Deflation
I went shopping on Wednesday of last week. December 17th. I have a pretty sweet list from Ms. Fire. I have to get a Christmas present, and another for her birthday the next day. The goal was a nice handbag and some sort of bauble. Our limit was $250 total for both (as my birthday is the day after). In my mind I was allowed to exceed the limit because a) I'm the man, b) I'm wearing her out with talk on how bad the economy is and c) she gave birth to our first kid, 'Lil Bang, in September of this year.
As mentioned, I've given myself permission to break the limit. $350 was my internal put value. Birthday is the bigger gift for her. So I was at $200-250 for birthday gift and $50-100 for Christmas.
On Wednesday, the stores were pretty dead. So I start in Nordstrom's. I find a nice Coach purse that she'd flagged as an essential. $398 was the list price. I ask the sales lady if they have any promotions running. She looks at me incredulously. Finally, she concedes that they have a price match and because Dillard's is offering 25% off Coach bags they will as well. I also have a "Save $50 if you spend over $150 on a Coach bag" gift card from American Express. So in my mind, I'm at $398 - 25% = $298. -$50 = $248. So I'm in the ballpark. Well the lady tells me I can't combine the 2 discounts.
I tell her "Look around, lady. You see many people dropping 2 bills plus on a bag?"
She was insistent. $298 plus tax was the best they could do.
So I say "Look at this list. I have bag choices from 5 different stores and 3 different brands. I'm likely going to be buying one of them. This sale is yours to blow."
Well, she stuck to her guns, not seeming to grasp that this was not the same sales environment as last year.
"Can I leave you my number so that when this weekend comes and goes and your manager is frantic because the store is woefully behind on its sales goals you can give me a call and tell me you can get me into this purse for $200 after tax?"
Huff.
I went to another couple of stores. No one was willing to give much of a deal and I was beginning to lose hope. "Trust your instincts, you cheap bastard," I told myself.
The story was similar for some of the higher end bauble stores (earings, necklaces and the like.) "We're Bailey, Banks and Biddle, we don't have sales," the effiminate salesman whined. Eat it, Peter Pan! I'll be back and you'll be begging me to buy something.
So the weekend came and went. I was out of town getting 'Lil Bang Christened but I knew-- nay, I felt in my very soul that prices were falling back on the home front.
Tuesday, December 23rd. Nordstroms.
Norstrom Sales Lady: "Here to do some last minute shopping, sir?"
MB: "Nope. Tomorrow is last minute. I decided to come today so that I had ample time to find the right bag at the right price."
Fast forward 20 minutes.
NSL: "We've increased our promotion and can honor both discounts and can sell you this Coach bag for $248 plus tax."
MB: "Sorry, $248 was my Wednesday price. Today I'm at $200 after tax."
NSL: "We can't possibly do that."
MB: "Well, maybe Kate Spade will work with me a little."
Another 20 minutes. Kate Spade Store.
MB: "I like that bag. How much is it?"
KSL: "$475 plus tax."
MB: "When I was here last Wednesday you indicated that you don't have sales. Are there any last minute promotions you are running?"
KSL: "We have been authorized to work with customers to try to get them into the bag they like. How much are you looking to spend?"
MB: "$150."
KSL: "Oh, there is no way we can come down that much."
MB: "How about you ring it up and enter every promotion code you have ever seen and let's see what happens."
KSL: "Interesting. We can use this discount and then it lets me use this other discount and then I can give an employee discount on top. After tax it comes out to $159."
MB: [fingers on each hand touch to form a pyramid] "Excellent."
20 minutes later, Tiffany's
MB: "Any last minute discounts you are running."
TSL "We don't have sales."
MB: "Even with this economy?"
TSL: "Look around. The store is packed and has been all week."
MB: "Point, Tiffany's."
So the lesson there is that some people still have money. Those people want the light blue box. I wasn't winning this battle.
Go through a few other nicer jewelry stores. All were willing to move some on their price, but I could never find the perfect piece for a reasonable price. My appraiser skillz were confirmed, though, as the pieces I keyed in on were largely the ones that couldn't be discounted much because they knew they were going to sell quickly.
Until I hit Movado.
They never saw it coming.
MB: "I really like these earrings."
MSL: "They are quite elegant. 18 carat white gold with this multiple diamond inlay."
MB: "How much are they?"
MSL: "They retail for $875."
MB: "Yes, but how much are they?"
MSL: "We've been authorized to work with the customer and attempt to accomodate their budgets. How much did you want to spend?"
MB: "$150."
MSL: "I'm sorry. We really can't make cuts that steep."
MB: "Well, there is that one little display over there that says 80% off and has a couple of ugly pieces in it. Can we go put the earrings in there and I'll pick them again?"
MSL: "Let me talk to the manager."
5 minutes pass
MSL: "We will be running an after Christmas sale. We haven't yet selected the pieces that we will discount, but if you check back after Christmas there's a good chance these could be discounted up to 40%."
MB: "Can we say that it's an after-last-Christmas sale and put them in the 80% off case? I'm one of 2 customers in the store and I'll buy them right now."
MSL: "Let me talk to the manager."
5 more minutes pass
MSL: "We can give you 80% off. The total price will be $175 + tax which comes to $192."
MB: [fingers on each hand touch to form a pyramid] "Excellent."
Felt so good about myself I even bought 'Lil Bang a silver bracelet. Even at 3 months, she deserves a little spoilin' from Daddy.
