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Comment by gt565k | Hacker News Reader

Who falls for these door to door salesmen’s Bs? I hate these guys knocking on my door. Really just wanna punch them in the face.

If I needed something Id go and buy it, don’t need some pushy sleazy salesman trying to trick me.

These door to door sales are so bad for the consumer there are even laws in states that state you have 3 days to back out of a contract signed during a door to door sale.

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> If I needed something I'd go and buy it, don't need some pushy sleazy salesman trying to trick me.

In 2021, more than $285 billion was spent on advertising in the United States. Why? Because while you might think you have an "If I needed something I'd go and buy it" mentality, the evidence has clearly shown that most people can be influenced to buy things other than what they already recognize as a need.

Door-to-door salesmen are a form of advertisement of services, and for certain industries they can be more effective than print ads, billboards, etc.

Not that I necessarily like having my day interrupted for a sales pitch; I almost invariably don't answer or turn them away.

But I'm just saying that if you have ever responded to any form of advertisement, the "If I needed something I'd go and buy it" line is probably missing the mark.

Best I can tell, advertising is a whale game. Much like how mobile gaming is predicated on a percent or so of users who will sink an ungodly amount of money into skinner boxes, I suspect advertising has a very large effect on the habits of a relatively small fraction of the population. So it's quite possible that the average person could say, truthfully, "If I needed something I'd go and buy it", while advertising is still wildly profitable.

Oddly in theory I agree, but both myself and my parents where quite happy with door to door salesman purchases.

Door to door sales doesn’t need to be a scam. It’s perfectly viable to calculate when individual subdivisions are the right age to need new siding and then send a sales guy around. Similarly selling solar roofs are exactly the kind of thing people are likely to be happy with but don’t consider. If the sales guy is also knowledgeable enough to give a solid estimate and talk about financing options it’s cheaper for the company than sending people to drive around and make lots of estimates.

At the other end, you also have people running outright scams or selling dubious products at insane markups.

The only “legit” door2door I’ve seen is when a contractor will be in the neighborhood working on one house and he has someone mention it to the other houses if they want to get in on it (think tree trimming, etc) at a discount because they’re already there.

Door to door tree trimming offers are typically from companies that don’t trim but rather half-kill trees by topping them in my experience.

Yeah I’m specifically referring to good companies mentioning they’ll be in the area. It’s hard to find and there are still scammers.

Most commonly the elderly and mentally disabled. Occasionally they have a retirement or come into a windfall, it's just a matter of statistics until the door-to-door guy finds them and parts them of it before the next guy does or before someone responsible takes control of their finances.

These salespeople push scammy loans, so they even hurt the already-poor elderly.

Imagine getting up in the morning to bankrupt someone's grandma for the rest of their life like this guy from the article.

> Really just wanna punch them in the face.

I had half the mind to when some asshole decided to show up and bang at my door in the evening, hours after typical business hours and asked me to take some survey. If someone is knocking in my door in the evening, it better be fucking important.

Thankfully it's illegal now in some jurisdictions.

>I hate these guys knocking on my door.

You can just put up a "No solicitors" sign on your front gate and they'll keep walking.

Lol, not in the city my friend. They will literally argue with me about how what they are doing isnlt solicitation. They truly believe that after starting out arguing with a complete stranger, they will somehow rope me into a sell. I told him he was soliciting, he ignored my sign and wanted him to off my property. He refused, I asked for his name and then he tried to fight me. I almost went out and purchased a gun because some unhinged individual was mad at me and had my address.

We must live in very different places. I have never seen those signs make a bit of difference.

The problem with a "no soliciting" sign is there is no penalty for violating it. And given these people are already violating social conventions by harassing you, they don't particularly care.

"Soliciting will be rewarded with refreshing lawn sprinklers." Not that I'm a fan of watering lawns in general, but if I had a problem with solicitors I might have to install a few.

This is the problem with modern America. Door to door sales used to be an honored tradition and a way for more Americans to get to know each other intimately. The rise of the internet has eroded this sacred social connection we used to all share.

When was it honored, and what was honorable about it?

Was this about the time when they were selling encyclopedias?

That doesn't seem that long ago, that's how I got my encyclopedia set.

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