The Argos sale con?

1manonthebog · 26/12/14 - 09:48

So I went onto the Argos website to see the sale offers. On the 20th I bought my Mrs a Kindle Fire HDX for Christmas, Thinking the might have now have reduced it in the sale and I find it has now doubled in price and is on sale apparently.

This is a copy of my reservation email, This is the price today. So I am wondering how many more items have doubled in price in a few days and are advertised as being on sale? Do other retailers do such things?

Another sneaky one is doing things like this, Kindle Fire 8.9" for £39, amazing price. Only problem is no stores have any and you can't have it delivered, came across a few items like this.

UrMyStar · 26/12/14 - 09:54

Unless I'm missing it, I don't see the item currently being on sale? The 32gb is on sale http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1432419.htm but I don't think the 16gb is.

1manonthebog · 26/12/14 - 09:57

UrMyStar wrote: »

Unless I'm missing it, I don't see the item currently being on sale? The 32gb is on sale http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1432419.htm but I don't think the 16gb is.

While not on sale its stuck under the BIG SALE section http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Browse/ID72/33025327/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CTechnology%7C33006169/c_2/2%7C33006169%7CiPad%2C+tablets+and+E-readers%7C33007659/c_3/3%7Ccat_33007659%7CiPad+and+tablets%7C33014087/c_4/4%7Ccat_33014087%7CTablets%7C33025327/pp/50/q/THE+BIG+TECH+SALE+AT+ARGOS.htm You'll also notice the 32GB can't be bought anywhere,

Hurlley · 26/12/14 - 10:18

Well they know how stupid most people are, I know of a person that refuses to go into shops that don't have a sale sign, one of the dumbest things I have heard, regardless of whether the item being purchased is actually reduced at all. So kudos to Argos if people are stupid, same as black Friday sales.

Tidosho · 26/12/14 - 10:21

Shops usually have a disclaimer that the item was "available in the Outer Mongolia branch" at the higher price last month. This then qualifies it to be a sale item.

Orbitalzone · 26/12/14 - 10:38

Yes, it was always the case that the item had to be on display on one of their stores for 28 consequetive days in the last 6 months. Sneeky retailers would make sure somewhere they'd have a product way overpriced back in July so they can say it was originally £xxx.xx and now half price. With Argos they often have small print saying that the item has also previously been sold at £xxx.xx. Eg 'was £999.99, now £399,99, previously sold at £449,99'

All retailers do this more or less, Amazon have some very highly suspect 'RRP' pricing and using the camelcamelcamel website allows you to check their prices over the last year

LakieLady · 26/12/14 - 10:44

I think that 28 day rule is why some things that are almost permanently on "special offer" in supermarkets go back to full price for a while every now and again.

gemma-the-husky · 26/12/14 - 10:46

We have virtually reached the stage where noone will buy anything unless it is on sale.

DadDancer · 26/12/14 - 10:58

This has been happening for years. Only mugs go to the boxing day sales.

netcurtains · 26/12/14 - 11:00

I used to work at Hammonds, the week before xmas I'd be over at the warehouse sorting out boxes of tat that was years old to bring over to the shop for the sales. Most of it was stuff even your great granny wouldn't wear but stick a big sale label on it and people snap it up thinking it's a bargain. The actual clothes that were already on the shop floor would be reduced by a quid if anything. Most of the sale stuff came from the warehouse and was shipped in from god knows where.

Isambard Brunel · 26/12/14 - 11:19

Children believe in Santa. Adults believe in New Year's sales.

I remember going to the Selfridges sale in the 90s and it was literally a jumble sale. A mass of tables with manky old tat dumped all over them. Returned items, damaged stock, things that never sold throughout the year because they were rubbish.... just crap. Not a sale in favour of the shopper, just an opportunity for the shop to get rid of crap and save themselves the cost of a skip or two. And this was in a hall that was normally out of bounds to shoppers. If you wandered around the normal shop floors, there were no meaningful discounts on anything, just the usual crap about RRPs even though no one ever charged the RRP in the first place.

The only real bargains around Christmas are in supermarkets on Christmas Eve toward closing time, especially in Aldi and other stores that close for two days over Christmas. They have to clear the shelves of fresh stock that won't keep that long, so you end up with 50% discounts and BOGOFs on fruit, veg and dairy, etc. But not mink coats, plasma televisions or iPads.

A Polaroid flat screen television for £129.99?! You really think that's a bargain?

Rooftopcowboy · 26/12/14 - 11:40

Lots of the retailers play this con game,just seen Debenhams are doing half price Levi's jeans, a good deal...until you realise that they only have size 30R in stock! You don't expect a full size range in a sale, but 1 waist size only!?

valkay · 26/12/14 - 11:41

Isambard Brunel wrote: »

Children believe in Santa. Adults believe in New Year's sales.

I remember going to the Selfridges sale in the 90s and it was literally a jumble sale. A mass of tables with manky old tat dumped all over them. Returned items, damaged stock, things that never sold throughout the year because they were rubbish.... just crap. Not a sale in favour of the shopper, just an opportunity for the shop to get rid of crap and save themselves the cost of a skip or two. And this was in a hall that was normally out of bounds to shoppers. If you wandered around the normal shop floors, there were no meaningful discounts on anything, just the usual crap about RRPs even though no one ever charged the RRP in the first place.
?

