Today was Boxing Day in Canada. For my foreign readers, it is the “day after Christmas sale” that is held every year on December 26 in most stores across the country. I did some Christmas shopping at Wal-Mart this Holiday season and obviously bought a few gadget from them (1). When I visited the store today, I was surprised to see that so many items were on sale. But there was a catch…
I quickly realized that Wal-Mart was inflating their prices to make it look like the items are on sale. For example, I paid $40 CDN for a Vtech cordless phone 3 weeks ago. Today, the price tag said: “Was $59.99, now $39.99″. The same applied for EVERY item I could remember the price of. Inflated “original” prices were as much as 50% higher!
Is that even legal? I mean, they trick people into believing that they are saving money when they’re not. I think that’s a blatant rip-off. What do you think?
1. Yes, I go to Wal-Mart every now and then. I think they serve a purpose and do it well.
January 2nd, 2007 at 10:10 am
It probably was 59.99 at somepoint in the past, they didn’t say ‘when’ it was 59.99. Wal-mart is a growing business there motto is ‘Low Prices’ not ‘The Lowest Price’. Nearly all the end-cap items can be found cheaper elsewhere.
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:11 pm
It probably was $59.99 at some point in time… like 2 or 3 years ago, but that’s not my point. They made it look like the regular price was $59.99 before Christmas and was lowered by $20 for the Boxing Day.
I shop at Wal-Mart quite often and I have -never- seen the “before” prices advertised on any of the items that were “on sale”.
January 8th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
I live in Toronto and I’ve noticed the same inflation that you described regarding a few items I bought a week before Christmas. I agree with you Carl, if not illegal, it’s a deceptive business practice to say the least.
February 20th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
After watching the DVD “Walmart: the high cost of low prices”, I told myself that I will never set foot in there again ever. Maybe you should watch it too.
Unfortunately, this is almost common practice in the retail industry (at least here in Canada). They are not the only ones. Some will take the suggested retail prices from the manufacturer or the market price as the original “low” price even if they never sold it at that price before.
Marketing semantics 101. You did bite. ;o)