When a "SALE!" isn't a "SALE!"

I've always avoided storewide sales. I figure I'm just training my regulars to wait for the cheaper prices.

It's not that I don't sell stuff at a discount, but I find a verbal "I'll give this to you for a cheaper price" works better for me.

For instance, right now I'm selling the anime and manga at a steep discount. If you buy 2 manga, you get another 2 manga free. If you buy two anime, you get the third anime free.

I intend to shrink back the space devoted to these two products, and then bring in only the best-sellers.

I believe that the big boys -- the mass market -- know this, as well. I believe that almost every "SALE!" they have was designed from the start -- factored in from the moment of production. Which, if you think about it, isn't really a discount, but simply a lower price that has profit built in.

Oh, sure, they have Clearance sales -- but, there too, I suspect most of them were factored in. I read once, that the OUTLET MALLS ran out of seconds and remainders almost immediately, and starting producing cheaper product for the sole purpose of selling out of these malls.

Cheaper as in -- well, cheaper. As in, you get what you pay for. Either this product never needed to be at the higher price in the first place, and the lower price is an admission of that, or they have done skimped on some part of the production in order to achieve a lower price.

Yeah, yeah. Higher volume makes cheaper prices. But the same point remains. If higher volume has created cheaper prices, than that should be the regular price, not the "SALE!" price. See what I mean?

I think the consumer has figured it out, mostly. They don't much respond to sales unless they perceive them to be real.

They still respond to "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS" sales, though. They need to be more skeptical of these, too. There is at least one furniture store that had a super califfragilistic "Going out of Business!" sale, and has popped back up in the same space under a different name. (Quietly, I noticed, as if they are abashed.) I know of a jewelry store who has done that at least twice.

Most people don't know that what's happening is, a third party comes in after the owner has removed the best pieces, and starts selling their own junk. After 90 days, they're gone, and the cheap crap they sold is unreturnable.

Meanwhile the former owner has a burst of cash, most of the same inventory, and all they have to do is open under a new name.

Here too, I think some of the consumers are becoming savvy. I've noticed that these second and third incarnations are a little more humble, and do less well.

There is another store downtown that I once added to the "Leaving" list because I could swear I saw a "Going Out of Business" sign. Then, a few weeks later, I was driving by and there was another sign, "Clearance -- not going out of business" and I dutifully removed the listing.

The story I recently heard was, the owner(s) found out that you can only "GO OUT OF BUSINESS" for 90 days, and had to revert to a Clearance Sale.

Lately, I noticed they had the "Going out of Business" signs back up, so we have to figure they're serious. At least, under the current name.

Makes you wonder, don't it? I mean, I could conceive of a business plan that was something like this.

Stage 1: Open a new business with a splash. Have huge sales and events.

Stage 2: Run the business for awhile -- if it's hugely successful, keep running the business.

Stage 3: If business starts to slow, have huge "CLEARANCE" and "INVENTORY REDUCTION" sales.

Stage 4: Start telling your customers you may go out of business, and you'd rather sell them the product at vastly reduced prices. Have "CUSTOMER APPRECIATION" sales; private party SALES, etc.

Stage 5: Stop replacing the product. Keep the profits. Run down the store until is stops paying the bills.

Stage 6: Sell the GOING OUT OF BUSINESS sale to a third party, but first remove the last of the 'good' stuff into a storage space.

Stage 7: Spend 90 days on the GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE.

Stage 8: After a decent interval. (a month or two?) open under a new business name with your infusion of cash.

Stage 9: Rinse and Repeat.

Like I said, I think you can only get away with this once or twice. And if you're business is successful, why would you want to do it? (For the Money.)

I belong to a couple of business bulletin boards, where there has been a fairly constant phenomenon. A business owner starts making noises, and you know changes are in the offing. Finally, they announce they are "Going out of Business."

I swear to you, about 90% of them make the same statement after a month or two of sales. "I wish I had known I could raise this much cash, or I would've stayed in business."

But of course, the reason they are raising so much cash is because the consumer has read their intentions to quit, and are buying. If you dare to NOT close, you will be punished. A few have tried that, and since the dynamics of whatever was driving them out of business didn't change, once the influx of cash is gone, so are they.

Big surprise, huh? Business is cynical.