Well...there you go. Next month marks 23 years in business...11 in Second Hand Goods / New Furniture ( lost the lot there, when they decided to close down the main nearby Highway in Midland, and everyone went off to the new shops around Midland Gate...wonder just who owned the land in those decisions?) Now 13 years in antiques and collectables...specialising in farm, shed- and a miscellany of stuff back through the years. Coincidentally, I spent the same total of 23 years with the CBA (2 years) then the R & I Bank (21 years)...achieving mid management level , which meant dealing with lots of farmers, and lots of businesses...both good and bad! Guess you can say that, with the other 4 years of my working life taken up by lots of other vocations...including ore handling up North, crop spraying tasks on farms, rail work down south, selling fly doors, you name it...I even had a go at selling bloody encyclopaedias- too many other short term jobs to mention. Whatever, the point is, that I have gained a fair amount of varied experience over those years, to be able to comment on a few salient aspects of todays business trading. Now, what really peeves me are the businesses who have these great sales, proclaiming that they are offering from 40% up to 100% off. Man! If they have been making those sort of profits before the sale, then they have been ripping you, the customer ,off, all the bloody time! We have a prominent trader in Guildford who told me that he marks the price up , to enable him to mark the price down -to clinch a sale. What happens there is that the shy, insecure customer pays the full price, whilst the loud , demanding type gets the best price. Dealer is happy, as there are a lot of gullible types out there. I abhor this practice! I reckon that if you mark the price for what the goods are worth, then offer a discount for volume sale, you are benefitting both you and your customer. We all win from that practice. I have a 20% off sale for two 10 day periods each year, and the loss of profit is about evenly made up for by the increase in sales. The customer wins there, as I have to work twice as hard after the sale to replace the stock! Now that is what I call a genuine sale. Next time the big stores in Perth indicate a Boxing Day bonanza, just watch how they put their prices up a week or so before that date, in order to offer the great discounts on Boxing Day...and then watch all those bloody clowns rushing the doors on the big day. The store loses nothing, Ill tell you...they often use the rush hour crowd to get rid of their superseded goods, whilst the frenzy sends the buyers off their bloody heads. Having said all of this, no I wont reveal just when my next 20% off sale is, otherwise Ill have no bloody business up until that date, will I! P.S. If I get enough likes for this article, I might just reveal a few other nasty practices, lauded by shoofty traders.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 14:17:18 +0000
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