Seeing is Not Believing -- Part 2

Games Prices Play

If you think you are getting a bargain, you’re wrong. It’s that simple. When an item is on sale, its still making a profit for the person or company selling it. The stronger the advertisement’s wording, the less likely you’re getting a good deal.

Advertising Price Increases: For the last six months, we have been purchasing a seafood – shrimp salad at our local store for lunch on occasion. It is low in fat, quite tasty, and $3.99 a pound. Two weeks ago the store’s newspaper advertisement featured this product for $4.99. One give-away that the price has gone up is the inclusion of the word “only.” Cat food that was selling for 44 cents a can is now “only 2 for 99¢.”

BOGO: The same store that increased the price of the salad also uses the “buy one, get one free” gimmick. Frequently, if you know the actual price of the product, this can result in a great opportunity. But this store rarely advertises the price of the product, just that if you purchase one, you’ll set the second “of equal or lesser value,” for free. After selling boneless chicken for $1.99 a pound for weeks, they had it “on sale” at a BOGO price of $3.99.

I will admit that their “buy six bagels and get six free” is always at the regular price, and I do purchase it. No, I cannot eat a dozen fresh bagels, but they freeze well (as do English muffins).


For Six Easy Payments: Reverting to television and the sixty-second infomercials for salad spinners, the world’s sharpest knives, and other items “not available in stores.” They all tell you to “call within 3 minutes” to get a great deal (although since they run the ad throughout the day for weeks, how can they tell when those three minutes are up?). Whether they sell for “only $19.99” or for six weeks of easy payments, before you purchase check out WalMart (now they have eliminated the hyphen so it’s no longer Wal-Mart) or Target to see what they are getting for a similar product. You might even find that $19.99 special at the “All For a Dollar” store.

Spend $15 Coupons: Inflation has increased the “spend $5 and get…” all the way up to $15, and it will probably go higher soon. If you are already going to spend that much in the store, these can be good deals. In fact if you need the products, and were planning on spending $10 or more, it may be worth it to get an extra something for the coupon special. It, though, is never worth the trip or the savings if you were not going to purchase anything or if the product is not something you really need.