You know it goes on. You know these ‘sales‘ happen every Bank Holiday and more often than not, any day you just happen to be looking for a mattress!
What you don’t know is -
If the ‘Was‘ price has any bearing on the ’Now‘ price.
Trading Standards’ rules on ‘Sales’ are vigorously enforced. With that in mind, it can rightly be assumed that items with a ‘Was’ and ‘Now’ price can only be right – after all, these are usually big companies who do not want to fall foul of the law – so it must be true!
Note: *I make no claim that I am an expert on Consumer Law. I can only state on practices that I know to happen. If you can clarify or confirm or even disagree what follows, then please do so using the comments section below.
Half Price Sales!
You see a mattress advertised - Was £500 – Now £250. How can you tell for sure if this is correct? Firstly, it will be correct BUT – the ‘WAS’ price could have been any price you care to think of – Even, Was £1.000.000 – Now £250. The ‘Was’ price has absolutely NO BEARING on the supposed ‘worth’ of the mattress.
I heard a story of a manufacturer who makes beds for a retail bed chain. One bed in question was produced specifically for an upcoming sale. While the order was being manufactured, a few of these beds were displayed in stores at a retail price of around £1000. At SALE time it was advertised at Half Price- Was £1000 – Now £500.
The bed in question, even when sold at £500, was *probably still overpriced for what it was. But the impression you would have come to in a sale, was that it looks like such a bargain. If a bed or mattress is advertised at Half Price then logically, twice that price should be the real ‘worth‘ of the item. If you had compared the specification of the bed above, to others with a value of £500 you would have easily found out that you could have got a much better spec bed for your £500.
The same is true with RRP [Recommended Retail Price]. or SRP [ Suggested Retail Price] These terms mean diddly squat. Manufacturers have no *legal say on how much a retailer should sell their products for – they can of course refuse to supply retailers who don’t toe the line on the retail price of their products!
On Silentnight’s website, they advertise some models from their core range. One for example is the ‘Radiance’ [Miracoil 3 / Memory Foam] Silentnight gives this model [SINGLE] a guide price of £419. And yet, as far as I can see online, no one sells it at this price – The lowest price I have found is £279 but tagged with – RRP £419. – Save £140. In this case SN gives a disclaimer on their site *(11/2/10) with regards to the price to say that ” *These indicative prices reflect those offered by retailers as at October 2009. However you may pay more or less than this.”
So what does this tell you? Silentnight have placed an indicative ’Value’ of £419 for this particular single mattress. They give their selected retailers a choice of selling it for more or less than this. With the above (true) example you have found it for £279. Have you actually saved £140? or have you paid £279 – the actual ’worth‘ of the mattress? Only by comparing it to other ‘like for like’ models will you know the real answer and find the actual worth.
When doing price comparisons, even in store, always price up the mattress only, and the (no storage) base separately. You will then get a truer price of the supposed mattress quality. You will soon come to see that either the mattress is overpriced with an equally overpriced base or there will be no option to buy the mattress separately (see below).
Example: (Argos May /2010) Silentnight Sherwood Memory (Kingsize);
- Mattress Only: £779.99
- Base and Mattress: £1229.99
Incidentally, another little thing to keep an eye on is the way the stuff is priced. How many of you I wonder have already worked out that the no storage base above has a massive cost of £450.00? The nines are there not to add less than a quid on the price of a £800 mattress, but just a guess – to deter you making a quick mental calculation. If it was rounded up to: - Mattress Only: £780.00
- Base and Mattress £1230.00
It is a lot easier to calculate and to work out how much you are being asked to pay for the (overpriced) base.
Update 1: (May) This is absolutely scandalous! Have a look at the base - For starters, the castors are what you would expect to find on a basic divan set, not one that you are being asked to pay £450 quid for. My betting is on the fact that sooner, rather than later this will be on offer for Half Price. I shall keep my eye on this model and if I am right (or wrong) I will post the result here.
Update 2: (End May)What did I tell you. The Silentnight Sherwood no storage Divan is now HALF PRICE at £614.99 (Was: £1229.99). The mattress has also been ‘reduced’ to HALF PRICE to £389.99 (Was: £779.99).
Update 3. (End Aug) The link above does not work anymore and as far as I can see the Sherwood model has been removed from the listing.
Bensons For Beds is another prime of example of ‘ *I’m not sure what the best word is’. I want to say Collusion but I’m sure that’s wrong.
