at APMEX. Just the kind of "sale" that I hate. Mark something up where you've never really sold it and then give some kind of discount from there. More proof that consumers are getting dumber by the day.
The Safeway grocery store pulls the same stunt with a certain degree of regularity. Recently they marked everything in the store with yellow and black 'specials' that were deeply 'discounted' from the 'regular' price. Except of course they had never sold the stuff at those 'regular' prices. But memory is short and transient so I guess these tricks do work.
My mom falls for this crap... Me: "edited is this?" Mom: "Oh, it's (insert useless thing we don't need)!" Me: "Why'd you buy it?" Mom: "It was on sale." Me: "..." Mom: "We might use it soon!" Me: "...nope." Mom: "It was on sale! Don't tell me how to spend my money!" Me: *facepalm* Way back in the day, when I worked for a large local department store, some of the clothes we sold, called South Pole ("Gangsta" style, if you would) would alternate between buy one at full price and get one free, or 50% off... so they were essentially the same price all the time. People were suckers for the BOGO offer.
Those tactics work every day. I'm in the jewelry business and not one day goes by where I'm not asked if we're having a sale. The reason for that is so many retailers have "perpetual sales". You don't need to concern yourself with the reality that the original price would never be paid for the item by anybody, just know that it's on sale. Unreal...seriously... PS: How are things just a bit east of here? Get that brush trimmed around your new cottage?
i just looked at my shirt and its south pole! i guess i'm gangsta, time to choose either red or blue and learn the gang hand symbols! im joking, well not about the shirt. most of the brands i used to buy have been putting out the ugliest clothes! real gaudy and glittery, how do people were that stuff(no offence if anyone does). its so hard to find a shirt anymore. there is no national chain grocery stores in pittsburgh, the store thats named something like "giant bird" ran them all out of town. they have this fuel perks thing, not sure how common it is around the country but you get so much money off their gas stations, depending on how much you spend. its 10 cents off a gallon per $50 you spend at the store(tobacco not included). i worked there right before they started this, so i had remembered most of the prices. well after they started the fuel perks program, the prices went up. me and a friend who manages another grocery store went over the price difference vs fuel perks, and you still lost out with the perks. you spend $280 on food and basically get a free tank of gas, but that same food could be had at another store for around $200-$220. so at best you spent $60 on a fill up(you can get up to 18 gallons, i believe). when making our "shopping list" we used basic items like milk, eggs, cheese, that kinda thing. we put enough items so that we would be right at, what would get enough for a free tank of gas at the time it was $2.80 a gallon, so we put $280 worth of "giant bird" food prices. the same brand and amount of food at his store had a grand total of $212.xx(can't remember the change). also wasn't sure if putting the actual name of the store so called it "giant bird". really thats not the name, very close though! i am sly! so yea, there is so many marketing tricks. the most common is the price mark up, then discount. they are always coming up with something new and most people don't even notice. they just see something that says they are getting a deal or something "free" and jump on it.
My entire point of posting this is...one would believe that buyers of PM's would be a bit more educated about what a sale is, and what a sales pitch is....maybe I'm wrong???
I wear a lot of "Hawaiian" style shirts made by Puritan because they're lightweight and never need ironing. I buy them at WalMart. WalMart usually prices them at $10, but when the new designs come in each year, they move the older stock to a discount rack at $5. While the floral patterns and other designs may be different on the new shirts, the "cut" of the shirts are identical right down to the buttons. So, I pick out a couple of the mark-down shirts @ $5 and about a dozen of the new shirts @ $10. When I get to the check-out, I ask the cashier why some are marked higher when they are all the same style from the same manufacturer. I always get the same reply, "We'll give you them at the lower price." Chris
Kohls bargain rack has never let me down. Sometimes I feel like a shoplifter with the prices I've paid.....
Actually, I'm not a bit surprised. Just look to that recent thread on the Goldline Scandal. I see a landslide of repetitive uneducated comments and questions in the bullion threads of any number of forums, here, on kitco, blogs and elsewhere. There's panic, greed and indecision amongst buyers too. Fear sells and fools are easily parted with their money. Apmex hasn't changed their site "significantly" as WebNomad said, they just put up the summer "fire sale" icons next to the big bold prices they list next to products. The price box is an update, otherwise the whole site is pretty much the same as it has been since they changed the header of each page several months ago.
even with what the OP has seen... APMEX, BD and Gainesville Coins are still the better priced on-line dealers. with that said... local dealers are by far the best place to exchange FRNs for PMs
Try Provident Metals, far fewer surcharges and quicker service than APMEX. I do use and appreciate APMEX service as well as Gainesville. These three all have superior customer service. Provident just seems to beat the others on keeping costs down.
FRN = Federal Reserve Notes (a common numismatic abbreviation used amongst paper collectors) PMs here is for 'precious metals' but PM can also mean 'paper money' provided the context.
