Sometimes a deal ain't a deal.

I was talking to people at the writer's group about stores, and how appearances can be deceiving and how sometimes the fact that a store looks prosperous can actually mean the opposite. And vice versa.

People are easily fooled by outward appearances. I'm the same way, I'm sure, about things I know nothing about.

How can the appearance of prosperity mean the opposite? Well, the amount of money a person is willing to spend on appearance is not predicated on how much money they actually make. So sometimes it means they have the extra revenue, but sometimes it means they are spending money they don't have. If it's the latter, then it just puts them further behind.

The article in the Bulletin this morning about "Time Well Spent" was interesting. It's one of my favorite subjects. How often I see people walk away from an item they want because it's full retail -- thinking they'll get it cheaper elsewhere.

In my mind, even if they do eventually get the item for half price, the amount of time and energy they spent getting the savings is wiped out, more often than not. Not to mention, in my store I often carry the full priced item FOR THE VERY REASON that I can't find it cheaper, and the customer is also less likely to find it cheaper.

High demand used books sell very quickly, and more often than not, my store won't have it in stock. What's more, most other stores won't have it in stock. But most people just won't believe that and will go in a fruitless, frustrating search. I call it "instant karma." So add that to the time and energy level, and you're probably spending even more.

The article splits consumers into "satisficers" and "maximizers."

Satisficers "...make a decision as soon as they find what fits the bill..."

Maximizers "...consider all options to make a choice."

"Those studies say "satisficers" are happier.

Getting back to my original point, about appearances being deceiving, there is this:

"A stripped down, warehouse look, on the other hand, now communicates to shoppers that they're getting deals. 'everything about it speaks to volume and low price...'"

I embarrassed Linda the first time we went to Costco because I couldn't keep from scoffing at everything. Sometimes I feel like an alien, because something seems really clear to me and seems to fool everyone else.

It's all marketing, those concrete floors and high ceilings and echoes and cold temps and all the other bullshit. Over the life of a building like that, a few comfortable amenities would be a tiny, tiny fraction of the cost.

The savings are in the volume, and the fact that they make just as much per S.K.U. with a lower margin by making you buy bigger containers.

But it feels like a barn, so it must be cheap.