When purchasing products or services, it is important to always maintain an air of healthy cynicism. Few salespeople, especially those motivated by commission or sales bonuses, are looking out for your best interest; they are not your friend, they’re goal is to sell you their product or service. Be aware of sales strategies like reciprocity and scarcity tactics used to persuade you to purchase. Reciprocity is when the salesperson intentionally offers you something which could be a gift, a compliment, or their time in hopes that you feel the need to reciprocate by purchasing from them. Salespeople also commonly create the impression of scarcity of the product or service, meaning that they lead you to believe that you need to act quickly before the items sell out. So, if you find yourself going from casual browsing to feeling the need to act urgently on a purchase, know that it is the salesperson’s tactic working, and be cognizant of that. The ‘healthy’ part of healthy cynicism is that you should be aware of methods intending to make you purchase more, but you should not let the cynicality prevent you from purchasing the items you require.