# Stores With Fake Sales **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2012, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950 "2012-07-21T12:40:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/41 "2012-07-24T15:41:25Z")
We have furniture stores here that mark things up before putting them on sale. It’s a big impressive number (40% off or something), but if you mark the price up 30% first it’s not so big. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/42 "2012-07-26T16:29:22Z")
There’s a furniture store out here that has a “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! TOTAL LIQUIDATION!!!” sale at least once a year. The store is still in business as of this posting. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/43 "2012-07-26T17:27:12Z")
Well, this thread has been very eye-opening for me. I honestly had no idea department stores did that. Knowing this helps me avoid the temptation to buy stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/44 "2012-07-26T18:39:05Z")
I was thinking about this thread when I went into my local Sears yesterday and saw they were having a, “STORE CLOSING SALE! 50% OFF EVERYTHING IN THE STORE!\*” As you may have guessed, it was not, indeed, 50% off everything in the store. I bought a few cheap items - I’ll be back when they start to get serious about clearing out everything in the store. \*Various disclaimers, conditions, and outright lies, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![jem\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@jem\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jem_1)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/45 "2012-07-26T18:40:30Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > They get my wife with that crap. She’ll ask if I can stay in with the kids because she needs to get a few pairs of shorts. She comes back hours later with a metric ton of clothes that she paid a small fortune for, but she had $30 in kohls cash! And it was all on sale! And she got a 30% in the mail! So really it’s “worth” a large fortune, and since she only spent a small fortune, and, well, I’ve been thinking of taking.. This and this back.. And this.. And see? It’s not bad… Okay, I’m sorry, they got me… I’ll stop blowing hundreds of dollars a month at kohls on stupid shit we don’t need. But then she does go back to return those few items and she has $40 in kohls cash and another 30% so she buys another mountain of crap. Worst of all, you have to use their stupid kohls credit card to get the deals so you’re spending money you dont actually have yet and paying 30% interest on these “deals.” > > But I’m not bitter. Some of Kohl’s discount coupons do require the use of a Kohl’s credit card, but you can _immediately_ pay the balance in cash/check right there at the cash register. No waiting until the invoice comes in the mail. (hope I didn’t just fink out your wife!) Another way Kohl’s sales are sneaky is when you use the “Kohl’s Cash” (if you even remember to use it and it doesn’t expire while a crumpled mess in the bottom of your purse) they deduct that first, then take off any discount coupon that you have. It’s all in the fine print, of course. The cashiers will sometimes verbally explain this at time of purchase. For example, you are buying $20 jeans. You have $10 in Kohl’s cash, and a 30% off coupon: $20 minus $10 = $10 x 30% off ($3) = $7 - your total amount due. (versus: $20 x 30% off ($6) = $14 minus $10 = $4 - you wish!) Anyway, Kohl’s ticks me off, but I still shop there on regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Grapefruit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@Grapefruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grapefruit)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/46 "2012-07-26T18:46:17Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I was thinking about this thread when I went into my local Sears yesterday and saw they were having a, “STORE CLOSING SALE! 50% OFF EVERYTHING IN THE STORE!\*” As you may have guessed, it was not, indeed, 50% off everything in the store. I bought a few cheap items - I’ll be back when they start to get serious about clearing out everything in the store. > > \*Various disclaimers, conditions, and outright lies, I believe. When I asked one clothing store about the fact that they seem to have “Closing sales” every few months or so, for the last few years without the store ever actually shutting down, they told me that “Closing” mean closing of the season. I’m surprised they don’t just keep the the sign up the whole year and just tell people closing mean locking the doors at the end of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/47 "2012-07-26T18:50:03Z")
> [@Grapefruit](#): > > When I asked one clothing store about the fact that they seem to have “Closing sales” every few months or so, for the last few years without the store ever actually shutting down, they told me that “Closing” mean closing of the season. I’m surprised they don’t just keep the the sign up the whole year and just tell people closing mean locking the doors at the end of the day. Heh - that wouldn’t surprise me too much. We’ll see if they stick around or not - I haven’t noticed Sears playing this game before, but who knows. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/48 "2012-07-26T18:52:38Z")
This phenomenon is called “anchoring” ([obligatory wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring)). Cicero touched on it earlier. In Texas, my understanding is that an item cannot be “on sale” for any more than 1/2 of the time. Hobby Lobby is the king of this–they will literally put half the entire store “on sale” for one week, then flip for the next week, ad infinitum. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/49 "2012-07-26T21:36:41Z")
