Shopping Discussion

CBC Marketplace discusses the "compare at" prices in tonight's episode "Outlet Sales"

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Deal Addict
Apr 4, 2013
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eonibm wrote: +1. I buy clothes at old Navy once in a while. They are really cheap. I don't have the expectation they are the quality of a higher end brand. People do tire of clothes, kids grow out of clothes and people want to change their wardrobe. Old Navy knows that and caters to that value market. I laugh when people shop at outlet stores thinking they are getting extra value with out paying. They are just getting the label and a good feeling that is not justified!
+1. I also use to buy the Hunt Club brand that was sold at Zellers. Inexpensive and you could throw it in the washer and dryer and wear it forever. There's a reasonable priced brand (Can't remember it now) that we buy at Kohls when we are in the US also. Again, wash and wear. No ironing, no shrinking, no stretching. We get years out of these brands. No, they are not premium brands, and we don't care. But then, we are not clothes horses so we really don't care.

The thing is that there are so many of these outlet stores now that whenever we see some of the products - like a Coach purse, MK purse, Tommy, etc, we just think that the person shops at the outlet stores.
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Mar 3, 2008
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Webhead wrote: Outlet shopping - it's price is cheap because the product is made cheap. No way a company would send their Grade "A" products to an Shopping Outlet and sell it for cheaper. If that was the case then EVERYONE would be shopping at the Outlet location rather than the Retail store.
No they wouldn't, or at least, outlet stores pretend that they wouldn't. Part of the outlet stores' false advertising marketing gimmick is their obscure locations. They are either in the middle of nowhere, or in tourist locations that people can't afford to visit often. They purposely locate themselves in places like that in order to beef up their misleading false advertising gimmick with the idea that shoppers are getting bargains on retail goods because those shoppers did what most people will not do by making the extra effort to get to the obscure locations of the outlet stores.
bylo wrote: Also I find it odd that people complain that when they buy a "genuine" name brand item like Coach at a factory outlet store that it's not A-grade quality. If all they want is the name then low-grade "fake" knock-offs are much cheaper than low-grade "genuine" knock-offs.

But they don't just want the name and they also don't want knockoff products. They want genuine retail products, which are exactly what the retailers are falsely advertising their outlet products as. In other words, they want to get what they have been told and/or had been led to believe that they are paying for, not an inferior version of what they thought they were paying for.

This is not a problem with consumers wanting too much. This is a problem with retailers engaging in false advertising tactics that definitely should be made illegal if they are not already.
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Dec 3, 2009
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angryconsumer wrote:
This is not a problem with consumers wanting too much. This is a problem with retailers engaging in false advertising tactics that definitely should be made illegal if they are not already.
The problem is this has been going on for a long time, and like usual, CBS Marketplace is 15 years behind. The scary part is they are still enlightening a massive amount of people.

The other problem is the way the retail market has shaped around this to suddenly make it illegal. It employs too many people.
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Aug 20, 2012
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That's why when peeps brag about their finds at Winners I give a huge side eye. I go to the same winners just to see what's up and it's the crap base level stuff not even close to retail. Just last week someone bragged about finding Fjallraven coats on big discount. I saw the same crap and went no way... they dont even sell that at sportinglife as the base coat. 30% off retail that Winners brags about is no different than most retailers give on pre-xmas sale or on boxing day. You can luck out and find a good piece that's 40-50% off. I saw a men's carry bag at winners that was "retail" for $300 but was knocked down several times to $89.99. It really looked and felt like a $300 dollar bag. So in that case $89.99 wasnt a bad price at all. Last winter season peeps lucked out on 100% real CG Expedition coats at Costco for like $500, near half price.
If the glove don't fit you must acquit! #WINNING
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Mar 14, 2005
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No Frills wrote: The problem is this has been going on for a long time, and like usual, CBS Marketplace is 15 years behind. The scary part is they are still enlightening a massive amount of people.

The other problem is the way the retail market has shaped around this to suddenly make it illegal. It employs too many people.
Maybe the class action lawsuits are 15 years behind. http://consumerist.com/2015/07/22/custo ... rice-tags/
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Sep 7, 2004
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aznnorth wrote: Last winter season peeps lucked out on 100% real CG Expedition coats at Costco for like $500, near half price.
Saw these and was a little surprised Costco was able to sell CG at that price last winter. I always thought CG was never discounted this low, otherwise you question the quality.
People that did get this deal were lucky, as there was limited quantities from what I saw.
😎
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Webhead wrote: Saw these and was a little surprised Costco was able to sell CG at that price last winter. I always thought CG was never discounted this low, otherwise you question the quality.
People that did get this deal were lucky, as there was limited quantities from what I saw.
I heard it was only size Medium.. which sucks for anyone not size Medium.. *welp*
If the glove don't fit you must acquit! #WINNING
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Aug 2, 2010
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No Frills wrote: The problem is this has been going on for a long time, and like usual, CBS Marketplace is 15 years behind. The scary part is they are still enlightening a massive amount of people.