They sell the Silentnight Miracoil Zone 5 double mattress for £425.52 – but after the ‘Sale’, it will be £999.99 (price checked 11/Feb/ 2010).
Update: The £425.52 ’Sale’ price has been increased to £499.99 with the ‘Was’ price still at £999.99
Checked – (Feb 2010) (March 2010) (April 2010) (May 2010) (June 2010) (July 2010) (Aug 2010) (Sep 2010) (Oct 2010) (Nov 2010)
(Dec 2010 – Update: Price increased to £539.99 – After Sale Price £1079.99)
(Jan 2011 – Update: Now VAT FREE! at £449.99 – Sale Price £539.99
(Feb 2011 – Sale Price £539.99 – After Sale Price: £1079.99)
(Mar 2011 – Sale Price £539.99 – After Sale Price: £1079.99 – Now 20% off Sale Price)
i remember 15 years ago i was living in greece, and wanted to buy a pair of jeans…too expensive though and my big brother told me to wait till christmas sale.
i did and to my ammazement on sale the price went up by 20 percent and it was marked as 50 percent discount!!
i never ever trusted a ”sale” since then and thanks to internet , would never buy anything unless i read quite a bit and compare around
Thank you for doing this little bit of field research.
We went to a few mattress stores this July (2011) and were quite taken by a Carpetright mattress called Icon 1200 http://www.carpetright.co.uk/king-icon-1200.html which was on sale for just under £500.
After our holiday we wanted to buy it, only to see that it is now on sale for £1199 on the website — interestingly, a higher spec mattress in the same series Icon 2000 is on for only £639.20 — at a big “discount”
– at least the site
http://www.carpetright.co.uk/king-icon-2000.html
(accessed 22 Aug 2011) says ;
Our List Price*: £1,599.00
* applied from 04/05/2011 to 31/05/2011 Was £799.00 – Now £639.20 —
shows you what they did: 4 weeks at an inflated price, and then months and months of claiming “SALE”.
It’s scandalous –
Hi Adrian. Thank you so much for verifying this. As you so rightly say – it is is scandalous.
The sad thing is, is that many people are taken in by it. The same is true with sofas and other large ticket items where the consumer has no idea of actual worth because they are items that are purchased once in a blue moon. Unlike grocery shopping for example, we are well aware of the general price of coffee, milk etc and so this price reducing tactic does not have the same effect.
Incidentally, I believe the Icon range from Carpetright is made by Breasley – very ‘similar’ if not ‘same’ bar fabric pattern to Breasley’s Salus range.
Thanks again Adrian for taking the time to comment. very much appreciated. John and Ryan.
I tried to negotiate the price of a Harrison bed from my local supplier and was told these beds are in such demand that you cannot find them anywhere for less money and they never appear in sales. so we agreed the price, I left a small deposit and awaited the 3 to 5 week delivery. Within 2 weeks the post Christmas sales had started and I went looking for Harrison beds at discount prices. Most of the major stores don’t carry them, one store told me the reason was that Harrison would not allow them to sell at the lower price which they wanted to sell. We did find one local-ish store chain that sold Harrison and had some at supposedly discounted prices – one of which they claimed was made specially for them. I went to the store where I had placed my order and told them that I had found the same article available locally at a discount that was worth sacrificing my deposit for and was pleasantly surprised to be instantly offered a price match which resulted in 250.00 reduction in cost. When I told them who the retailer was the said “hoe come we don’t know about this? they are in the same buying group as us and shouldn’t lower the price without informing us”. I thought “price fixing” is illegal in UK !! Still, I’ve demonstrated that it is possible to circumvent the price fixing practices.
Hi CS, thanks for taking the time to comment on your purchase. An instant reduction of £250 does make you wonder how high the mark-up really is on these products. John.
“… short of legislation”, huh? It’s not ‘just’ the ‘bed’ industry, John.
A level playing field is what is needed in the industry [all industries] for ALL players, starting with the manufacturers taking ‘responsible’ responsibility, but that’s an ideology for pollyanna’s; Unfortunately ‘power’ will see to it that doesn’t happen.
Applying a different slant, perhaps Henry Ford had it right to protect consumers when he said… “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black”.
Let’s not forget though, that manufacturers will continue to produce everything and anything for as long as we, the consumer, continues to buy it… so it is perhaps, that the consumer is the catalyst to the laissez-faire attitude in today’s society.
… And, around and around we go again.
