Sale! Save Money!

How often have you fallen for that lie? How often have you wished you hadn't listened to advertising serving you lies? All these sales are a con, some more so than others. Government agencies are trying to prevent the criminally fraudulent ones; but there are so many legal frauds, who can distinguish between one and the other? And make no mistake, at 50%, shops are still making a killing.

Sales used to be limited to certain times of the year, when shops were seriously trying to reduce their stock of seasonal stuff to make room for the new stuff the wanted to peddle to the sheep spending their money like so much hay. Then competition got so fierce thanks to budget lines that there is no day without a sale starting or ending somewhere for something.

First, the criminally fraudulent sales are mostly committed by pop up shops. They rent an empty shop and fill it with trash. Then they invent old prices and promote the sales prices at a discount of 50% or more. It's all fairy tales; if you haven't seen the shop before, don't go there. You get second best wares and you will have no place to go when it breaks after a few months. The shop owners will have disappeared without leaving a trace.

Second, the legally permitted fraudulent sales are mostly committed by large shop chains. They find a company that is going bankrupt and buy up its stock. They then put that stock up for over the top prices which no one seriously will pay. After six weeks, the whole shebang goes on sale at 50% of the original OTT price. Any sales are a triumph. Later, they go to 70% discounts, and they are still making money like hay. 

Some shops increase their prices on good products by 50% for the legally required time. Then they reduce the price to what they initially wanted. For example: A bar of chocolate costs 90 cents, they actually would like a price of 1.10 dollars. If they just increase the price, everybody will complain how prices always go up. Instead, they increase the price to 1.35 dollars, then reduce it to 1.10. In the advert, they promote how they are reducing prices showing the 1.35 versus 1.10 dollars price reduction. And people fall for it.

The worst thing is that anyone would believe they are saving money in a sale at all. What do you do when you go to a sale? You spend money. That should be so obvious, I'm ashamed I have to spell it out so clearly. But I know too many people who showed me a new TV set and said they saved money in the sale. There was nothing wrong with their old TV set. Go figure.

If you really want to save money, only buy what you really need. In daily life, a shopping list to stick to is the best antidote against impulse buying. For larger investments, plenty of planning time helps to keep the 'I want' from getting bought; hold tight and only allow the 'I need to survive' to be bought. The first stop should be charity shops; they usually have what you need to survive at low prices. 

Further reading
How Money Came To Dominate Our Lives
Only Stupid People Pay For The Same Thing Twice
Gum Arabic Wines For Christmas