Lots of people. Enough that it perpetuates that sales method and many of the companies which use it. It's not limited to furniture, either. The largest appliance retailer in the U.S., a department store known for its tools and a recent merger with KMart, has a number of appliances with nearly-identical features and two different model numbers so one or the other of them can always be "on sale". I want to meet the sucker who buys the other one at the non-sale price. :-p

You would be amazed at the number of people who use MSRP as any kind of guide to an item's value. That's why a $2 chocolate bar at 50% off is worth more than the same chocolate bar sold at $1.

Steve o, glad to hear your input, no matter how true it is.

I guess I was just venting, but had to get it off my chest.

In my world, another 4 letter word should be added to the book,,,"sale".

jimrac,
Your rant intrigues me and I wonder why it upsets you so? Not trying to start an argument by any means, just curious......
I worked in retail for many years and there's a lot I dislike about it, but I sure don't lose any sleep over their tactics. If I don't like a store's policies I just shop elsewhere, there certainly is a lot of choice out there nowadays :), thank goodness.

I know where you're coming from. Just concluded a very confusing search/shopping period for a good sofa. We just happened to go to 2 different stores with the same furniture chain thinking the last one had better inventory. They didn't, and we had to walk out because the salesman forgot about us even after repeated high signs to him.

I was so damn mad when I got to my car that my wife was rolling with laughter at my anger. I did get a quote from the first store, though. Out of curiosity, I called the second store back for a quote and he quoted $100 more for the same thing. I told him about the other quote and he told me if I could get it cheaper take it. I did, but not with that store chain.

Really pissed me off. They kinda reminded me of trying to deal with a used car salesmen...at least the ones I've had the misfortunre to come into contact with.

momto1,

It doesnt upset me. I just back and sympathize on behalf of the general populous that are used and abused by a hyped, misleading, retail industry...

Thats the difference between you and I, you could care less about your fellow man, whereby, it may bother others of the tactics.

Absolutely true, dont like the product, price, service, shop elsewhere, doesnt make it right though, but you dont seem to care.

jimrac,
Untrue, I care very much about my fellow man, I just pick my battles, I certainly wouldn't have let a dimwitted salesman bother me that much! If you were that upset how come you didn't just confront your original salesman who you say "forgot about us."
If you had maybe you could have resolved the problem and not left the store in a snit...just a thought.

momto,

My comments werent about a personal experience, just observations over the years. We are very fortunate enough to not have to worry about the cost of an item, if we like a product, whether its made in china or the u.s, whether its $100 of $10k, its irrelevant.

The point of my statemnet was that, eveidently most retailers understand and are full aware how anive the general public is, and really exploit it to the max. And I really sympathize with the populous, that unfortunately works hard for their monies, and part with it so easily for such manipulations.

just my 2 cents.

momto1 - think you got jimrac and jimtnc mixed up, but that's alright. From your post, you obviously have the patience of Job, which I wish I had.

Regarding confronting the salesman: I thought I explained we tried repeatedly to get the conversation going again, but by then they had to handle a "rush"...which was the reason for the call-back later. Anyway, it turned out fine, so moot point.

Yes I did, sorry for the mix-up! I really don't have that much patience :).
Sorry jimrac, yes it can be very frustrating the way salespeople treat the public. I guess that's why buyers have to beware and do some homework before shopping and buying. It's my opinion that consumers today are very savvy and know which end is up...I was in a very well known book store yesterday and a salesperson approached me and asked if I needed help finding something. I was shocked because it rarely happens in that store so I asked my question and she said "All the books are in alphabetical order (while pointing in the general direction) so it would be over there" was the extent of her help....I just smiled, checked for the book, and left without buying anything. People lament the fact that book stores are disappearing at an alarming rate, but there is a reason for that. I shop on Amazon.com where I can easily find whatever I want, always get great service, and don't have to wait long for my purchase.

"Just curious, do retailers think consumers are stupid?"

Yes - and most consumers ARE stupid!

Otherwise they wouldn't be deep in credit card debt buying unnecessary (or overpriced... or cheaply made, or whatever....) stuff.

"Just curious, do retailers think consumers are stupid?"

They don't _think_ consumers are stupid. They KNOW consumers are stupid. That's why you see stupid sales tactics. Because stupid sells.

This reminds me of a news story from this past fall. Wal-Mart was pulling out of Germany. The reason - they didn't have the lowest prices. Here in the US, they advertise how they have the lowest prices, but if you keep your eyes open you'll see that often (sometimes very often) they don't have the lowest price. But here we just believe what we're told (kinda like believing most of the 50% off BS) so we buy things at Wal-Mart without thinking twice about it.

Well, they tried that in Germany. Over there however, people actually checked the prices before they bought - and ended up not buying things at Wal-Mart.

Fun thread. Here's another way American consumers are stupid: the food we buy. Does no one read labels? Do we prefer to eat dyes, high-fructose corn syrup, modified food starch, and all this other engineered crap rather than plain old food? Do we really think we can eat "all we want" of whatever food contains today's magic ingredient or exemplifies today's fad diet (oat bran, high-carb-low-fat, low-carb-high-protein, green tea)? Europeans aren't exactly strangers to processed food, thanks in part to our beneficent influence, but overall they're smarter about it than we are, and skinnier.

Michael Pollan had a great article in last week's Sunday NYT magazine on this topic. He concluded with a few tips for people who'd like to eat healthfully, and the one I liked best was, don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't have recognized as food.

I think the people who don't read labels are the same ones who buy full price at the aforementioned bait-and-switch department store...

Without ranging too far off-topic, the problem with the U.S. food industry is that the most-highly-processed and -adulterated foods are the cheapest. Why should it cost less to buy a box of Honey-Frosted Sugar Bombs than a box of healthful oatmeal (not the packets loaded with sugar and salt)? Why is it you can buy a package of "weiners" for $2 a pound but a hunk of beef or pork that has been merely cut and packaged costs way more than that?

The U.S. is a culture that celebrates having it all and tends to believe in "food as fuel". Eating "grandma's food" does not fit into that well. Americans also tend to drive (not walk) more frequently than Europeans do because most places decided 40-50 years ago that roads were king.