# Reduced in price
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 21, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084 "2009-12-21T17:10:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084/1 "2009-12-21T17:10:29Z")
Last week I was in Boots chemist and among other things they had on sale a Miniature bathtub complete with a small teddy bear, a bottle each of shower gell and body lotion, 2 bars of rose shaped soap., price £9.99p.
I went in the same store today intending to buy one as a small gift for a lady friend.
They were now priced at £2.49 and if you bought 2 you got a 3rd free.
Naturally I bought 2.
I’d like to know how on earth they could justify the original price of £9.99p last week and then drastically reduce it less than a week later
---
### Author:  [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084/2 "2009-12-21T17:14:20Z")
I’m waiting for the Hickory Farms kiosk in the mall after-Christmas sale. Mustards, sausages, cheese, crackers, tea - all on sale at ridiculously reduced prices (just to get rid of it, I guess). And the Bath & Body Works Smelly Cologne Emporium has a monster sale after Christmas. That’s why a gift certificate attached to a little something is a practical gift, IMO.
---
### Author:  [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084/3 "2009-12-21T17:15:26Z")
Depends on the markup, but it’s probably a loss leader now. With the holidays almost over, stores want to get rid of as much of their seasonal stuff as possible so it isn’t hogging shelf space. Even if they have to take a loss on the markdown, it still works as a marketing tool to get people into the store.
---
### Author:  [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084/4 "2009-12-21T17:17:36Z")
> [@chowder](#):
>
> Last week I was in Boots chemist and among other things they had on sale a Miniature bathtub complete with a small teddy bear, a bottle each of shower gell and body lotion, 2 bars of rose shaped soap., price £9.99p.
>
> I went in the same store today intending to buy one as a small gift for a lady friend.
>
> They were now priced at £2.49 and if you bought 2 you got a 3rd free.
>
> Naturally I bought 2.
>
> I’d like to know how on earth they could justify the original price of £9.99p last week and then drastically reduce it less than a week later
How many people bought it at the original price? That’s probably how they justified it. For some people it is as important to be the first to have whatever-it-is as it is to own whatever-it-is. And some businesses are able to take that trait for their own benefit. That’s one of the reasons I love the free market; the market really does decide in the end..
---
### Author:  [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084/5 "2009-12-21T17:20:30Z")
> [@Mindfield](#):
>
> Depends on the markup, but it’s probably a loss leader now. With the holidays almost over, stores want to get rid of as much of their seasonal stuff as possible so it isn’t hogging shelf space. Even if they have to take a loss on the markdown, it still works as a marketing tool to get people into the store.
I guess you could be right about the loss leader but in the UK the holiday season is far from over.
Frenzied mobs hurtling from store to store and wondering if they should go back to the supermarket just in case that 3 cwt of sprouts isn’t enough
---
### Author:  [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084/6 "2009-12-21T17:37:14Z")
> [@chowder](#):
>
> I guess you could be right about the loss leader but in the UK the holiday season is far from over.
>
> Frenzied mobs hurtling from store to store and wondering if they should go back to the supermarket just in case that 3 cwt of sprouts isn’t enough
True, but I imagine some items are bigger sellers than others; the stuff that still sells well even this late in the season probably won’t get the kind of steep markdowns slow moving products do. I don’t know how well that particular item you’re referring to sells, nor whether Boots is the sort of store people do a lot of holiday shopping at (over here, Boots was at one time a well-known chain of drug stores), but it’s possible it’s a slow mover and so they have to discount deeply in order to move remaining inventory by marking it down to cheap impulse buy level for those last minute gifters looking for something cute to toss on the pile. They probably figure everyone who bought one as a primary or secondary gift have already done so, and now they’re going to try and get the stocking stuffer crowd.
---
### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084/7 "2009-12-21T21:56:20Z")
This is the reason I almost never buy stuff at the original price - I’ll wait for the price drop, and if it’s gone by then, too bad for me. I love clearance racks. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084/8 "2009-12-21T23:23:38Z")
I don’t mind paying full price if it’s something I want and think is worth the asking price – but you bet your butt I rummage through the clearance bin at the end of, and especially after a seasonal sale.
---
### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reduced-in-price/522084/9 "2009-12-21T23:35:53Z")
> [@chowder](#):
>
> I’d like to know how on earth they could justify the original price of £9.99p last week and then drastically reduce it less than a week later
I’d like to know why on earth they need to “justify” the original price. Do you need to justify how little you paid?