Mike Marlow wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 13:57:24 -0700, "CW" wrote:



Standard way of doing business these days. Mark the price way up so
you can run sales and make the public think they are getting a deal.

A few weeks ago we took a trip down to Savannah. Stopped in a store
and they touted 50% off of everything. I saw an item for $40, but it
would be half that with the sale discount. Seemed like a scam. Next
day, another store had the same item for $15 regular price.

Ok - but who in this world today is not used to the "List Price" vs "Your
Price" syndrome thing today? For god's sake - it's everywhere around you.
Are we really spending a lot of time talking about this? Just look
everywhere around you.


Awareness is a good defense. Some are more aware than others. Some are
more aware about some things than other things. Those may get taken
advantage of on the other things. Fine societal norms we cultivate,
caveat empor! : )

I'm convinced car dealers find it profitable to assume every person who
steps into their lots is an idiot. If they are right, they make more money.

Bill wrote:


Awareness is a good defense. Some are more aware than others. Some are
more aware about some things than other things. Those may get taken
advantage of on the other things. Fine societal norms we cultivate,
caveat empor! : )

I'm convinced car dealers find it profitable to assume every person
who steps into their lots is an idiot. If they are right, they make
more money.

This whole topic of discounted prices is a real hot spot for me. After
spending a career selling software (and hardware back in the day...), it
really became an annoyance for me. Everything had a "list price", but of
course, nobody ever sold at list price. It made the whole topic of pricing
more than just a joke. But - it's all around us and it's just the way it
is. Foolish, but the way it is. I felt it was insulting to the sales
process and to the customer. "How much is this" was really answered by "as
much as I can get out of you and still get the deal". Oh well - just my
grumblings.

--

-Mike-

On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 21:59:03 -0600, Ed Pawlowski wrote
(in article ):

On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 13:57:24 -0700, "CW" wrote:



Standard way of doing business these days. Mark the price way up so you can
run sales and make the public think they are getting a deal.

A few weeks ago we took a trip down to Savannah. Stopped in a store
and they touted 50% off of everything. I saw an item for $40, but it
would be half that with the sale discount. Seemed like a scam. Next
day, another store had the same item for $15 regular price.

JC Penny recently tried to change all that by not having sales and marking
everything at a good price. Basically a no pricing BS policy.
Their sales plummeted....


-BR

On 6/10/2012 8:31 AM, Bruce wrote:
On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 21:59:03 -0600, Ed Pawlowski wrote

A few weeks ago we took a trip down to Savannah. Stopped in a store
and they touted 50% off of everything. I saw an item for $40, but it
would be half that with the sale discount. Seemed like a scam. Next
day, another store had the same item for $15 regular price.

JC Penny recently tried to change all that by not having sales and marking
everything at a good price. Basically a no pricing BS policy.
Their sales plummeted....

Sam's, CostCo and CarMax seem to do a good job with that business model.


--
www.eWoodShop.com
Last update: 4/15/2010
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)
http://gplus.to/eWoodShop

On 6/10/2012 8:31 AM, Bruce wrote:
On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 21:59:03 -0600, Ed Pawlowski wrote
(in ):

On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 13:57:24 -0700, wrote:



Standard way of doing business these days. Mark the price way up so you can
run sales and make the public think they are getting a deal.

A few weeks ago we took a trip down to Savannah. Stopped in a store
and they touted 50% off of everything. I saw an item for $40, but it
would be half that with the sale discount. Seemed like a scam. Next
day, another store had the same item for $15 regular price.

JC Penny recently tried to change all that by not having sales and marking
everything at a good price. Basically a no pricing BS policy.
Their sales plummeted....


-BR


Uhh yeah, when you mark down your entire inventory and sell it for a
much reduced price you sales will plummet. You are selling for less.

