As anyone who loves to watch YouTube videos might have noticed. the ad length & frequency has been steadily ramping up for a while now. A few years ago, there was often a short ad at the beginning of a video or sometimes at the end.
There was always the option to skip the ad.
Then, there was sometimes an option to skip, at least, in my experience.
Then, there would be an ad at the beginning of the video, sometimes one at the end, too, with the option to skip it. Then, on longer playing videos, there would be an ad at the beginning along with a few more peppered in throughout the video.
Now?
There is an option to skip an ad after the countdown 5 4 3 2 1 SKIP!
Some of the videos have stopped featuring the skip ad feature. Some of the videos have a pop up that says the video featured will play after the ad.
Nope.
After the first ad ends, there is another one!
In place of the skip ad feature, there's a pop up that offers an ad free option, for a price!
So, the powers that be at You Tube get paid so that a company can advertise their wares, service or make a political statement. Then, the same powers that be, seek to collect further fees from people who don't want to learn about shaving foam, poop quality or meds to get hard & stay hard.
Since the onslaught of poop ads, viagra & cialis ads, the annoying Melissa McCarthy in bed or on the beach ads, I've considered it.
Almost.
Now that many of the ads play all the way through with no option to skip the annoying & disgusting ads, it causes me to rethink whether I want to watch the video at all. *click* ~ *next*
Unless it's an Andrew Huberman podcast or a how to video I need to fix my car or fix anything, I choose to exit the video or at least turn the sound off so the ad is less annoying.
Yes, you read that right!
I do car repairs for myself when I can.
One of my favorite shopping sites is Etsy. The other two are Amazon & eBay. The broad price range for car parts, between these 3 sites is astounding! Even Facebook Marketplace has some sweet deals on miscellaneous car parts. I had a mishap with an oversized construction cone which took my drivers side external mirror off. It was around 2 am, I was driving a descent into the Salt Lake Valley. It was very windy with random gusts. One of those gusts blew a cone into the driver's side front into my car.
Yup
I heard the part shatter into so many pieces.
Dang
The road was paved & unlit, so, too dangerous to go back for it.
Looking on eBay, the prices were so ridiculously high. I have the $$$$, I'm frugal. Just because I have it doesn't mean I should spend it.
As I looked around at the price ranges from $55. - $220. it was so astounding that the prices had such a wide range. Around 90% were pre-owned in a polite descriptor. The parts were used!
Google Search!
Finally, I located a replacement mirror for my car, same color, for the suh-weet deal of $18. with free shipping on Facebook Marketplace! It was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
YAY!
The part arrived 3 days later, the YouTube video was very helpful.
This was a long explanation with no skip option. Get creative!
While browsing on Etsy, I was looking for the best deals for needlework patterns & fancy dancey components. Beads, silk fibers, tiny charms, etcetera.
Yes, I'm passionate about needlework.
No judgey-wudgey.
Doing needlework used to be thought of as a much older persons hobby. Small minded people still think of it as such.
Umm, nope.
Needlework is still very much alive, well, enjoyed by many different sorts of people. All ages, genders, races, ethnicities. Got it? Good.
Having been so fortunate to have gone to a few needlework retreats, meeting the designers who are the celebrities of the needlework world. Yes, It's a worldwide community. I hope it's even a galactic maybe a universe wide community.
Maybe even fluidic space? Home to species 8472.
Shout out to 7 of 9 & Chakotay!
I'm a Trekkie, I can dream!
Whilst browsing on etsy.com, I saw a needlework pattern that usually sells for $12. at the least, $25. at the most, if it's still in print, that's just the price of the pattern.
The price was $4. WOWEE! I got a titch excited!
I clicked on the listing. If it had been an illegal copy or a PDF not approved by the designer, I would report it for sure.
It was a bit disappointing.
The tactic used by these dishonest sellers is JUST for the beads or a charm or a specialized hand painted thread used to stitch the model of the pattern.
NOT the pattern itself for $4.
To me, this is a dirty way to list an item. The photo shows the model that the pattern would look like, NOT the beads or charm or fiber.
This is a dirty practice of trickery.
Bait & Switch.
Show something that someone would want just to get the person to click on it. Offer something else that the person might want, NOT the item pictured in the initial listing.
When I see one of these dishonest listings, I make a note of the sellers ID. Yes, I actually write it down, in a small notebook, pen & paper.
It helps me to remember who the sellers are. The purpose, you might have guessed is to never buy from sellers who do this, seeing it as just another selling method. There are only ten that I have noted. There may be more.
As a proactive person, I took the time to send a message to the sellers. I was very careful to choose polite wording in the messages.
Only one of them responded.
Peeps ~ it was quite ugly.
That seller got a star in my notebook, next to their name as well as the name of their etsy shop. 💥
Many people who sell on etsy also sell on other sites using the same personal name & name of their business.
Needles to say, no matter how appealing the listing, I steer clear of the bait & switch sellers on any site they use. They can use their tactics, I can choose to make purchases elsewhere.
We humans can do better, can be better to our fellow beings. Doing price baiting is one way to be so off putting, it can hurt sales. Maybe, in small ways. Every sale, every rating matters.
A streaming service I really enjoyed got rid of most of their Star Trek offerings. That was my cue to get rid of them. Downsizing & Switching to another streaming service that I could Trek out on without so many annoying ads, that worked just fine. One is all I need.
There are many more pressing world problems, mine are small. I'm grateful for the fortuitous events in my life.
