I’ve been meaning to share this picture for almost a year now. I never thought I’d see something like this in person, so I had to take a picture when I did. Nick and I were in Wal-Mart, and not being much of a math person, I confirmed with Nick that I hadn’t misread something. Nope. The clearance price is actually higher than the original price. I assume it was the result of some poorly thought out rearranging, but it did make me think about how easy it is to get sucked in by a sale.
I know I’m guilty of seeing “sale” and thinking “must buy”. I guess this is a good lesson not to buy something simply because we’re told it’s on sale. Aside from being something we may not need, or have the money to spend on, it may not be much of a bargain anyway.
What about you? Are you a sucker for a sale? Have you seen any unfortunate sign placement like this in person?
That is too funny about the price being higher when it was supposedly on sale. Makes you wonder how many people fell for it! I'm a bit of a sucker for a sale but I do look to make sure it truly is a sale and if the numbers add up to it being a good deal :)
ReplyDeletebetty
My first job out of college was in retail management. There was always a 'sale' going on, so that word lost meaning for me.
ReplyDeleteMath is not always everyone's strong suit.
ReplyDeleteI've seen so-called sales where the price is actually higher than, or the same as, the normal price. I've also seen packs that promise a good deal if you get the larger pack and buy in bulk, but which are actually either the same price, or more expensive, per item than the stuff would be if you brought it individually. Sometimes the "sale" actually has you spending more, and sometimes it has you spending the same as you otherwise would have anyhow.
ReplyDeleteSales can be a good thing, but you need to be sure you're actually getting a deal. Also, it's not a good deal if some of it will end up going to waste due to not being used before it spoils, so you need to consider that when deciding if a sale is really a good deal for you too.
Some Pharmacies here advertise sales and put prices of many things up, only to mark them down to what the price was a few days before the sale.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunate sign placements are hilarious. When I worked in retail, we had to be very, very careful to make sure our signage didn't show the wrong price. It was okay if the price shown was higher, but if it was lower than what it rang up as... There's always a lot of moving parts in retail.
ReplyDeleteWe had a large department store go out of business here. A friend had been looking at a sofa before the announcement and after they had the 70 percent off! signs out, she thought she'd go back and see if it was still there. But it ended up being MORE than the original price. At 70 percent off! I hate it when stores to that!
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