What JCP is in the middle of doing is changing their business
strategy/plan. A business that reduces its prices across the board will
also have to reduce its operating costs across the board and I am sure
they are in that process right now. While reducing prices to the
customer naturally decreases sales it typically increases volume. with
greater volume you have more opportunity to make more profit even if
your prices are lower. They are basically in an adjustment period, they
have realized that they are paying too much for all services including
wages and cost of merchandise. They have probably realized they don't
offer a product that enough people are willing to pay higher prices for.

As time goes by and they get control of their costs and expenses the
higher volume and lower prices should work out well for them.

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 07:31:06 -0600, Bruce wrote:

On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 21:59:03 -0600, Ed Pawlowski wrote
(in article ):

On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 13:57:24 -0700, "CW" wrote:



Standard way of doing business these days. Mark the price way up so you can
run sales and make the public think they are getting a deal.

A few weeks ago we took a trip down to Savannah. Stopped in a store
and they touted 50% off of everything. I saw an item for $40, but it
would be half that with the sale discount. Seemed like a scam. Next
day, another store had the same item for $15 regular price.

JC Penny recently tried to change all that by not having sales and marking
everything at a good price. Basically a no pricing BS policy.
Their sales plummeted....

Truly sad, isn't it? And "they" aren't done dumbing down the average
American yet. The movie "Idiocracy" is coming true with the help of
our own gov't.

--
Doctors prescribe medicine of which they know little,
to cure diseases of which they know less,
in human beings of which they know nothing.
--Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire, about 250 years ago

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:19:32 -0500, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
wrote:




Uhh yeah, when you mark down your entire inventory and sell it for a
much reduced price you sales will plummet. You are selling for less.

I think they figured the dollars would be about the same as there are
no radical sale reductions, just everyday low prices.


What JCP is in the middle of doing is changing their business
strategy/plan.
snip

As time goes by and they get control of their costs and expenses the
higher volume and lower prices should work out well for them.

IMO, the real problem is JCP. That type of store is just an old
department store model that began to unravel a decade or two ago. Most
of us can name a dozen stores that just went away and were replaced by
Wal Mart, Kohls, etc. They probably should just turn out the lights
and go home.

Mike Marlow wrote:
Bill wrote:


Awareness is a good defense. Some are more aware than others. Some are
more aware about some things than other things. Those may get taken
advantage of on the other things. Fine societal norms we cultivate,
caveat empor! : )

I'm convinced car dealers find it profitable to assume every person
who steps into their lots is an idiot. If they are right, they make
more money.

This whole topic of discounted prices is a real hot spot for me. After
spending a career selling software (and hardware back in the day...), it
really became an annoyance for me. Everything had a "list price", but of
course, nobody ever sold at list price. It made the whole topic of pricing
more than just a joke. But - it's all around us and it's just the way it
is. Foolish, but the way it is. I felt it was insulting to the sales
process and to the customer. "How much is this" was really answered by "as
much as I can get out of you and still get the deal". Oh well - just my
grumblings.


Interesting grumbings anyway. : )

Swingman wrote in
news
On 6/10/2012 8:31 AM, Bruce wrote:
On Sat, 9 Jun 2012 21:59:03 -0600, Ed Pawlowski wrote

A few weeks ago we took a trip down to Savannah. Stopped in a store
and they touted 50% off of everything. I saw an item for $40, but it
would be half that with the sale discount. Seemed like a scam. Next
day, another store had the same item for $15 regular price.

JC Penny recently tried to change all that by not having sales and
marking everything at a good price. Basically a no pricing BS policy.
Their sales plummeted....

Sam's, CostCo and CarMax seem to do a good job with that business
model.

I bought my 2005 second hand Caravan from Enterprise because (among other
hings) they didn't haggle. Car is still going fine ...

--
Best regards
Han
email address is invalid

On 6/10/2012 10:08 AM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 09:19:32 -0500, Leonlcb11211@swbelldotnet
wrote:




Uhh yeah, when you mark down your entire inventory and sell it for a
much reduced price you sales will plummet. You are selling for less.

I think they figured the dollars would be about the same as there are
no radical sale reductions, just everyday low prices.


