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29 Nov 09 - 08:08 AM (#2775999) Subject: BS: Half Price? From: Mr Happy Currently, many shops are offering items at 'half price' or 'n% off'. Since the shops fix their own prices anyway, this hype[lie IMO] the offer price tag is meaningless - what think you? |
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29 Nov 09 - 08:25 AM (#2776003) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: VirginiaTam absolutely. and even more ludicrously, shop managers can refuse to sell items that have been incorrectly priced. For example at a local shop a sign reading 2 for £1.00 Smarties should have read 2 for 1 Smarties. Which would have put them at 2 for £1.58. My friend argued until she was purple with the manager and then walked out claiming that she would never return and she would tell her friends and neighbors what had transpired. All over .58 pence. You have to check every price in supermarket and price per gram etc. Sometimes bulk items cost a hell of a lot more than the normal price. Something else that steams me is the constant movement of merchandise, so you cannot find items on your list. It is a ploy to force you to look at and and try other items. I think this is horrible practice especially for customers with disabilities, physical, visual and mental. Like playing tricks. |
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29 Nov 09 - 08:25 AM (#2776004) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Ed T Never understood what the expression Cheap at half the price" meant? It should be obvious to a consumer....but then? |
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29 Nov 09 - 08:41 AM (#2776013) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: gnomad I believe you are speaking of UK here, as am I. In theory there are minimum periods for which a product must be offered at the advertised 'full price' before the retailer may offer a so-called discount. This is the reason you will sometimes see a little tag on an advert giving details of some obscure branch of the store in the arse-end of nowhere which has, for the minimum time, offered (but failed) to sell the item at some grossly inflated price. This enables the chain to offer a pretty bogus bargain. You may recall an old comedian's routine of a chap who is asked how he can be so certain of a date in the past, he replies "Oh, that was the day I went to Allied Carpets, but they weren't having a sale, I put it in my diary." One good thing about the internet is that it has made quick comparisons between different retailers much easier, though it is no help when looking at 'own brand' goods, such as most furnishings. For such goods you can only go by whether you feel the price offered is a good deal or a bad one. Regular store visits over a period before purchase can help, but they can also be pretty soul-destroying as well. On the whole I try to ignore the hype, like MrH I find most of the offers largely meaningless. |
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29 Nov 09 - 09:19 AM (#2776026) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Mr Happy Similarly, the 'buy one, get n free' so called offers. I was somewhat shocked to see a TV ad recently for some tins of salmon-'buy one - get 2 free' for £2.99p & the 'normal price they say is £2.99! - For one?? |
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29 Nov 09 - 12:06 PM (#2776105) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker ..you've definitely gotta be an astute market-aware consumer when planning to purchase new music gear and instruments.. The latest decent quality new electric guitar I treated myself to for £249 in a clear out sale [and it was a genuine bargain brand new boxed item; not "B" stock or ex demo} was a good £400 cheaper than currently stocked prices in competing stores. |
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29 Nov 09 - 02:38 PM (#2776190) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Ebbie Periodicially, the city of Juneau, Alaska, sets standards for allowed 'On Sale' items in the tourist stores (what we locals call generically: T Shirt Shops). They decree that it is NOT allowed to blare 50% Off!, 80% Off! while not making it clear what the NOT on sale price was. They levy a hefty fine per day on stores that persist in the practice. Last summer I noticed that a number of stores switched to advertising: "80% off lowest price listed on item". That sounds fair to me. |
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29 Nov 09 - 02:53 PM (#2776201) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Rapparee Good on 'em, Ebbie. Heck, I only go to Juneau for the Fiddlehead, and that's closed. Well, there might be one or two other reasons, I guess.... |
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29 Nov 09 - 05:33 PM (#2776300) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Ebbie The Fiddlehead, Rap, is gone as you know, but the breakfast shop that has taken its place serves good food. It is now the Sandpiper Cafe and has become a popular place. Try us again! |
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29 Nov 09 - 05:55 PM (#2776315) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Bainbo For what it's worth, here's a tip. This time of year, there are shops selling gift items at "buy two, get one free" - I'm thinking of Boots, here in the UK. It's always the cheapest one that comes free -obviously. They're not going let you pay for two pencils and take a free electronic game. However, shoud you be buying more than three, make sure the three most expensive items go through the till first, then at least you're getting one of the expensive ones free. For example, if you've three cheap and three dear things, you want it to go: Expensive, expensive, FREE expensive one; cheap, cheap, FREE cheap one. Not: Expensive, expensive, FREE cheap one; expensive, cheap, FREE cheap one. In another supermarket the other day I saw bottles of Greene King Abbot Ale, £1.48 a bottle, included in a 2-for-£3 offer. Eh? |
