It’s the new year so that can mean only one thing… sales! With so many companies eager to sell off their Christmas stock (or in the UK at least, recoup lost revenue from the quiet holiday season) there are plenty of bargains on offer. Or are there? It can be a great time to stock up on the basics and buy those goods you’ve been waiting for at a more reasonable price. However it can also be a bad time to buy stuff you don’t really need and spend money needlessly. Fortunately, you can be a smart shopper during the sales and not get caught up in the shopping hype by reading the following guide.
Companies during the sales rely heavily on the assumption that you just have to buy a bargain regardless of whether they need it or not. Let’s face it, for most companies (especially clothes stores) a lot of their discounted products during the sales are stuff they couldn’t shift before at normal prices. Don’t think that just because something has 20% off you should automatically buy it. If you need it – great – you’ve saved a load of money. Otherwise what benefits to your wardrobe does buying yet another black jumper bring when you already have two, just because it is half price? Clutter for one.
When you enter a store get a feel for the layout. Stores usually put the big savings and the basic essentials, like bread and milk, at the back or at the end of shelves and have the more expensive, eye catching goods nearer the front at eye level. This means people have to walk past all these other tempting products to get to what they want. It’s sneaky but you can get past it by being clear about what you want and heading straight towards that section. Watch the difference between your friends who browse the shelves and those who go straight to the areas they want… the former will probably end up buying a lot more unnecessary things.
Stores will probably also be pushing that bit harder to get you to sign up for their store cards. Don’t do it, at least during the sales as ultimately all store cards do is give you the incentive to spend more. If it’s the type of card where you can buy goods and then pay for them later, avoid it like the plague because due to the fact you aren’t actually handing over any cash there and then it gives off the false impression that you aren’t spending so much.
What is a bargain anyway? Knocking a bit of money off does not necessarily make for a bargain. Having 10% off will not make much of a dent unless you are buying something expensive, but in that case the product will cost a lot regardless. I discussed my own method of judging value for money in relation to entertainment media like DVDs and music CDs in a previous post so I won’t detail it here. However, in brief I take the value of the product and divide it by the hours of entertainment I should get out of it. Perhaps the best example of what I would consider to be a bargain was my recent purchase of a sat-nav. It’s normal price was £120 which I thought was too much considering I mostly only drive around my local area so wouldn’t use it that often. However during a sale I got it for £40 which was a more fitting price, and this wasn’t during new year’s sales either, this was in the middle of Summer. Don’t be afraid to pass a deal up, because with companies so competitive these days, there is usually always some sale or special offers going on.
In summary:
- Don’t sign up to store cards during sales.
- Make a list of what you want/need and stick to it.
- Set a budget and stick to that as well!
- Sales occur throughout the year, don’t worry about missing out.
- Go straight to the items on your list and don’t randomly browse.
- Don’t buy something purely because it is on special offer.
- Think about what you are really saving before jumping in.
- Saving 10% never compares to saving 100% by not buying things.
December 31, 2007 Lifestyle Design
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