Steroid Sale Prices: Bogus Sales at Big Name Stores

Steroids have hit the sales racks. Many so-called sales (even at well-known stores) are a total fake-out, according to the ShopSmart's December/January 2008 issue.

ShopSmart --a Consumer Reports publication --has put together a sharp analysis of holiday sales. And the results confirmed some of our suspicions: Some discounts are fake.

"The next time you find yourself salivating over a 60-percent-off sale, don't scramble over to the store so fast. Those deals may not be as good as they appear," ShopSmart reports.

The magazine discovered that stores will inflate a price tag and THEN take the discount. As such, the so-called "original price," may be pumped up higher than even the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP).

ShopSmart tracked advertisements for three stores -- Kohl's, Macy's and Sears -- and, YES! there were some true bargains, but there were also many examples in which the discount seemed larger because of an inflated original price. The best shopping protection: Check out the prices online through a shopping portal before you go shopping.

Here are a few examples of sales on steroids.

Kohl's

Item: 12-pc knife set

MSRP: $130

Store Price: $220

Sale Price: $99

Store Discount: 55 percent

Actual Discount on MSRP: 24 percent

Macy's

Item: iron
MSRP: $30
Store Price: $50
Sale Price: $25
Store Discount: 50 percent

Actual Discount on MSRP: 40 percent

Sears

Item: Blender

MSRP: $20

Store Price: $23

Sale Price: $20

Store Discount: 13 percent
Actual Discount on MSRP: 0 percent

source: ShopSmart's December/January 2008 issue.

Previous Posts Today:

5 Reasons Why I Have a Crush on My Parents' Retirement Magazines

What to Do After Losing a Job or Before the Pink Slip Arrives

Holiday Family Activities & More at Carnival of Family Life

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Angelina Jolie's $26 Dress & My Best Cheap Fashion Tricks

Angelina Jolie recently wore a $26 dress to a Red Carpet event. Her shoes, however, cost over $1,000, according to press reports. Nevertheless, I give Jolie high marks for her frugal fashion choice and she picked a great dress.

Here are the details from Hollyscoop.com:

"Angelina Jolie stepped out with her man Brad for her "A Mighty Heart" premiere in a $26 vintage dress but dressed it up with a pair of $1000+ Christian Louboutin shoes. Jolie told Access Hollywood that she found the crushed velvet black frock at the vintage store Wasteland on Melrose Avenue in LA." source: Hollyscoop.com

Her fashion choice sparked rave reviews. Here are a few samples:

The Celebrity Cafe, StyleDash and Damn I'm Cute.

Unlike Jolie I can't combine frugal fashion with expensive shoes, but here are:

My Best Five Cheap Fashion Tricks

1. Borrow clothes from a friend with a great closet or try the HMD (Hand me Down) store. Get give-aways from well-groomed, fashion friendly pals.

2. Find second-hand (thrift, consignment, vintage) stores in upscale neighborhoods. I know an older woman who loves to go the Goodwill and Red, White & Blue stores in wealthy areas. Her reasoning: Better Zoned Donations.

3. Shop off-season for classic garments. I found a well-made $129 skirt for $29 and a $99 outfit for $9 at Anthropologie during an end-of-season sale.

4. Make friends with the salesclerks. One store manager gave me her markdown schedule and once tracked down a past-season tweed skirt that a customer had returned. The skirt (still new) was unworn, but marked down to $6 because it was a year-old.

5. Stop stressing about the clothes and buy a great tube of lipstick, a cute hair ornament or unusual jewelry. I've even dressed up an old dress with a new hair cut or hair style.

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Cheap Movie Tickets, Target.com & Other Discounts from AAA

We rarely go to the movies, but when we do, I hate paying $9.75 (adults) for tickets at our local theater. But with our AAA.com membership, I can pay less for tickets. There are also auto membership discounts for Target, Payless Shoes and many other stores.

For single tickets, AAA members pay either $6.97 (premier ticket) or $6.05 (general admission tickets) with restrictions. Ten-packs are $60.50. Prices vary according to the region of the country. Go to AAA.com and plug in your zip code for movie ticket discounts in your market. The cheap tickets have to be purchased directly through the auto club.

There are also other discounts for auto club members. I found cut rates for Disney, Universal, Sea World and other theme parks. Check your area or the area where you plan to visit for deals.

The full list is at the "savings" tab at the top of the website. Here's a partial list of other AAA discounts:

barnesandnoble.com
Save 5% on top of the lowest current price.

Circuit City

Save 10% on all purchases of $199 or more* with a AAA promotional code available through AAA.com/circuitcity. Just request your code by email.
Shop online at circuitcity.com or by phone at 800-593-4391. The code can also be used in a Circuit City store, printed coupon code required

Payless ShoeSource
Save 10% off the regular price merchandise.
Cannot be used in conjunction with Buy One Get One Half Off Promotion or any other Payless promotion or discount.
Call 1-800-444-SHOE (1-800-444-7463) for a location near you.
Special Member Days for March 1-31, 2007 - Save 20% on all regular price items*. Simply present coupon at time of purchase to receive your exclusive AAA member discount*. Or shop online at payless.com and enter coupon code 20709 to receive your 20% savings. (800) 444-SHOE
* Offer valid on regularly priced merchandise only. Valid membership card must be presented at time of purchase along with coupon. Not valid on prior purchases or for purchase of Gift Cards. Valid only at Payless ShoeSource locations in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. Coupon #20709.

