If you buy practically anything nowadays, you are usually offered the chance to add a few bucks to your purchase for an “extended protection plan.” From new cars to toasters, you find yourself always being asked if you’d like to pony up to buy a plan to protect your purchase.

These plans are loaded with fine print, and often exclude repair or replacement due to a variety of complicated reasons. Usually, these plans are sold by third parties who rely on statistics to bet you will never make a claim.

Studies have found sellers usually pocket 50-70% of the price of extended warranties, allowing them to make a greater profit on the sale. Retail profit margins on things like flat screen TVs are kind of slim, and usually range between 8-15%.

You can expect a modern flat screen TV to run about 50,000 hours, giving the average user about 10 years of use. Does it make sense to pay another 10% of your purchase price to add a 3-year plan for a TV that is designed to last 10 years? Maybe not.

When asked to buy that extended warranty on things like TVs, drills and mixers designed to last for many years, consider saving your money and say, “No thanks.”

Extended maintenance contracts on motor vehicles are sold on the same business principles, but due to the high prices of many of these plans, are attracting so many scammers that the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission have issued consumer alerts.

Fraudsters may call to sell you a plan, but only collect your personal information to get into your credit cards and bank accounts.

Extended coverage plans offered by third parties may or may not be in business years later when your vehicle needs a costly repair.

Extended maintenance contracts are often pushed by a dealer’s “finance manager,” who prepares the purchase and financing paperwork for your vehicle purchase. The dealership makes a profit or commission when you buy these extended plans.

Whenever I buy a car, I always ask if the dealership really believes the quality of my vehicle is so low to need an extra plan — are they saying that my new car will probably not get to 100,000 miles before needing a costly repair?

The response is always, “Well, we’re not saying THAT.”

If you wonder why you may be peppered with “extended warranty” offers after you’ve bought a new car, know that your purchase information could be sold by the Ohio BMV to organizations to market products to vehicle owners.

A Columbus TV station (WBNS) reported that the Ohio BMV made $40 million in 2020 selling personal information from our driver and vehicle records to third parties. Since buying a new car last fall, I have received many official-looking letters telling me I need to ACT NOW to protect my car. I used to wonder how these folks came to know things like my full name and address, along with my vehicle’s VIN number and purchase date.

Companies are in business to make a profit, and extended maintenance plans are a sure-fire way to scoop up a few extra bucks. Educate yourself about extended “warranties.”

For low-ticket items, figure out if you really want to buy a service agreement for something you can afford to replace when it breaks. Before buying an extended car plan, read the fine print, and ask yourself how long you intend to the car after the regular warranty expires.

Don’t be pressured into signing up for an extended maintenance contract.

If you do, make sure you read it before buying. If you have such poor faith in a particular vehicle to consider extended coverage, look around for another vehicle with a better factory warranty. Be smart.

The bees are humming, the thunderstorms are booming, and though the temperature is still going up and down, at least it isn’t dropping into the single digits at night.

Put away the snow shovel and get your mower blades sharpened! The sun is shining again over our Wonderful Valley!

And remember to think before you buy — it’s your money!

Dave Long of Poland, a Youngstown State University graduate, is a retired public affairs officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection who later worked as an Elder Scam Prevention Outreach specialist in Rochester, N.Y., before moving back to the Mahoning Valley.