How would you handle this...?

Discussion in Misc & Others started by MrsJones • Jan 8, 2015.

  1. MrsJones

    MrsJonesActive Member

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    If you were at a thrift store, flea market, yard/garage sale, or a Goodwill store and you picked up an item that you liked and it had two different price tags on it, what would you do?

    I was scanning over a vendor's items at a flea market and I saw an item that I liked but it had two prices on it. Of course I could tell which one was probably priced by the vendor but I thought, 'Let's just see how this goes.' I approached the vendor stating that I'd like to buy the item but it had to prices on it. She looked at me, took the item and scraped off the lower price sticker and said smiling, 'We have to make money too.' I surely understood and we've been the best of friends since.

    How would you handle this situation? Better, what would you expect to happen?
     
  2. valiantx

    valiantxActive Member

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    Every price is negotiable, never think otherwise. Also, if one does have a problem with the pricing of a product, do not argue with a lower employee but ask for a manager [skip the supervisor too, he/she doesn't call the shots] instead. Places like Goodwill, thrift stores, and flea markets do not have high conversion for the products they sell, thus if one bargains intelligently and do not waver in one's price, in most cases the manager will give in and sell it to one for the price one had asked. I used work at a Wal-mart store, and you wouldn't believe the ridiculous price bargaining customers would ask from my managers - which happened almost once a day - and many of them used to get on average 30% off a product simply because the packaging itself was damaged, but the product itself was in excellent condition!
     
  3. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

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    I would have asked which price was the correct price. In a flea market they will always go for a higher price, but you can bargain unless you thought that was a fair price. I am fair andthe thing is it depends if the person was nice, they could have met you half way because by law the lower price is what is to be paid, but if you are talking about a market vendor they can change prices or withdraw items from sale. It also depends on how much I wanted the item I guess and my upper price limit.
     
  4. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    Unless the price difference was massive, I wouldn't make a deal of it. Saving a few pennies or even a buck or two isn't going to change my life, so I would leave both prices on there, expect them to charge me the higher price, and be on my way. Now, if it were a super big difference, I'd be tempted to scrape off the higher price lol.. but I would ask instead and again, expect them to charge me the higher of the two. Usually if I see two prices on something though, it's because the item has been marked down and they actually should be selling it to you for less.
     
  5. tulosai

    tulosaiActive Member

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    I agree that I wouldn't have made a big deal about it, but I probably would have tried to negotiate for a price that was about halfway between the two prices. I'd probably have gone to the person and said, 'hey, I'm really interested in this item. I saw the lower price first and was really eager to buy it but then I saw the higher price. Which is correct?'

    If they said the higher price I'd make a face and say something like 'gosh, I'm not sure. that price seems a little high to me, especially when I was expecting to pay the other price. Could you make it X?'

    It would depend on how big the difference was though- I probably wouldn't fight over a dollar or two, but 10 or 20? Absolutely.
     
  6. Dora M

    Dora MWell-Known Member

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    I would compare the price to the quality of the item. If there is a big difference between the the lower and the higher price, I would negotiate for a happy middle price. If the higher price seems greedy, I will make a bid. If they accept it, fine. If they don't want to negotiate, I'll leave it. It's their decision. To be honest, I don't like it if someone tells me that "they have to make money, too." We all know the price of money. If there were two price tags on an item in my store, I would apologize and offer a reduced price.
     
  7. tulosai

    tulosaiActive Member

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    While I agree wholeheartedly with this, and initially I was going to post that I thought the lower price should have been offered, I think that in many cases there's a difference between a flea market and a brick and mortar shop. While I do think that even at a flea market, if you're planning to sell something, you should probably, you know, make sure the correct price is on it, it can be different for a seller at a flea market to take a loss than for a store to take a loss. This is because at a flea market, many of the people are individuals just striving to make a bit of extra cash, and it's likely the lower price was the price she paid for it hoping to resell it for higher. Not wanting to sell at a loss is understandable, and unlike a store, where if you sell one thing at a loss, the profits for that day are more than likely going to mitigate that, at a flea market must less merchandise is available/sold, and so it can be a bigger deal.
     
  8. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    If the price difference was small, then I wouldn't mind paying for the higher price, since that is how they make money. But if I think that their mark-up is a bit high for my taste, then I'd try to haggle if I really wanted the item. If she doesn't lower the price, then that's the time for me to make my final decision.