We used to have a furniture liquidation store that would have a going-out-of-business sale every other year. And then they would lock the door, open the door at the other end of the building and claim they were a different company, even though all the companies were subsidies of the same holding company. The state took them to court and won. They went elsewhere. Sometimes I really like the MN Attorney General’s office. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/50 "2012-07-26T22:36:40Z")
\*All \*sales are fake sales. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/51 "2012-07-27T03:22:22Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > \*All \*sales are fake sales. Not so. I have scored serious savings at real fire sales (smoke damaged goods), real going-out-of-business sales, and season-end sales. But \*most \*sales are fake sales. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/52 "2012-07-27T12:49:36Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Not so. I have scored serious savings at real fire sales (smoke damaged goods), real going-out-of-business sales, and season-end sales. But \*most \*sales are fake sales. I won’t disagree with you but here’s what my pithy little comment was supposed to mean. The purpose of a sale is to make you think you are getting something for less than what it is worth. If it were not mere psychological warfare then the price would not have to hyped as a “sale.” In all the situations you describe, some part of the supply/demand equation has changed and the merchant is adjusting the price to maximize their profit (or minimize losses in some cases). You can get goods for less than they might be available for elsewhere, so I guess that’s a bargain, but you are still paying what it is actually worth. If the item were worth more, they would be able to charge more. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/53 "2012-07-27T13:01:46Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > They get my wife with that crap. She’ll ask if I can stay in with the kids because she needs to get a few pairs of shorts. She comes back hours later with a metric ton of clothes that she paid a small fortune for, but she had $30 in kohls cash! And it was all on sale! And she got a 30% in the mail! So really it’s “worth” a large fortune, and since she only spent a small fortune, and, well, I’ve been thinking of taking.. This and this back.. And this.. And see? It’s not bad… Okay, I’m sorry, they got me… I’ll stop blowing hundreds of dollars a month at kohls on stupid shit we don’t need. But then she does go back to return those few items and she has $40 in kohls cash and another 30% so she buys another mountain of crap. Worst of all, you have to use their stupid kohls credit card to get the deals so you’re spending money you dont actually have yet and paying 30% interest on these “deals.” > > But I’m not bitter. Mrs. Mustard is supposed to be “at work” right now, but I am certain she is at your home, living the other half of her double life as \*your \*wife. She’s there right now, ain’t she! Ain’t she! mmm ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/54 "2012-07-27T18:43:07Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I won’t disagree with you but here’s what my pithy little comment was supposed to mean. The purpose of a sale is to make you think you are getting something for less than what it is worth. If it were not mere psychological warfare then the price would not have to hyped as a “sale.” > > In all the situations you describe, some part of the supply/demand equation has changed and the merchant is adjusting the price to maximize their profit (or minimize losses in some cases). You can get goods for less than they might be available for elsewhere, so I guess that’s a bargain, but you are still paying what it is actually worth. If the item were worth more, they would be able to charge more. Worth is a very tough thing to define. But keep in mind that stores use items called “loss leaders” to draw people in the store. That term means that the items is priced so low that the retailer actually loses money on the deal. How much is that “worth” to you? To me? To the store owner? It will vary with every person. Merriam Webster defines the version of sale we are talking about as a “selling of goods at bargain prices”. Again, what you and what I define as a bargain will be different because we have different tastes and interests. If I think I got a bargain\* on something, perhaps I actually did. \*Kohl’s weekly “sales” excluded as are BBB 20% off coupons. Those are not bargains. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/55 "2012-07-27T19:07:23Z")
I forgot the other part of what was bugging me - the way “clearance price” has come to mean nothing. Taking $5 off of a $100 item is not “clearance priced.” ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950/56 "2012-07-27T23:37:31Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Again, what you and what I define as a bargain will be different because we have different tastes and interests. If I think I got a bargain\* on something, perhaps I actually did. True enough. The only time I find a true bargain is when I value something very highly that nearly everybody else doesn’t value at all. I don’t usually find that in advertised sales, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stores-with-fake-sales/628950.md?page=2)