\u201cFifty percent OFF!\u201d That\u2019s the sign that lures you in. If you\u2019re like me, and don\u2019t pay attention to the details, you don\u2019t discover that it\u2019s 50 percent off the second item, until the clerk at the register rings you up and you\u2019ve scolded them for over charging you. \u201cThis leather jacket is on sale,\u201d you say, with an indignant look on your face. \u201cThe sign says 50 percent off!\u201d Then you learn the truth.<\/p>\n
Fifty Percent off the second item is a good deal if you\u2019re buying bananas, Moose Tracks ice cream or Snicker\u2019s bars. Something you can use more than one of. But those 50 percent off (the second item) sales are often things you don\u2019t really want two of.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the, \u201cHuge Sale! Up to 70 percent Off!\u201d sales. That \u201cup to\u201d gets me every time. I know the item I want, having learned the hard way, will never be 70 percent off. It\u2019s not an item with the highly prized green sticker; it\u2019s the one, the only one, with the yellow, 10 percent sticker.<\/p>\n
How about, \u201c50 percent Off the Manufacturer\u2019s Suggested Retail Price!\u201d If those signs were honest, they would continue on, and admit that nobody (not them anyhow) ever charged the manufacturer\u2019s suggested retail price. The whole thing is a long running joke between the manufacturer and the retailer, \u201cWe\u2019ll put a ridiculous price on the article and you can be the hero and slash the price.<\/p>\n
They do that with automobiles too. I hear the reason GM came out of bankruptcy so quick, following the recession of 2008, wasn\u2019t because of the government bail out; it was because some guy in Utah bought a Buick and paid the sticker price!<\/p>\n
Besides, everybody knows, cars are cheaper when the sales lot is blanketed with balloons and flags. Or, the cars are moved to an off-site location, like the mall or the fair grounds. At least that\u2019s what the dealers would have us believe. And we do!<\/p>\n
We love a bargain. Especially us old coots. So, we fall for the \u201csales\u201d pitch, no matter how far fetched: Going out of Business! \u2013 Inventory Reduction! – Moving Sale! (Even though the place going out of business does so three times a year, the inventory reduction is immediately replenished with the exact same inventory, and the business that runs the moving sale never moves. My favorite is a sale sign that says, \u201cOpen Under New Management!\u201d That\u2019s what they do to get back the customers they\u2019ve been rude to, bilked or never returned their phone calls.)<\/p>\n
Old Coot \u201cLittle\u201d books are available at Riverow Bookshop, Owego.<\/p>\n
($5 each, 50 percent off the second one. Tell Laura or John I said so.)<\/p>\n
Comments, complaints can be left at mlessler7@gmail.com.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cFifty percent OFF!\u201d That\u2019s the sign that lures you in. If you\u2019re like me, and don\u2019t pay attention to the details, you don\u2019t discover that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n