Every year about this time I start to see insanely high prices advertised as “Sale!!” and “Special Price!!!”. There’s a lot of excellent opportunity out there, but let’s zero in on the truly ridiculous ones.
Case in point: The $400.00 trash can. I got an e-mail advertising this “Special Price” from Costco. Now, for $129 (which I thought was ludicrous for a kitchen trash can!) I can buy a stainless steel, 29 gallon can with a sensor that opens and closes the lid without my having to touch the thing. What could possible even begin to be true about this can that would make it worth $200? Much less $400?
That trash can looks like the type of thing you’d get as a gift for a doctor or vet opening their own business, or something. There’s no way you’d buy one for your house, unless you’re Mitt Romney.
I haven’t seen any deals, but my own pet peeve happens weekly at the grocery store where the sign on the shelf reads something like:
Well, I’d guess that anyone who didn’t want to touch the can in order to throw something away might like it. Or someone who only had one functioning hand. I wouldn’t want it that much.
It’s traditional to bring out the most outrageous merchandise at Xmas, though. Ever seen the Neiman-Marcus gift items? For a long, long time (I don’t know if they still do or not) they used to advertise “his and hers” extravagant gifts, like his and hers cars. Here, have fun with this year’s offerings: http://www.neimanmarcus.com/christmasbook/category.jsp?itemId=cat44770736
To be fair, they do say they’re “fantasy” gifts. Hell, when… I mean, if I win the Powerball jackpot, there’s one or two things I’d be at least halfway interested in.
True. At 30 gallons it is more similar in size to an outdoor trash can than what you would typically find in someone’s kitchen. While I still wouldn’t pay $400 for it, the sale price is probably not out of line, if you absolutely need it to be stainless steel.
On a TV blurb the other day, they were showing two scented candles - about 4" high and 10" around, “normally listed at $79.95” now “only $19.95!”
But you see this kind of stuff on the Home Shopping Network all the time - supposedly outrageous list prices now slashed to still outrageous lower prices.
But people believe this shit. They are the same people who will go to Bloomingdales or Macys or Kohls and see a single pair of men’s white socks, with a price tag of $148 now slashed to “only” $79.95 and snap them up.
I figure next year around the holiday season, I am going to start a website and sell, for instance, a plastic spatula “normally listed at $129,000” now only “$3,995”. There has to be some drunk, idiot lottery winner out there who will snap it up!
Now the store aisles are getting crowded with crap that only appears just before Christmas. The worst I’ve seen so far were the Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga electric musical toothbrushes for $9.99 each.
I often see sales marked with the regular price at the local grocery store. $1.49 on sale for $1.49. Some sale…
The worst I’ve seen is on creamer. The small ones will be on sale for 2 for something, but the big size at regular price(which equals two small ones) will STILL cost less than the two small ones on sale.