The other problem is the way the retail market has shaped around this to suddenly make it illegal. It employs too many people.
Um, not everyone knows everything at the same time. People are born every day and grow up etc.
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Feb 29, 2008
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Amazing how people don't know this. Most outlets are comprised of stuff the manufacturer makes just for the outlet. Best deals are getting markdowns and clearance at the retail location or finding retail location stuff at the outlet...which is rare.
Sr. Member
Feb 1, 2014
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Lol Winners isn't even cheap. They were selling Sony headphones for MRSP.
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Aug 21, 2011
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It's always sad when you see outlet products that look cheaper than even knockoffs of some products.
Deal Expert
Jan 7, 2002
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MarketPlace and this thread seem to concentrate on outlet stores that sell clothing. How about outlet stores that sell other merchandise. For example are watches and accessories sold at a Timex outlet store any different from those sold in a regular retail store? How about housewares, kitchen stuff, sporting goods, luggage, etc?
veni, vidi, Visa
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Dec 11, 2005
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bylo wrote: Not quite or at least not always. Some outlet stores do sell regular quality merchandise that's end-of-line, out-of-season, returned, etc. at reduced prices but with full manufacturer warranty.

..

CBC MarketPlace apparently does not make that distinction. They should. That could save their viewers some serious money on genuine top-grade merchandise.
If you watched the show, you would see they are primariy referring to Winners, where every item in the store has these "Compare At" tags. Item at winners *are* overstock from department stores, and are true items. The reason the "Compare At" prices are inflated is they are based on the non-sale department store price, which is of course always sky high - that doesn't make the tag wrong.
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Jan 7, 2002
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I did watch the show. It emphasized outlet malls and how mostly clothing stores were using these malls to sell lower-quality versions of their name branded merchandise. My question relates to the quality of non-clothing items at outlet malls.

Winners was mentioned at the end of the program. But that was in regards to bogus "compare at" prices rather than lower-quality name brand merchandise. (Perhaps there was some indirect reference to different quality merchandise at Winners from regular stores when the CBC people couldn't find the same items at other merchants in order to confirm/disprove "comparable" pricing. But if there was then it was too subtle for me ;) )
veni, vidi, Visa
Deal Guru
Mar 14, 2005
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I recently bought a pair of Under Armour Coldgear Infrared tights at the McArthurglen Outlets and compared them to an older pair I have from Winners. The fabric seems similiar, but I noticed that there is no key pocket in the waistband of the outlet version. I don't know if the new versions are missing the pocket or if it is just the outlet versions, but that pocket is useful!
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Mar 6, 2003
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I don't believe the items at Winners are lower in quality, they are mostly overstock. Yes, you should take the "compare at" figure with grains of salt but I do believe there was a time that somebody somewhere tried to sell the item at that price.

Winners is actually more of a true outlet than any of the actual outlet stores.

As for Outlet stores that sell non-clothing items, I believe that there is a mix of items made for outlets and true overstock. Items like electronics and hard goods like kitchenware would never be made specifically for an outlet. Hence the Bose outlets that sell refurbs that are just returns. William Sonoma outlets do sell the same stuff (we've bought many items from their outlets that can be found in the actual stores). Corningware is the same plates you'll find elsewhere.

Other outlets aren't really outlets at all....like Godiva stores or Harry and David.
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Jan 10, 2009
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Yeah Winners has lots of overstock stuff. Do they also have stuff made just for them? Absolutely. But you can't possibly convince me that the hideous Starbucks Chocolate flavoured Coffee K-Cups were made just for Winners.
Deal Guru
Mar 14, 2005
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I believe there are certain "brands" that are only sold at tjmaxx line of stores. I've tried looking up these prices and I only find them on ebay from resellers who bought them from tjmaxx stores. I believe "hind", a fitness brand, is one of these.
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Cas77 wrote: Everytime i watch that show I can't believe how dumb the average canadian consumer actually is. Even the expert said it, it's common sense. If a pair of pants is selling for $20 you can be sure the material, labour, overseas shipping, rent and store employee wage is much less than $20. Nobody sells pants as a non-profit from the goodness of their hearts and companies aren't in the business of losing money. Not rocket science you're not ripping off the company with an amazing deal, you're simply getting what you paid for.
Since I pay zero to use RFD, it must be terrible.

His logic is wrong.

Basically, it just boils down to what the market will bear. Supply and demand.

Clothing and fashion items have ridiculous markups. Do you really think it costs Coach $100 more to make the fancy purse versus the one in the outlet?
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Dec 3, 2009
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eonibm wrote: Um, not everyone knows everything at the same time. People are born every day and grow up etc.
Um, ok.

I agree it's hard to be an informed consumer no matter what the day and age.
Remember to be an RFD-er and NOT a degenerate.

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