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Home > Smart Spending > Archives > 2009 > January > 29
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Solid advice on liquidation sales: Compare prices at other stores
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Once upon a time, if you saw me going into a store to do business, chances were good that I was lured by a going-out-of-business sale. Or, as the retailers call it, a liquidation sale.
Here’s how I thought it worked:
Stores, eager to lock their doors shut, quickly wanted to unload inventory and had tagged it with rock-bottom prices. They might even be willing to haggle. Wrong. Here’s how it usually works:
A liquidator company purchases the merchandise, then sets the prices, sometimes above the retailer’s own. Because it has agreed to pay a fee to the store’s creditors, it must keep prices at a reasonable level to cover the upfront cost and generate some profits.
An insider once told me that liquidators of furniture would ship tables and sofas from other stores to the one about to turn out the lights. So much for clearing out the floor.
Were you aware of this?
Advertised prices can be misleading. Fifty percent off might mean half-price on suggested retail, not the store’s price.
Experts say you might secure a better deal at a doomed store before it begins the liquidation sale. So, if you hear a starting date for liquidation, visit the store a week prior.
Let’s hear if you’ve sampled bargains at the latest major chain to liquidate, Circuit City.
A few bloggers have issued warnings and advice to Circuit City scavengers. One is a disgruntled employee, so consider where he’s coming from. The other tipster lacks the employee’s bitterness.
Going out of business? From what I’ve learned, you can go without me.
