Operating Undercover: “Wealthy” in Disguise

I do it. Others do it. It’s really blending in with the crowd, and letting individuals judge you based on your appearance, and it has its rewards.

I put the word “wealthy” in quotes because I’m designating it as so-called. We’re not really wealthy compared to millionaires, or even thousandaires, but wealthy in money management skills.

We who practice this wolf-in-sheep’s clothing have our reasons, and they mainly have to do with observing treatment from those who have summarily judged us as “poor.” I’ll give you some examples of advantages won when appearing poor, yet actually being quite well off.

Car shopping—Try going to a car dealer in sweats, a faded, bleach-stained, holey-but-clean t-shirt, and wandering around the lot looking for a car to buy. Notice how long it takes someone to approach you, and whether it was the first salesman or the last to comer out into the lot to speak to people. Then, just for good measure, make a mental note of how the prospective customer who got immediate attention was dressed.

It’s all rather amusing, I must say.

I went in looking for a specific car I found on the web, and wound up spanking the dealer for $6k off the sales price. The next day, I came in with a check for the entire amount of the negotiated price—sweats, old t-shirt, and all. The salesman had to scrape his jaw off the floor. A “poor” person was paying cash for a car!

Auctions and flea markets—Here again, people will defer to your bid or offer because they take your appearance into account. You’d be surprised how easy going the haggling will be, and how many times the bidders will make way for your voice.

Doctor offices—I just had this experience yesterday in fact. I went to a doc-in-the-box for what turned out to be runaway allergies with a sinus infection, and scored two handfuls of free drug samples for not having insurance. I rarely go to a doctor, so I don’t have health insurance. I wore sweats, an old but clean t-shirt, and looked rather bleary-eyed from lack of sleep the night before (I spent the night coughing and didn’t sleep). I paid $50 for the pleasure (and the office visit), and plan to look up the going rate for the Zyrtec and exotic antibiotic I received to see how much I saved in drug money. I expected and could have easily paid for prescriptions given to me, just they just assumed. They didn’t ask, and I didn’t tell.

I wouldn’t go so far as to recommend this method for prescription drug savings, but you have to wonder.

I love it when people make assumptions in your favor, and bet that most poor-dressing millionaires next door get this sort of treatment. Blending into the crowd does have its advantages.

I can also tell you that pretending to be poor also makes for fewer security issues too—nobody wants to rip you off when you look like you have nothing to take (just like they do). The only sign of my wealth is my bank balance—other than that, I appear to be no better than any of my neighbors. That’s just the way I like it.