What JCP is in the middle of doing is changing their business
strategy/plan.
snip

As time goes by and they get control of their costs and expenses the
higher volume and lower prices should work out well for them.

IMO, the real problem is JCP. That type of store is just an old
department store model that began to unravel a decade or two ago. Most
of us can name a dozen stores that just went away and were replaced by
Wal Mart, Kohls, etc. They probably should just turn out the lights
and go home.

No reason to shut down, they can change and they appear to be changing.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:


IMO, the real problem is JCP. That type of store is just an old
department store model that began to unravel a decade or two ago. Most
of us can name a dozen stores that just went away and were replaced by
Wal Mart, Kohls, etc. They probably should just turn out the lights
and go home.

No! I like the clothing at JCP...

--

-Mike-

Bill wrote:
Mike Marlow wrote:
Bill wrote:


Awareness is a good defense. Some are more aware than others. Some
are more aware about some things than other things. Those may get
taken advantage of on the other things. Fine societal norms we
cultivate, caveat empor! : )

I'm convinced car dealers find it profitable to assume every person
who steps into their lots is an idiot. If they are right, they make
more money.

This whole topic of discounted prices is a real hot spot for me. After
spending a career selling software (and hardware back in the
day...), it really became an annoyance for me. Everything had a
"list price", but of course, nobody ever sold at list price. It
made the whole topic of pricing more than just a joke. But - it's
all around us and it's just the way it is. Foolish, but the way it
is. I felt it was insulting to the sales process and to the
customer. "How much is this" was really answered by "as much as I
can get out of you and still get the deal". Oh well - just my
grumblings.

Interesting grumbings anyway. : )

Here's another intersting grumbling... As a VP of Sales, I only got
involved in the biggest deals, and those were mine all the way. I wasn't
just trying to help close a deal for a regular sales guy. My interactions
were all with VP's and C-Level executives, where the discussions are much
different than the rote sales level. When the topic of list price, or price
came up - and of course it always did at some point, I stated that I have no
list price. Only people who think they are important like to talk about
discounts from list - people who are important consider an entirely
different type of cost. We started from no established pricing points, but
we did consider value, market conditions (competition's pricing, etc.),
partnership values, etc. Lots of individualized considerations.
Negotiations from that point forward were much more straight-forward and
based on real needs and values of the customer and my company. It is much
easier to negotiate a deal that is good for both parties that way, build
long term relationships, and provide real value.

Too much has grown out of the "Show Me The Money" mentality. Too much
hero-ism has been assigned to high margins. Too little respect and
recognition left in this world for the value of delivering at a fair price
without trying to position the company for sale with every deal. The 80's
had many bad effects on our society and this is one of them.

--

-Mike-

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 12:45:26 -0400, Mike Marlow wrote:

They probably should just turn out the lights
and go home.

No! I like the clothing at JCP...

Hey! We agree on something :-).

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

Larry Blanchard wrote:
On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 12:45:26 -0400, Mike Marlow wrote:

They probably should just turn out the lights
and go home.

No! I like the clothing at JCP...

Hey! We agree on something :-).

Must be God workin' on ya brother... :-) (and I never use smileys...)

--

-Mike-

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 11:01:00 -0500, Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet
wrote:




IMO, the real problem is JCP. That type of store is just an old
department store model that began to unravel a decade or two ago. Most
of us can name a dozen stores that just went away and were replaced by
Wal Mart, Kohls, etc. They probably should just turn out the lights
and go home.

No reason to shut down, they can change and they appear to be changing.

That will be decided by the customers. or the lack thereof. Gimbals,
Wanamakers, Strawbridge & Clothier, Lit Bros. and a bunch of others
did not make it. Some of them opened discount stores and they closed
too. The Sears Essentials in our town just reverted back to a K Mart.
Time will tell.

"Larry Blanchard" wrote in message ...

On Sun, 10 Jun 2012 12:45:26 -0400, Mike Marlow wrote:

They probably should just turn out the lights
and go home.

No! I like the clothing at JCP...

Hey! We agree on something :-).
================================================== ================
Three of us so far.