When the guy was asking for a £200 discount on the price for the rocking horse why didnt Debra just say yes and then take the £200 out of the profit they had already made on the birthing pool?

Would this have been against the rules?

I wondered the exact same thing myself....

I thought that, but on YF, one of the panel said something like, "Couldn't you have had a whip round and raised the £200 yourself?" and apparently that is against the rules, so I would imagine that it would have been against the rules to take the money out of the profits made from the birthing pool.

They have mobile phones with them. Why didn't she just phone the maker on the spot to ask if he'd agree to a discount sale. She'd probably have made the sale then and she'd have made herself look good to the customer for making that effort and so he might have gone away and recommended her to other shoppers.

Since both teams couldn't do anything about prices - Lorraine couldn't cut the price of the pushchairs either - I'd assume it was a clear fixed rule. I'd guess that whatever they agreed with the client at the time they were stuck with. All these candidates have shown their willingness to give the things away to sell in other tasks when they had the freedom.

I assumed it was to test their buying skills with the suppliers which clearly none of them seemed to do, they all (so it seemed) accepted the prices given by suppliers and didn't ask for much in discounts, special offers etc.

I also beleive the guy that wanted the rocking horse might be a setup to further demonstrate the error of the teams ways.... ie not having previously thought about discounts, offers etc.

They could have done something about the prices if they had negotiated with the supplier properly.
James must have negotiated over the birth pool, as they were selling it at £76 instead of £89, which just added to Debra and Ben's failure. That's why Lorraine couldn't lower her price on the pushchair, as she also didn't negotiate a discount, but at least they sold some. AS actually said to James in the boardroom, "Oh you were selling at a discounted price, that's why they bought"

Yes, crucially Debra hadn't negotiated any discount with the supplier at the outset. Her failure to do so is far more serious given such discussions would be part of her day job, no? Even my mother, who I was watching it with, was querying it, Lol. I would have had to fire her on that alone.

I really don't think she's much good. Hard as nails - except when she needs to be - and articulate, but not much substance behind it all.

Agree with para 1. Furthermore she did not ask if they would be selling the pushchair exclusively at the Baby Show, mega mistake as came to light in the programme. It was Lorraine who was "The One the Got Away" this week.

Don't ask me why as I don't know myself but I actually like Lorraine and hope she does well.

Perversely, I too was pleased she won yesterday as PM, even though I'm not sure why either.

It may well be my reaction to some of the posters on here (and one in particular) who seem so damn sure of what they think makes a half-decent business person...and persist on telling us each week that her time is so up.:yawn:

It was strangely reminiscent of that episode a couple of series ago when one team went around being outrageously deferent to artists to avoid seeming uncultured. I think we can postulate a rule:

Apprentice candidates + people they perceive to be posh = train crash.

I'm sure Lorraine did get a discount on the price - I remember her talking to him and he lower the price by £10 from £145 to £135 so, that is why she couldn't drop it anymore on the day.

Actuall Nick makes the same point as the OP in the article on DS below, so perhaps it wouldn't have been against the rules?

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/theappre...orse-idea.html

I wondered why they didn't add on an extra 200 quid on the marked price of the rocking horses to account for such bartering.
When buying something that big the customer is always likely to bargain so adding a 200 quid safety margin would've been a good idea. If people bought at full price, so be it, more profit.

I think that quote by Nick is a bit naughty.....the birthing pool was being sold on behalf of a supplier....I don`t think they would have been too happy if Debra had taken £200 from "their" pot to fund a discount on the rocking horse.The mistake, as highlighted on the program was in not negotiating with the Rocking horse supplier, the possibility of an X% discount in order to secure a sale.I think both teams also failed to adequately research the prices their chosen items were being sold for in the shops or on the net...If they`d done that then they could have negotiated better deals when they met the suppliers....Basically not enough questions were asked of the suppliers for both teams.They just seemed to take their initial price as Gospel....I like Lorraine but she almost half heartedly asked for a £10/15 reduction in the price of the push-chair....I would have at least asked for permission to discount up-to 10% if required......because I`ll bet my left arm that`s what the independents at the show would have done.....Over the years I`v bought loads of gear from the motorcycle show....and the price at 5.30pm is invariably always lower than the price when the doors open at 11am
.....but at the end of the day choosing the Rocking horse was a win or loose choice....The knew they only had to sell one and they would have won the task...Risky....and a difficult call.I`am toooo cautious and would have chosen the push chair and then just prayed, as Lorraine did, that the Rocking horse failed to sell.....but on a different day Debra may have achieved a sale and AS would have been praising her initiative.

Yes, sorry, you're right, she did get £10 knocked off