Today I want to rant a bit about the ridiculousness that retail shopping has become. I like to shop but I know nothing is ever really free. Watching TV, news and reading the ads in newspapers I often wonder how utterly stupid advertisers and retail marketers think we as consumers are. I mean they keep coming up with more and more outrageous ploys to get us to buy their stuff, and they must be some nuts that actually believe the rhetoric or else they would not keep doing it. In the interest of public service I thought I would make a short list of things today’s shopping consumer should keep in mind. You know, just in case they cant figure this out on their own.
No retailer will pay the sales tax on stuff you buy.
Selling product means the retailer has to pay the state. They will have to get that money from somewhere. They will just tack that cost on somewhere or something else.
Buy one, get one free is a myth.
In case you need a refresher, paying 10 dollars for two things means that each one cost you 5 bucks. This one is also known as the “amazing” half off sale.
Free gas, popular electronic device, or groceries with a purchase is not possible.
Somewhere the retailer has to pay another retailer for their “gift” item and they sure as heck wont absorb that cost just because they like you.
“Thousands of dollars” in cash back makes no sense.
Most of the time you see this crapola of a gimmick when purchasing big ticket items that require financing, like a car. Having said that, how can you get cash back on something you haven’t paid for?
Buy now and pay next year works only in the Twilight Zone.
Banks and lending institutions charge this thing called interest and if you don’t pay it for a year for money they give you now someone is loosing money and I guarantee you its not the guys with combination to the safe. Maybe on paper you don’t pay the interest, but it is either accruing or being paid by the retailer. In either event this is a sham as you will eventually have to pay it or the retailer passes that cost along to the consumer via higher that usual prices. Go figure.
My final thoughts are this, Retailers should stop all these gimmicks and just advertise lower and lower prices. The laws of supply and demand will always prevail and low prices will ALWAYS drive sales. Wake up fellow consumers and stop wandering like lost sheep toward these silly ploys.