Surely the origin of Sales was for retailers to dispose of their old stock to make room for the new stock arriving.

TerraCanis · 26/12/14 - 11:58

There's also the misconception that the word "SALE" means anything other than "we have something we'd like to sell to you" Rules about the item having been on offer at a higher price only apply if a specific reduction for that product such as "was £199.99 now £139.99" or "30% off" ( but not "up to 30% off electricals"

In the OPs position, where I'd reserved an item at one price but they then wanted double, I wouldn't go ahead with the purchase.

Mentorist · 26/12/14 - 12:15

netcurtains wrote: »

I used to work at Hammonds, the week before xmas I'd be over at the warehouse sorting out boxes of tat that was years old to bring over to the shop for the sales. Most of it was stuff even your great granny wouldn't wear but stick a big sale label on it and people snap it up thinking it's a bargain. The actual clothes that were already on the shop floor would be reduced by a quid if anything. Most of the sale stuff came from the warehouse and was shipped in from god knows where.

This is always blatantly obvious in the Next sale yet people still queue up to get in!

euphie · 26/12/14 - 12:23

Mentorist wrote: »

This is always blatantly obvious in the Next sale yet people still queue up to get in!

I used to work for the Next warehouse here in NI and it was clear that a lot of the stuff that they got for the sales was cheap rubbish (managers even admitted this) or stuff that has sat in the warehouse for years, there was very little of the current stock that was ever reduced. Yet, people still camp out for their sales?

weirlandia4eva · 26/12/14 - 12:40

I remember last year I was in Debenhams and I noticed in the run up to xmas they had xmas crackers marked at half price. the small print on the sale label stated that they had been sold at full price at one store( can't remember which one) in July. This is how they get away with saying things are half price when it is really the actual price they intended to sell the product at.

zx50 · 26/12/14 - 12:42

1manonthebog wrote: »

While not on sale its stuck under the BIG SALE section http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Browse/ID72/33025327/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CTechnology%7C33006169/c_2/2%7C33006169%7CiPad%2C+tablets+and+E-readers%7C33007659/c_3/3%7Ccat_33007659%7CiPad+and+tablets%7C33014087/c_4/4%7Ccat_33014087%7CTablets%7C33025327/pp/50/q/THE+BIG+TECH+SALE+AT+ARGOS.htm You'll also notice the 32GB can't be bought anywhere,

Yeah, but there's a button that says 'view all sale' on the banner that says sale. Anyway, the Kindle tablet doesn't have 'save' in the description of it.

Steve_Whelan · 26/12/14 - 12:42

euphie wrote: »

I used to work for the Next warehouse here in NI and it was clear that a lot of the stuff that they got for the sales was cheap rubbish (managers even admitted this) or stuff that has sat in the warehouse for years, there was very little of the current stock that was ever reduced. Yet, people still camp out for their sales?

So how do Next get around the 28 day rule, presumably they have a couple of items from the sale specific range tucked away out of sight but still on sale at an artificially high price at every branch. Then come sale time they can rollout the whole sale range to all shops.

Aftershow · 26/12/14 - 12:44

If you want a particular product, and you like the price it is being offered at, buy it. If you don't, don't buy it.

Buying something purely because it says "sale" next to it is idiotic.

Maxatoria · 26/12/14 - 13:22

Steve_Whelan wrote: »

So how do Next get around the 28 day rule, presumably they have a couple of items from the sale specific range tucked away out of sight but still on sale at an artificially high price at every branch. Then come sale time they can rollout the whole sale range to all shops.

A lot of places have a staff training store which technically are open to the public and everything there is at full price for the required time to be able then to reduce it in the normal stores

[Deleted User] · 26/12/14 - 14:02

Hurlley wrote: »

Well they know how stupid most people are, I know of a person that refuses to go into shops that don't have a sale sign, one of the dumbest things I have heard, regardless of whether the item being purchased is actually reduced at all. So kudos to Argos if people are stupid, same as black Friday sales.

Sheeple lol:D

Tassium · 26/12/14 - 14:08

I don't think retailers we be able to get away with non-sale "sales" this year.

People just don't have the money to spend.

zx50 · 26/12/14 - 14:21

I wouldn't be surprised if stores bumped the prices up to maximum from what they were then when the time's right, knock them back down to what they were and then say that there's a sale on.

TUTV Viewer · 26/12/14 - 14:24

Steve_Whelan wrote: »

So how do Next get around the 28 day rule, presumably they have a couple of items from the sale specific range tucked away out of sight but still on sale at an artificially high price at every branch. Then come sale time they can rollout the whole sale range to all shops.

Don't confuse sale goods with "special purchase" deals and clearance offers.

Or, "if we have any left, we'll sell them at this price after the offer period."

zx50 · 26/12/14 - 14:24

Tassium wrote: »

I don't think retailers we be able to get away with non-sale "sales" this year.

People just don't have the money to spend.

I think there'll be enough money people out there that will buy enough couches and whatnot that will make the store managers happy.

Hey there!

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