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Previous: Sell Your Invoices for Cash by Janet Attard If you need furniture, computers, printers, telephones, or office supplies and you're near a Circuit City or Office Depot that is closing, you may be planning to shop for a few year-end, store-closing bargains for your business. If so, be sure you research your purchases before you set foot in the store(s). The reason: the "closing our doors" prices may be higher than the sale prices of the same or better merchandise at other chain stores. This is particularly true in the early weeks of a store closing, when there is plenty of merchandise in the store to choose from. I stopped into an Office Depot that's closing in a nearby town, for instance, and was surprised to see that a printer I had seen advertised a week ago for $199 was now selling for $299. There was a store closing discount price, but the discounted price was still much higher than the price of the printer had been the previous week. The same was true with pretty much everything else in the store. Around the corner at a Circuit City that's closing, I didn't have much better luck. That closing sale had been going on a little longer, and there were bigger discounts, but very little in the way of electronics that I'd need for the office was left. I saw a couple of under-whelming laptops (not much memory in them), and some cameras, but the prices seemed no lower than similar or better products available at other chain stores in the area- chain stores that haven't announced any closings. Bottom line: If you're thinking about purchasing computers or office equipment and supplies before the end of the year, do your homework. Before you set foot inside a store that's closing, research prices, and, for electronics, make a list of the features you want and need. Do all your comparison shopping ahead of time and bring your list of requirements and comparative prices with you when you do shop a store-closing sale. Doing so will help you find the real bargains and avoid buying goods you could have gotten cheaper elsewhere, or that don't live up to your expectations. Posted by Janet Attard on December 17, 2008 at 8:44 AM | Comments (2)Comments I know exactly how this "going out of business" scam works. The store that is closing is actually no longer in charge of pricing the items in its own store. The "liquidators" who take over the closings are allowed to increase prices on items that they feel they can get away with selling to make good on unsuspecting buyers. I've actually seen price tags on top of previously lower priced tags on the same item. The lower price was from the store's nomral operating time but the higher price was put on when the store decided to "go out of business". It's a big hairy scam to lift as much money out of our pockets as possible. And it doesn't just apply to Circuit City or Office Depot. Linens and Things were exposed for this practice of increasing prices on previously lower and more reasonable prices. The liquidators control it all and they were caught in the act. But they are not doing anything illegal. They, because they are the supervising managers of a business going down the tubes, are allowed to "price" items as they see fit and as they figure the market will bear. Only until only the junky stuff is left is when you might find a bargain but don't even count on it then. Thanks for listening. Posted by: Peg Barto on December 18, 2008 at 8:57 AM |
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Copyright 1999-2012 by Attard Communications, Inc. and by the individual authors. |
You are right on! I had been buying from Quill almost exclusivly and then began checking other places and found that I can buy ink cartidges for half or more of the cost from Quill at Amazon, and do not have to have $49 for free shipping. I have been shopping online to find how I can cut office supplies with things being so slow in our business. Thanks for the many good tips you give us!
Posted by: Marlene on December 17, 2008 at 10:14 AM