Shady Jewelry Store Advertising Tactics
I’ve written in the past about mall jewelry stores and how everything that they sell seems to be perpetually on sale for 30%, 50%, or even 70% off the ‘regular’ price. In fact, it got so bad that at one point Zales was inserting a bit of small print into their TV ads admitting that “Original prices may not have resulted in sales.” Well, those dastardly jewelers are back at it… In the runup to Mother’s Day I say a TV ad for some sort of trinket (probably a tennis bracelet — it seems like they’re always hawking tennis bracelets) that was ‘on sale’ for $299. The fine print? In this case they specified a ‘will be’ price, and in “Will be $399.” In other words, as long as they bump the price up at some point in the future (like once they’ve sold out and the item is on backorder) they can get away with calling the current (i.e., regular) price a sale price. As always, buyer beware. Especially when it comes to mall jewelry stores.
Published on May 12th, 2006 - 8 Comments
Filed under: Miscellany
email this article
- add to tip'd - stumble it - digg it - bookmark it
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
Related articles...
» The Best of FCN — Selections from 05/06» Carnivals – Week of 05/15/06
» From the Archives (May 4th – May 31st)
» Mall Jewelry Store ‘Sales’
» One Year Ago This Week (2006 Holiday Edition)
» From the Archives (December 16th – December 22nd)
» Santa Dollars and Bunny Bucks
» Brothel Offers Free Gas to Customers
Was this article useful? Please sign up to receive our content via e-mail:
Great deals...
Readers’ choice...
Recent articles...
- Did Congress Make the Homebuyer Tax Credit Retroactive?
- Congress Extends $8000 Homebuyer Tax Credit, Adds New $6500 Credit
- Lending Club Update - October 2009 Performance
- How Much to Budget for Car Maintenance?
- Series I Savings Bonds Now Paying 3.36%
- Use Weight Loss Strategies to Get Out of Debt
- Weekly Roundup - Disney Shanghai Edition
- How to Save Money on Vacations
- Most and Least Reliable Cars - 2009 Edition
- Get 100 Free Trades from OptionsHouse Brokerage
Recent comments...
- Penny: I am about to purchase a new home.. which will be my new residence...
- APRIL DAYS: I FOR ONE HOPE THAT THE FIRST TIME HOMEOWNERS TAX CREDIT IS EXTENDED BECAUSE...
- JB: I drive a 1999 car and save $60 a month for car repairs, oil...
- Greta: My significant other and I bought a house in February 2009. My boyfriend...
- Jay: Don't forget nCleaner 2nd for turning off widows firewall and windows defender...also use the...
- Bryan: @Doug - you said it... if you simply delayed the closing, it would have...
- Sympathetic Dish TSR: @ Bonnie: Is your HD tv a Flatscreen LCD style? If so then a...
- John DeFlumeri Jr: Thanks for explaining the tax credit. Too bad for those who purchase in...
Most talked about...
- Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
- $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Dish Network Customer Service SUCKS
- How to Claim the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
- $15,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Reduced Credit Limits? Share Your Experience
- Would the "Fair Tax" Gut the Economy?
- Tax Stimulus Rebate Payments to Start Early
- Pay Off Mortgage Early? Or Invest?
- The Best Online Savings Accounts (Updated!)
- Life's Too Short to Drink Cheap Beer
- $7500 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
Ever been to Kohls? They do the exact same thing, everything is on sale every day of every week. I think it just reaches the point where you disregard the “sale.” If the reason why you are buying something is to get a deal you probably shouldn’t be buying it.
Comment by Andrew — May 12th 2006 @ 6:27 pmTalk about bogus on-sale. I have been noticing that there are some stores that claim to go out of business in X days, and “Everything Must Go”. You know what, after X days, they are still there, and the clearance sale price was never a good price. There are so many unwise shoppers out there. I walked out of those stores with 40% off entire store without picking any items which are simply too pricey, and yet the store is more than half empty. Lots of people think going-out-of-business sale must be good, but in fact, it is not.
Comment by frugal — May 13th 2006 @ 12:25 amWe have a carpet store that has had a remodeling sale for a couple of months now. Hmmmm….
Comment by mbhunter — May 14th 2006 @ 12:08 amI always notice when the nearby auto dealership has their “We ordered too many cars, our lots are overpacked, everything must go” sale, and on the same ad it’ll say “we’ll buy your trade-in even if you don’t buy from us.” I guess there must be a little space left on the lots after all…
Comment by Scott — May 14th 2006 @ 10:32 amOne other thing to look for with outlets, specifically Zales Outlet is the return policy. I learned the hard way that the Zales Outlet has no return policy, as per the line of 10 pt text on my 22 inches of receipt. And, I was told, there was a sign warning me… behind the register on the other side of the store.
I’m still pretty steamed about it. Yes, I should have read every word of the receipt before signing it. A slightly expensive life lesson.
Comment by Martin — May 15th 2006 @ 4:42 pmI remember once having a conversation with a friend of mine, whoc pointed out that ‘SALE’ simply means that a store has stuff for sale, not necessarilly at a good price.
Comment by Nenad — May 17th 2006 @ 3:08 amThird anniversary-fire sale! The rug stores crack me up sometimes. Those are ussually small shops, but how can big chains do this sneaky crap? Is there one evil person or do all 1000 employees get together and decide how to con customers? I know some people can’t work where they want, but I am starting get mad at the tools that work service for these companies!
Comment by fred — Jun 14th 2008 @ 5:04 pmSomehow they always can get your money back, if you ask 5 times, so they know you weren’t fairly dealt with.
Its true that there are alot of false advertising going on. But lets not just narrrow it down to just mall jewelry stores. It happens across the board in all types of retailers, whether in or out of the mall.
Comment by bert levi — Dec 22nd 2008 @ 9:50 amMy disclaimer: I work in a mall jewe;ry store, called Levi and Sons. Even though we are having sale signs up, they truly are very good deals. I think in most cases, people shou;d know where to go and trust someone wneh they buy jewelry. I know for a fact, that I personally give fair prices to my customers. I believe that if you give a good deal to someone, they will come back and buy again. And they will probably bring in their friends and family as a referrals.
Thank you