Odds & Ends (11-30-08)

Can You Believe It?

A store clerk dies after being trampled by shoppers at a Wal-Mart on Black Friday (http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=10885567&src=news). No one helped and customers complained after being told the store would close for a while as a clerk was just killed. What have we become?

People lined up since Thanksgiving night to shop at stores. Best Buy had customers in line for deals in our town (http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=10885567&src=news). Crazy, as these shoppers could have picked up a copy of Thursday’s The State and seen deals that matched or beat the ones they lined up for hours to get. Some were going to put their buys on E-bay (I am sure E-bay buyers also read local ads). Ridiculous! Better computer deals elsewhere with no minimums in stock, lower prices on cameras elsewhere with no lines, and these deals will be repeated as Christmas approaches. It always happens as stores want to clear out badly before Christmas. Otherwise, the prices are even better after Christmas as they must rid themselves of stock. Plus, returns. Those always go at even better prices. It reminds me of the sales tax holiday. Everyone goes into a feeding frenzy for sales tax savings, yet the next weekend whatever is left is always 25-50% off, far more than the 7% savings. I always wait and find better bargains then.

Then there are the liquidation sale scams (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6326174&page=1). I went to Tweeter to see what they had on sale as I was told they were selling stuff for less than I could buy it for. Some items I saw, barely. Others, more, yet they claimed 70% off. No way as the list prices were higher than ours and the manufacturer’s suggested resale price.

BTW, some of the great discounts you see at the big box stores aren’t. Some manufacturers have two prices: MSRP (manufacturer suggested resale price) and MAP (minimum advertised price). A product can have a MSRP of $1200 with a MAP of $995, which is the lowest a retailer can advertise the product for, or be in violation of dealer-manufacturer agreements and lose the line. Often the “discount” you see is the difference between MSRP and MAP. It is all just a numbers game. And most people fall for it.

Your best bet is to check with local businesses, smaller ones. Often they are the same as the big boxes +/-5 or 10%. It may surprise you, but the small guys can do it as the big boxes have unbelievable overhead; the little guys do not, so they can be very competitive. But the best part is that the little guys work harder for your business, provide better buying information, knowledge, instruction, and after the sale service. Most frequently, the small guys offer service at a lower rate than the big boxes. For instance, last time I checked, Best Buy was charging $70-80 to put a stick of RAM in a computer. Silicon Solutions, a local shop on Millwood, was charging $30-40. And the staff at Silicon Solutions is far more knowledgeable than Best Buy, and more helpful, from the feedback I get.

I find the same thing at Hiller Hardware, where I can buy one screw, not a bag of 10 just to get one. And I find a better selection at Hiller. Ditto for Mann Tool, where I buy my power tools. They also do in house service, which is very convenient and quick. Their selection is better than any of the big boxes, prices competitive, and knowledge far superior about tools. They have even fixed some tools past warranty as they know the problems and what should be taken care of from experience and service alerts.

Often, I have told people we are not the lowest but the best, especially on installation. I may have to eat those words as I have found the big stores charging far more than what we charge for less service than we give. When we can hang a flat screen TV, adjust it, program it, link it to the AV surround receiver, and instruct our customer on use for less than the big stores charge just to hang it and go, I start thinking some BBQ sauce on those words might make them go down easier.

Material is not the be all, end all. What you own is not the defining criteria of you; what you are is. No one deserves to die over a sale. People need to be aware of the sale tricks and scams designed to relieve them of their money. And it is the little guy, the specialist store that can give you far better product for comparable prices to the lesser stuff the big boxes sell.


Blue Hippo

Speaking of scams, this has got to be a real money maker. It seems to be the merchandise equivalent of payday lenders. The web site does not explain the program very well, or the prices. They advertise like mad on radio stations that seem to be appealing to people with lower income. From what I can gather, they sell you a laptop for far more than list price, but require a deposit and a designated number of weeks of lay-away payments before they ship product. In other words, they get at least the list price, if not more, before they send it, and then continue to have you pay a year’s worth of weekly payments so they can provide you a good credit rating, as they advertise they have no credit checks, and that anyone with a checking account can get a laptop on credit from them.

It strikes me as a rip off as the laptop did not even have Wi-Fi, at least as I could find on the website. If you know of anyone that bought through them, I would like to hear of the experience.


Investment-Coble

Another socialist gets in line with hands out! He hasn't been able to handle the dollars he spends now, and he wants more? How much will this new 'team' cost the taxpayers?

http://www.thestate.com/local/story/602300.html & http://www.thestate.com/local/story/592575.html

I was going to let this slide, but got two earfuls from people, and then some, as seen from the example above. Coble goes to DC to get Obama to “invest” in Columbia. In other words, Coble is looking for bail out bucks just as the financial sector is. Obama has stated he would invest in America through infrastructure projects, much as the WPA did. I do not fault Coble for going (though it could have also been a Christmas shopping junket as well-he did something similar over 10 years ago when he went to NYC to talk Macy’s out of leaving, and it was looked at as a shopping junket as Macy’s leaving was already written in stone) as he should try to get money for the infrastructure projects we need to do, but 1) we do have lobbyists we pay to do this so was his trip necessary, and 2) his blatant spin, calling it an “investment” as we all do know it is a bail out. The city has increased fees and taxes and fines to get more revenue, and is having to cut the budget 5%, so they say, though it will likely be much more, in order to stay afloat. Coble insults us with his incessant spin. He has not balanced the budget for over 2 years, meaning it has not been current and council nor city manager really knew what we had and how to responsibly spend it. Council has failed to effectively budget and is now in trouble.

It is a bail out, stupid!

Bob, call it what it is.


War, What is it Good For?

Why, oh why? It has got to be the same mentality that causes people to trample a store clerk to death just to get a few “bargains”, and then complain that they have been in line for hours and do not understand why the store has to be shut for a killing. Only on a larger basis with more powerful weapons.



















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