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29 Nov 09 - 06:42 PM (#2776347) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: McGrath of Harlow Surely "cheap at half the price" would mean it's grossly overpriced in the first place. |
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29 Nov 09 - 06:59 PM (#2776357) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Ebbie "cheap at half the price" doesn't compute to me. "Expensive at half the price", sure. "Cheap at twice the price", sure. But cheap at half the price"? Sounds like someone saying, "It's very expensive but it makes up for it by not being very good." :) |
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29 Nov 09 - 07:14 PM (#2776363) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: GUEST,999 It has always amazed me that stores selling a frying pan at $49.95 are able to put it on sale for $12.95 and you SAVE $37.00. Keriste, what was their mark-up to begin with? And people tend not to ask that question. I have to get into retail. |
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29 Nov 09 - 07:28 PM (#2776367) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Gurney A burn for me is the sale advertised as 'Up to 40% off!!!!!' So, if ONE item is 40% off, full price for everything else is OK, OK? And, I am quite able to understand that $49.96 is really $50. Am I supposed to be fooled? Is anyone? |
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29 Nov 09 - 07:43 PM (#2776377) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Jeri Some stores have day-long sales. I argued with a cashier who said a couple items I was buying were more than I thought they were going to be. She said the items were 25% off, and I said the sign on the rack said they were 70% off and the prices were on the sign. She had somebody in the department go look. She removed the previous day's sale sign, but I got them for the price on the sign. In my experience, most stores stand by their advertising. I've very aware of the reduced price that isn't really reduced. One thing that gets me is when a double sizde something works out to be more per unit than two of the single sized things. They hope people won't notice, and they often don't. (Sometimes 'they' is 'me'.) |
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29 Nov 09 - 09:03 PM (#2776420) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: frogprince We held out longer than most before switching from film cameras to digital. While we were still using film, I noticed in the local market that the larger packs of film came to more per "shot" than the smaller ones. I found some cheese today, with the same product available in 8 ounces for $2.12 or 12 ounces for $4.29. When I've heard the expression "cheap at half the price", it's always been as a plainly sarcastic way of cxpressing an opinion that the item is grossly overpriced. |
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30 Nov 09 - 04:46 AM (#2776571) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Mr Happy Jeri, 'One thing that gets me is when a double sized something works out to be more per unit than two of the single sized things.' I concur & a regular example we buy is instant coffee. 2x100g small jars cost less than one large 200g, but at a casual glance, you think it'd be the other way round! |
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30 Nov 09 - 01:17 PM (#2776881) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: McGrath of Harlow As I understand it, if it is marked as being at a price it's illegal if they don't let you have it at that price, even if it was a mistake. In the UK anyway. |
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30 Nov 09 - 03:37 PM (#2776982) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: gnu King Cole Orange Pekoe Tea, 240 size last week... $7.99. Same, this week, 60 size.... $4.49. This week, end of the month, person's on pensions or welfare have their cheques. It's a fuckin disgrace! |
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30 Nov 09 - 07:29 PM (#2777145) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Bee-dubya-ell "Cheap at half the price" is intended as a joke. It's supposed to make you go "Huh?" The "logical" statement would be "cheap at twice the price", but it's not funny worth a damn. |
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20 Jan 10 - 11:02 AM (#2816713) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Mr Happy Special offer in local shop, 'CD's £1 each or 3 for £10!!' Honest! |
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20 Jan 10 - 11:05 AM (#2816715) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Donuel price fixing is an art |
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21 Jan 10 - 05:19 AM (#2817379) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Dave the Gnome As I understand it, if it is marked as being at a price it's illegal if they don't let you have it at that price, even if it was a mistake. In the UK anyway. Nice to believe but not true I'm afraid. The fallacy stems from a misunderstanding of the law or torts or contracts. Once you have offer, consideration and acceptance, whether verbal or written, you do have a legal contract. The theory that the price tag was the offer and you taking it to the till was acceptance, consideration is the money paid in this case, was tested and has been rejected on a number of occasions - All of which escape me at the moment:-( What I can remember however is that the price tag was declared to be merely an invitation to trade and does not constitute part of the contract. Well, that was true in the 1970's when I did a module on business law as part of my Business Studies course anyway. Maybe a resident solicitor can confirm if it is still valid? Richard? Cheers DeG |