I’ve had Vi-Spring and Hypnos high ends in the past, and now I thrive on a no frills ‘top quality’ latex mattress – it works for me, but the pillow has got to be one of /the/ single most important components in the mechanics of all things sleep.
On a final note, it has to be said, as it will have countless times before, it is the likes of you, John and Ryan who bring credibility back into the picture of buying from a trusted source; even though I haven’t bought from you, I know I could trust doing business with you, because I trust my own judgement, and my ‘nose’. Logic dictates that. Your web site is a credit to you both, as it extends something the big guns will never have, and that’s an affinity with its customers!
Take care John – All the best.
c.
A fine article, John, and a conundrum which the public are faced with, almost daily, with ‘all that’ hard earned cash burning a hole their pockets.
‘It is a verifiable fact’ that people, generally, do not want to believe they’ve been ripped off after having bought something which first appeared to be a ‘too good to be true’ bargain, offered in a ‘Sale’. No business ever stayed in business by selling at a loss… and ‘loss leaders’ don’t apply here, and neither does ‘something for nothing’.
Here are some good pointers [Extract] taken from Trading Standards’ tips, entitled, ‘BEWARE OF BOGUS BARGAINS’.
For those who do ‘watch’ specific products you have an interest in, pay particular attention to point 4… the ‘disclaimer’ and the ’28 days’.
——————–
“TRADING STANDARDS SALE SHOPPING TIPS
JANUARY SALES – BEWARE OF BOGUS BARGAINS
Some seasonal advice for sales shoppers – beware of bogus bargains.
Be a sales sleuth to sniff out the real reductions!
Good sales shopping advice to remember is:
1. Shop around and compare prices to ensure price reductions are genuine: It is all too easy to fall for apparently brilliant bargains at this time of year – but shoppers should try their best to make sure that their bargains are everything they seem. Don’t be afraid to ask questions before parting with cash or signing up to buy goods. It is essential that shoppers take common sense precautions so they get bargain benefits not bogus bargains.
2. Be alert to sales gimmicks: In general, there should be an indication of the higher pre-sale price as well as the sale price but shoppers should look at the asking price and consider carefully if it offers them value for money. They should question all price claims and not be taken in by virtually meaningless terms like ‘special purchase’ or ‘bargain offer’ – and remember to call trading standards if they spot a so-called reduction which isn’t.
3. Always read the small print on sales offers: Look out for any conditions of sale prices to ensure that you do not part with more money that you originally thought. Some offers may require customers to buy a certain number of items before a reduction is given, or in the case of holidays, book for a minimum number of people.
4. Look out for in store notices disclaiming or explaining price claims : Pre-sale prices should be the last price at which goods were offered – and the goods should have been at that price for 28 consecutive days in the previous six months. Shops can however use disclaimers to get around the law, such as “higher price charged from 1st to 7th April 2001″ or “higher price charged in our Oxford Street store”.
5. If you have any problems with any sale goods that you buy don’t worry, you have exactly the same rights when buying sale goods as you do when buying full price goods.
Above all, remember to look at the price, not the reduction.
It is impossible for trading standards officers to keep a check on retail prices so one of the best ways of detecting offences is through shoppers who have been eyeing up an item since before Christmas and notice if the sale price isn’t a genuine reduction. If so, then [contact your local ‘Trading Standards’.”
——————–
If you are drawn to the price the item is ‘reduced’ from, you must ask yourself a few questions…
… Was the item ever worth that original price?
And given those stores want you to believe they really are reducing the price to its current price…
… Is the items’ price it has been reduced to, a fair, true and representative worth of the item at that price? Fundamentally, is it worth it, to you?
Remember though, if you do buy ‘cheap’, be prepared to buy twice.
And finally; “Wise men don’t need advice, fools won’t take it” BF
GT.
Hi Cautus, Excellent comment. Earlier this year (2010) Which? Magazine published the results of a massive project they undertook monitoring over 12000 online prices over a seven month period on sofas and beds from just eight major retailers. They found that many of these prices were offered at the sale price for far longer than the non sale prices.
Let’s not forget it was back in 2005 that the Code of Practice for traders on price indications was updated with the expectations that sale prices and discounts would be more ‘controlled’. However, as my BFB example above showing a whole twelve month sale on one particular item is so unbelievably flagrant of the ethics of the code it makes you wonder just exactly what can be done short of legislation to ensure a Sale price is a ‘genuine’ sale price. John.