Ladies, this one’s for us. Christmas is so very close to losing its real meaning – a celebration of the birth of Christ. If you believe and accept this ideology it is becoming more and more difficult to hold this premise in your heart. Today one must make a conscious effort to ground oneself when advertising for Christmas goodies now hits the air waves before Halloween. I, like everyone else, have been sucked by the retail world into decorating my home, baking goodies and worst of all — the buying of Christmas presents.
But we are being scammed by the retail world. Yes, I know, 70% of their annual sales revenue is earned during this season. They become positively rabid vying for your dollar during this season. Here’s the scam – jack up the prices so that when they are marked down the universe of customers will believe they are actually getting a deal. What is not realized is that even with so-called mark downs retailers continue to earn an unhealthy profit. Do people realize that this is the scam and don’t care? Or do people really, really believe they are getting a deal?
Case in point. Disclaimer: I have a Kitchen Aid mixer so I am not in the market for one but for some strange reason I always check the price on this item and I am not picking on Macy’s. Macy’s has the mixer marked down as a “door buster” to $199.00, regularly $279.00. OMG, great price, no? No, it’s not. I have seen it as low as $179.00 during the course of a year and even at that price, it’s overpriced.
That great deal you saw on TV or in the paper is not really a great deal. Everything is overpriced and insures the retailer not just a reasonable profit but an extremely healthy profit at our expense. The real deal is wholesale and unless you know a friend of a friend you won’t be paying that price. So, remember as you shop this season you are a victim of the “Yo-Yo Effect.”
© Joyce Clark, 2013
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