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21 Jan 10 - 06:08 AM (#2817405) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Liz the Squeak It is always worth taking a calculator (there's usually one on your mobile/cell phone) and double checking prices AND weights. For example: Limpit likes those 'Fridge Raiders' chicken bites. They come in individual packets and in a packet of 3. Last week in Sainsbury's, 3 individual packets came in at 6p less than a packet of 3, because the 3pack had 100g less in it. Not only did you not get as much, but you were paying more for the extra bag - the lesson there being that multi-packs are not always value for money. Shopping has become a maths project (and I don't do maths well), but it's also become less expensive! LTS |
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21 Jan 10 - 06:33 AM (#2817417) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Dave Hanson A few months ago I bought a leather belt in M & S in Bradford [ Yorkshire ] it was marked up at £19.95 and scanned through the till at £0.98 the assistant said to me, it's your lucky day, and sold it to me for £0.98 Can't complain at that. Dave H |
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21 Jan 10 - 07:14 AM (#2817432) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Dave the Gnome Quite a few stores do similar as a gesture of goodwill, Dave. Best I had was a bottle of single malt in the local Morrisons. Marked on the shelves as half price, when it when through the till it scanned as full price. I queried it and, on checking, they said the half price sticker was out of date but, as they had not removed it, they gave me the bottle at the advertised price AND gave a refund of the full price! So, not only did I get a £30 bottle for £15, but they gave me £30 as well - company policy they said. Needless to say I sent someone back in 10 minutes later but the half price sticker had gone:-) DeG |
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21 Jan 10 - 07:38 AM (#2817445) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: M.Ted You don't shop much, do you, Mr. Happy? Otherwise, you'd know that at this time of year, retailers are getting rid of the merchandise that they couldn't sell for Christmas. Contrary to what you think, most retailers have a fairly strict formula for pricing items that includes the price they pay for an item, an increment that covers their expenses, and then their "profit" or "mark-up", which really is the money that they get to keep, or that they divide with their sales people(a surprising number of people still work for commissions)-- After Christmas, they've given up their "mark-up", and are just trying to empty the shelves and recover their investment so they can buy new merchandise for the next season. That's what's called a "clearance" sale. Usually, this "sale" includes the seasonal stock only, and the regular store merchandise isn't effected(that's where the "The sign said this was 50% off" fights at the register come in) There are other kinds of sales--"loss leaders" where the merchant decides to offer some merchandise at or below his wholesale cost to bring you into the store, hoping you'll buy something else, and "specials" where the prices are lower because the supplier has provided the merchandise at a reduced price--Legally, retailers must be careful in promoting "specials", because if they haven't actually sold the same products recently for a higher price, they often can't claim the items are being discounted-- And, again, Mr. Happy, the folks who do the shopping know all this already. |
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21 Jan 10 - 07:42 AM (#2817448) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: M.Ted Oh, fool that I am, I didn't notice that this was a "Pre-Christmas" thread, in which case, the sales were of the "loss leader" type, not the "clearance" type. |
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22 Jan 10 - 05:27 AM (#2818302) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Bryn Pugh Sorry, McGrath - under English Law, a price on an item is not an agreement to sell at that price, but an "invitation to treat". In the Case Fisher - v - Bell [1961] 1 QB 394, the display of a flick - knife ( US - Switch blade) in a shop window (such knives having recently been banned at this time) was held to be an invitation to treat, not an offer to sell. Hence no offence had been committed. The Law had to be amended so as to make display of such items an offence of strict liability. In one very old Case (the name of which escapes me) Counsel said to the Judge "If an item in a shop is labelled with a price, I have the right to demand that the shop-keeper sell the item to me at that price !" The Judge replied "No - he has the right to turn you out !". |
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22 Jan 10 - 05:51 AM (#2818312) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Dave the Gnome I must say that the thing that always tickles me about goods on display is not so much the price but the instance where they have 'none of those in stock'. Imagine the conversation - I have had it at least 10 times now. Me. "I would like to buy a xyz, just like the one on display please" Shop. "Sorry, we are out of stock" Me. "No you're not. You have one on display" Shop "Ahh, but that is for display only" Me "Why is it for display only?" Shop "So people can see what we sell" Me "But you have none in stock anyway so why are you displaying one?" Shop "Errrr..." Try it - It's great fun:-) DeG |
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22 Jan 10 - 06:12 AM (#2818323) Subject: RE: BS: Half Price? From: Mr Happy '...........people are always asking for them, there's no demand!!' |