What does it mean.......really?

[Big Zig]

When you see "on sale", what comes to mind?
I see "over priced to begin with".........................

Then you have the sale-on-a-sale tag. You know, the one that has had three or four previously higher prices on it. Should that mean, "this is what it should have been sold for in the first place"?

The Mrs. saves us a good deal using coupons. I get frustrated everytime we use them - why not just price the product at the "coupon'd" price to begin with?

[Hoot]

When you see "on sale", what comes to mind?
I see "over priced to begin with".........................

Then you have the sale-on-a-sale tag. You know, the one that has had three or four previously higher prices on it. Should that mean, "this is what it should have been sold for in the first place"?

The Mrs. saves us a good deal using coupons. I get frustrated everytime we use them - why not just price the product at the "coupon'd" price to begin with?

I know what you mean Big Zig.

Some of the retail reasons.

When a retailer purchases goods for retail from their distributor or brand, they are normally encouraged to sell at suggested retail. At suggested retail the margin for the retailer can be 50% or more.

The brand wants to maintain this price at retail to protect the brand integrity and keep retailers from discounting their products and hurt the brand image.

When retailers have these goods through a selling season and still have inventory at or near the end of the season, they want to sell these old items fast and will discount them. This gives them dollars to purchase new goods.

There is an old saying in retail that the first discount is the cheapest. Most good retailers will drop the price a lot to just move the goods and free up money they tied up in the slow moving inventory.

But...some retailers are reluctant to lose margin and will play that game you see. They keep adjusting the price until the stuff sells. Kind of a goofy game to play and very goofy to leave the old prices on I think. They want you to see how much you are saving I guess or are just too lazy to pull the old tag off.

Typically in a store you determine the amount of business you must do to pay the bills, by the square foot. So each square foot must produce enough business to pay for rent, lights, help, etc. The higher the sq. ft. cost to operate, normally the higher the price of goods or the more "turns" the retailer needs to get on the merchandize. So a disount store will sell cheaper but "turn" the merch. more times in a year than let's say a full price retail store.

In the end the name of the game is "open to buy" dollars. The retailer will sell off quickly all old merch. in order to have open to buy dollars to purchase new goods.

I always wish that I could force myself to buy those winter items in the spring. That's when all the winter stuff that is left over in the store will sell real cheap. Or summer stuff in the fall, etc. But...normally I just can't wait and I pay full retail in the middle of the seasonal selling season. ha.

Hope this helps to understand.

[Barnacle Bill]

When you see "on sale", what comes to mind?
I see "over priced to begin with".........................

Then you have the sale-on-a-sale tag. You know, the one that has had three or four previously higher prices on it. Should that mean, "this is what it should have been sold for in the first place"?

The Mrs. saves us a good deal using coupons. I get frustrated everytime we use them - why not just price the product at the "coupon'd" price to begin with?

Because most people won't use a coupon or like me don't want to bother them. What burns me up is those mail in rebates. Why not just discount it and be done with it. But I guess they know a lot of people will forget it or if its a small amount won't bother with it.

[whizkids]

Because most people won't use a coupon or like me don't want to bother them. What burns me up is those mail in rebates. Why not just discount it and be done with it. But I guess they know a lot of people will forget it or if its a small amount won't bother with it.
__________________


I was in the retail business. We had less than a 2% return on mail in rebates.
Even a $20.00 rebate on a purchase of 4 shocks had a very low percent return. It is very effective marketing tool taking advantage of everyones procrastination gene. I'll do it tomorrow.

[fiddlefarter]

I hate mail in rebates. I missed out on $50 because my girlfriend forgot to send in a rebate for a camera I bought for her. She said she would handle it because I would forget.LOL.

Speaking of mark-ups. Did ya'll know BPS gives employees 40% off all of their brands. There must be a hefty mark-up on that stuff. My girlfriend works for BPS, therefore with the exception of baitcasting reels. All my stuff is quickly becoming Bass Pro equipment. Heck she can get a WM rod for $24. Hard to buy anything else. Not to mention she works in customer service so if there are things that are returned at a higher than normal rate we can steer clear of them. I wouldn't normally name things but for instance the XPS onboard battery chargers are not a highly recommended item with most customers. Although I'm sure some people have had good service out of them.

[Roberta]

Has been my motto for twenty years. I can squeeze ten cents out of a nickle, if I have to.

Take grocery shopping: Last week, I was able to knock $51.00 off my original price through the use of coupons, "Fresh Idea" savings (a store program) and twofers. I always make a list, in the order that I go through the store, for things that we need and rarely make impulse buys. But, as you noted, most people don't take the time and thus, pay full price. Since most people WILL pay ful lprice, why wouldn't the store leave those higher prices in place?

As for markup on other things, keep in mind that most furniture and clothing has a 400% mark-up between the manufacturer and first retail offering. Retailers want to be able to replace each item that is sold, plus make a profit. It's very rare for me to buy clothing before it's marked down. Guess I inherited Dad's "tighwad" gene. - Roberta

[Moose1am]

I agree with this Zig:

Often the seller jacks up the price by 50% and then tries to sell the same produce for 25% off. It's a big game. And the rebate coupons are not worth the effort.

When you see "on sale", what comes to mind?
I see "over priced to begin with".........................

Then you have the sale-on-a-sale tag. You know, the one that has had three or four previously higher prices on it. Should that mean, "this is what it should have been sold for in the first place"?

The Mrs. saves us a good deal using coupons. I get frustrated everytime we use them - why not just price the product at the "coupon'd" price to begin with?