Target.com

Save 10% on items you use everyday. Save on items for the entire family, items for the home, furniture, toys, sporting goods, designer name merchandise and gifts when you shop online. Can be used in conjunction with any free shipping offer available at the time of purchase.

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Flipping Toys: Kids Make Money By Shopping & Selling

A little while ago, No Limits Ladies featured a piece about flipping cars. Other people have flipped houses. I've been thinking about flipping clothes. Here's my plan: Shop in the clearance racks of high-end clothes stores, buy up items for pennies on the dollar; sell clothes on eBay or in consignment stores.

Teens and Tweens are taking the same approach to toys & video games. The New York Times has written this piece about "Barons Before Bedtime," which features how kids are making money in the New Economy. It's a simple strategy: Buy up new stuff in budget bins and resell the items online. Makes more than cents to me!

Here's a snippet from the article:

"ONE of Bradley Ziegler’s favorite days is the day after Christmas, when the bargain bins at Toys “R” Us and Wal-Mart are filled with marked-down DVDs and GameCube games. As he has done for the past two years, Bradley will pick up an armful of $3.99 games and movies and then auction them for up to 10 times that on eBay to regular customers from Kentucky to Cyprus." --source: New York Times

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Can We Not Swap Gifts?

Is it possible to halt the holiday gift cycle with friends? and still be polite? and still keep your friends? Try these words: "The greatest gift we can give each other is the gift or our friendship. So let's just go out for coffee instead." That's a gift detour suggested by Mark Victor Hansen,(a Chicken Soup for the Soul co-author) in a recent issue of Woman's World.

Too often, we get caught in a cycle of giving-way-more than we can afford, Hansen said. It's tit-for-tat, presents-by-rote. Keep more of your money and keep your friends out of long merchandise-return lines. Consider thoughtful and frugal presents of time, an afternoon over hot lattes or other creative gifts.


My other favorite frugal gift ideas:

1) Make a scrapook for someone.
2) Fill a beautiful vase (from a thrift store) with pretty flowers.
3) Create a fun basket filled with favorite treats from dollar stores, clearance aisles of Marshall's/Ross/Target, gourmet stores or thrift stores (for unusual one-of-a-kind items.
4) Cook a special lunch.

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What Impulse Purchases Do You Regret?

We all make impulse purchases that we later regret. You know the drill: Buy now; whine later.

Two Miami Heat basketball players, for example, griped about their bad buys in a Miami Herald article that posed the question: "Have you made any impulse buys you regret?

For example, Miami Heat Forward Udonis Haslem has White Sofa Regrets:

"It's a real nice couch, real expensive couch, but it's white. It's like white leather, so if you wear blue jeans on it, sometimes the blue rubs off on the couch. It's very disappointing that I can't even really sit on it when I spent so much money on it." --Udonis Haslem, Miami Herald Nov. 5

Outcome: He's going to give the White Couch away to someone in his family.


Dwyane Wade --MVP of the 2005 NBA Finals --regrets buying a large gold charm featuring a design built around his Jersey number and his initials: DW3, according to the Miami Herald article.

"At the time I thought it was the hottest design.I wore it a couple of times.Then after a while, I didn't like the design anymore. I didn't even really understand what it was after a while.
I was like: "Man, I've got to get rid of this."

D-Wade.

I regret: The Pink Isaac Mizrahi skirt from Target
Price: $9 (on sale)
Problem: So cute, but it was: Too big, Too pink for me. I looked a crazy ballerina in an oversized tutu.
Solution: I gave it away


I regret: The black skirt from Anthropologie
Price: $10 reduced from $100
Problem: I let a saleswoman tell me that the skirt was supposed to drop so low on my hips. I let myself be deceived because it was a such good deal. Not!
My husband says: Why did you buy a skirt that was too big. (I'm a size 2; the skirt was a size 6/8)
Solution: I returned the skirt.






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Shop for Halloween Now: 25-Cent Deals

Last night we went to Target for food and strayed off into the clearance aisles, where Halloween candy, costumes, decorations. etc. are now 75 percent off.

Even if you don't celebrate Halloween, the costumes and trinkets are great for birthday parties and other family events. Or if you do celebrate Halloween, stock up now for Halloween 2007.

Here's what we found:

0range & Black mugs: original price: $1 clearance markdown: 25 cents

Angel Costumes: (Really fancy,with gold wings for my daughter to wear on Purim, a Jewish holiday celebrated with costumes) original price: $20 sale price: $5.00

Pet Costume: Yoda (for our dog...don't ask: the kids pleaded; we gave in. ) original price: $10 sale price: $2.50

There are also decorations (great for a haunted house birthday party theme for kids), paper goods (buy either orange or black & use the items for non-Halloween parties) and cheap, cheap candy for goodie bags.

I heard that the post-seasonal prices at Target usually go down to 90 percent off by Mid-November. But the Halloween stuff is already getting pretty picked over.

That's the deal at Target, I imagine that Kmart, Wal-Mart and the other big boxes are also having aggressive post-Halloween sales.






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