → it’s not a deal.
It’s an impulse.
The paradox: Scarcity creates clarity
When money, energy, or time is limited, we suddenly see truth:
- We don’t need more tools — we need better use of the ones we have.
- We don’t need more content — we need more implementation.
- We don’t need more subscriptions — we need more discipline.
- We don’t need more ideas — we need more action.
Constraints sharpen value. Abundance blurs it.
The healthiest businesses don’t scale by adding more.
They scale by doing less with precision.
The real good deal
A real good deal is not measured in discount, but in alignment.
✅ It serves a clear purpose
✅ It’s usable today or soon — not “someday”
✅ It reduces friction, instead of adding complexity
✅ It creates more value than it consumes
✅ It earns back more than it costs — in time, clarity, or results
Anything else is just noise with a price tag.
There is a simple rule that applies to wallets, boardrooms, and life:
If you don’t need it, it’s not a deal — it’s a distraction.
Whether you’re a consumer, leader, founder, or procurement lead:
Saying yes feels good.
But saying no is where wisdom — and margin — is built.
DREIESKIVA|Roald Kvam 
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