And the bonus? I weighed Ms. Fire's earrings. They weigh about 1/8 oz total. 18 carat gold is 75% pure. With the spot price of gold at $840 per oz., I just bought $80 worth of gold alone! Plus all the diamonds! Ms. Fire is now part of my investment portfolio. And let me tell you, that's the hottest investment I've ever made.
As mentioned, I've given myself permission to break the limit. $350 was my internal put value. Birthday is the bigger gift for her. So I was at $200-250 for birthday gift and $50-100 for Christmas.
On Wednesday, the stores were pretty dead. So I start in Nordstrom's. I find a nice Coach purse that she'd flagged as an essential. $398 was the list price. I ask the sales lady if they have any promotions running. She looks at me incredulously. Finally, she concedes that they have a price match and because Dillard's is offering 25% off Coach bags they will as well. I also have a "Save $50 if you spend over $150 on a Coach bag" gift card from American Express. So in my mind, I'm at $398 - 25% = $298. -$50 = $248. So I'm in the ballpark. Well the lady tells me I can't combine the 2 discounts.
I tell her "Look around, lady. You see many people dropping 2 bills plus on a bag?"
She was insistent. $298 plus tax was the best they could do.
So I say "Look at this list. I have bag choices from 5 different stores and 3 different brands. I'm likely going to be buying one of them. This sale is yours to blow."
Well, she stuck to her guns, not seeming to grasp that this was not the same sales environment as last year.
"Can I leave you my number so that when this weekend comes and goes and your manager is frantic because the store is woefully behind on its sales goals you can give me a call and tell me you can get me into this purse for $200 after tax?"
Huff.
I went to another couple of stores. No one was willing to give much of a deal and I was beginning to lose hope. "Trust your instincts, you cheap bastard," I told myself.
The story was similar for some of the higher end bauble stores (earings, necklaces and the like.) "We're Bailey, Banks and Biddle, we don't have sales," the effiminate salesman whined. Eat it, Peter Pan! I'll be back and you'll be begging me to buy something.
So the weekend came and went. I was out of town getting 'Lil Bang Christened but I knew-- nay, I felt in my very soul that prices were falling back on the home front.
Tuesday, December 23rd. Nordstroms.
Norstrom Sales Lady: "Here to do some last minute shopping, sir?"
MB: "Nope. Tomorrow is last minute. I decided to come today so that I had ample time to find the right bag at the right price."
Fast forward 20 minutes.
NSL: "We've increased our promotion and can honor both discounts and can sell you this Coach bag for $248 plus tax."
MB: "Sorry, $248 was my Wednesday price. Today I'm at $200 after tax."
NSL: "We can't possibly do that."
MB: "Well, maybe Kate Spade will work with me a little."
Another 20 minutes. Kate Spade Store.
MB: "I like that bag. How much is it?"
KSL: "$475 plus tax."
MB: "When I was here last Wednesday you indicated that you don't have sales. Are there any last minute promotions you are running?"
KSL: "We have been authorized to work with customers to try to get them into the bag they like. How much are you looking to spend?"
MB: "$150."
KSL: "Oh, there is no way we can come down that much."
MB: "How about you ring it up and enter every promotion code you have ever seen and let's see what happens."
KSL: "Interesting. We can use this discount and then it lets me use this other discount and then I can give an employee discount on top. After tax it comes out to $159."
MB: [fingers on each hand touch to form a pyramid] "Excellent."
20 minutes later, Tiffany's
MB: "Any last minute discounts you are running."
TSL "We don't have sales."
MB: "Even with this economy?"
TSL: "Look around. The store is packed and has been all week."
MB: "Point, Tiffany's."
So the lesson there is that some people still have money. Those people want the light blue box. I wasn't winning this battle.
Go through a few other nicer jewelry stores. All were willing to move some on their price, but I could never find the perfect piece for a reasonable price. My appraiser skillz were confirmed, though, as the pieces I keyed in on were largely the ones that couldn't be discounted much because they knew they were going to sell quickly.
Until I hit Movado.
They never saw it coming.
MB: "I really like these earrings."
MSL: "They are quite elegant. 18 carat white gold with this multiple diamond inlay."
MB: "How much are they?"
MSL: "They retail for $875."
MB: "Yes, but how much are they?"
MSL: "We've been authorized to work with the customer and attempt to accomodate their budgets. How much did you want to spend?"
MB: "$150."
MSL: "I'm sorry. We really can't make cuts that steep."
MB: "Well, there is that one little display over there that says 80% off and has a couple of ugly pieces in it. Can we go put the earrings in there and I'll pick them again?"
MSL: "Let me talk to the manager."
5 minutes pass
MSL: "We will be running an after Christmas sale. We haven't yet selected the pieces that we will discount, but if you check back after Christmas there's a good chance these could be discounted up to 40%."
MB: "Can we say that it's an after-last-Christmas sale and put them in the 80% off case? I'm one of 2 customers in the store and I'll buy them right now."
MSL: "Let me talk to the manager."
5 more minutes pass
MSL: "We can give you 80% off. The total price will be $175 + tax which comes to $192."
MB: [fingers on each hand touch to form a pyramid] "Excellent."
Felt so good about myself I even bought 'Lil Bang a silver bracelet. Even at 3 months, she deserves a little spoilin' from Daddy.
And the bonus? I weighed Ms. Fire's earrings. They weigh about 1/8 oz total. 18 carat gold is 75% pure. With the spot price of gold at $840 per oz., I just bought $80 worth of gold alone! Plus all the diamonds! Ms. Fire is now part of my investment portfolio. And let me tell you, that's the hottest investment I've ever made.
posted by Max Boom | 12:05 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home