Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

EndlessMac · Dec 30, 2008, 02:58 AM

I know the economy is pretty weak but because of this has anyone else noticed that there are ridiculous good deals at many stores? Of course if you lost your job then it won't make much of a difference except of necessary items but I've noticed some people have been a little too conservative with their spending even though they have stable jobs.

It's actually a great time to buy the things that you either need or always wanted. I've seen a lot of stores with more discounts of more than half off. Their profit margins must be really small but it's a great deal for us. So who else is taking advantage of these deep discounts?

kmkkid · Dec 30, 2008, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by EndlessMac

I know the economy is pretty weak but because of this has anyone else noticed that there are ridiculous good deals at many stores? Of course if you lost your job then it won't make much of a difference except of necessary items but I've noticed some people have been a little too conservative with their spending even though they have stable jobs.

It's actually a great time to buy the things that you either need or always wanted. I've seen a lot of stores with more discounts of more than half off. Their profit margins must be really small but it's a great deal for us. So who else is taking advantage of these deep discounts?

?

I don't see any really huge discounts here in Canada.
Some plasmas/LCD TVs have been a little cheaper, but not half off.

Futureshop had $150 off the new Macbook on boxing day, but only for the low end model...

So I said screw it as I wanted a Pro, now I'll just wait for the new iMacs/Minis I guess.

Dakar V · Dec 30, 2008, 11:51 AM

Amazon has been really aggressive in its Video Game pricing. DVDs too, from what i can tell.

Zeeb · Dec 30, 2008, 12:08 PM

The biggest cuts seem to be on clothes and shoes. 50-70% off -- and on stuff that's usually not on sale. Why wait until the recession is over to pay full price for the same item after half the stores have gone bankrupt?

PBG4 User · Dec 30, 2008, 12:31 PM

The question is, 50% off of what price? It seems many people see "50% off" and think they're getting a great deal without doing any research. If the store doubles the price, then sells it at '50% off" are you really getting a deal?

Circuit City's "bankruptcy liquidation sale" is being handled by the same people who handled CompUSA's bankruptcy sales. In the comments section where I found the CC story, a CC employee said iPod cases that were $9.99 before the sale were now being sold for $19.99 and "Half off".

The Godfather · Dec 30, 2008, 12:36 PM

Right before MacWorld? Yea right!

Maflynn · Dec 30, 2008, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by PBG4 User

Circuit City's "bankruptcy liquidation sale" is being handled by the same people who handled CompUSA's bankruptcy sales. In the comments section where I found the CC story, a CC employee said iPod cases that were $9.99 before the sale were now being sold for $19.99 and "Half off".

AFAIK, circuit city filed for chapter 11 and are not liquidating their assets, i.e., chapter 7 filing. In other words they are not having any sort of liquidation sale. Some stores may be closing and they're eliminating the inventory from them but in general the chain is still alive - for the moment.

seanc · Dec 30, 2008, 01:52 PM

I wish this applied to MacBook Pros... I was hoping they'd have a discount in the sales... nope.

turtle777 · Dec 30, 2008, 01:57 PM

I really haven't noticed those huge discounts.

But I almost never shop regular retail, so I don't care if those stores suddenly reduce the prices to match what I always was able to get online and / or in outlets.

-t

flabasha · Dec 30, 2008, 02:35 PM

Yeah, it's CRAZY how much plasma TV's have dropped in the last two months... three months ago I bought a Panny 50' 720p set (very highly rated) for $1200, two days ago I saw the same set on Dealnews for $900 SHIPPED. Insane.

Oh, and I wandered by a Borders yesterday, saw it was closing. Offered 40 percent off EVERYTHING. I bought a ton of books, but they also had a full complement of DVD's, BluRay discs, CD's, etc...

Eug · Dec 30, 2008, 02:44 PM

Originally Posted by kmkkid

?

I don't see any really huge discounts here in Canada.
Some plasmas/LCD TVs have been a little cheaper, but not half off.

Futureshop had $150 off the new Macbook on boxing day, but only for the low end model...

So I said screw it as I wanted a Pro, now I'll just wait for the new iMacs/Minis I guess.

Personally I think some of the sales have been pretty good in Canada. eg:

$99 Blu-ray player
$149 20" LCD monitor.
$799 42" LCD TV

I've even got a reasonable deal from Home Depot, with $10 off $50. Used that coupon 4X already.

So while the deals may not be ridiculously awesome, I think they've been pretty good, and for me a bit better than average boxing week sales.

Oh and this weekend I just paid $0.659/L for gas, and that's the lowest it's ever been for the life of this 2004 Prius. And that wasn't even the cheapest. The next day my GF paid $0.649/L.

brassplayersrock² · Dec 30, 2008, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by Zeeb

The biggest cuts seem to be on clothes and shoes. 50-70% off -- and on stuff that's usually not on sale. Why wait until the recession is over to pay full price for the same item after half the stores have gone bankrupt?

i got two new pairs of great kicks. buy one second half off. saved over $80. great times to buy indeed

osiris · Dec 30, 2008, 03:32 PM

The sales seem okay, I think that after New Year's day we'll see better prices though.
President Day sales in February are something to consider as well.

I'm holding out on a 50 inch plasma or LCD (not sure which yet).

EndlessMac · Dec 30, 2008, 04:11 PM

Originally Posted by Zeeb

Why wait until the recession is over to pay full price for the same item after half the stores have gone bankrupt?

Exactly. We know that the recession isn't going to last forever so it's nice to take advantage of the deals before they go away. As you have said I've seen things that aren't usually on sale that now have discounts.

Originally Posted by PBG4 User

The question is, 50% off of what price? It seems many people see "50% off" and think they're getting a great deal without doing any research. If the store doubles the price, then sells it at '50% off" are you really getting a deal?

I don't doubt situations like that are going on but I price compare pretty often and know the different between retail price, sale price, and wholesale price. I have noticed many genuine discounts and think there are great deals still out there. Of course, I can only speak for the stores in my area since I don't know the situation worldwide. I have bought several items which cost less that it usually does. It's definitely not an artificial markup and then fake discount tactic. I don't always fully trust a store's discount statement which is why I always price compare with other stores.

Eug · Dec 30, 2008, 04:24 PM

And even if a product that's $100 (street) marked up to $120 (MSRP) and now on sale "1/3rd off" for $80, that's still a damn good deal.

I'm seeing a lot of that around here. Yeah, their "original prices" are now marked up, but the actual sale prices are still quite a bit cheaper than the usual street prices. A 20% discount is nothing to sneeze at.

torsoboy · Dec 30, 2008, 05:11 PM

I don't even bother looking at an ad unless it is more than 25% off. The "sales" that are for 5-10% off make me wonder why they even bothered printing the ads in the first place.

Last year I bought my kids some toys at K-Mart that were "on sale", and then after I got home and pulled off the sales tag the original tag was $3 less than the sales price.

At JC Penny's they always have their jewelry listed at 40-60% off, but there's no way that anybody would ever pay their supposed normal prices for what they are selling.

I haven't seen any significant savings around here due to the recession.

flabasha · Dec 30, 2008, 09:09 PM

I think the stupidest one I saw was when Linens N Things was going out of business... I went to the "blowout sale" at my local store, only to find "almost everything 20 percent off!". Which meant most things were 5-10 percent off. Which was doubly funny because Bed, Bath & Beyond - which put them out of business - is almost ALWAYS 20 percent off with their ubiquitous coupons.

Unsurprisingly, the store was full of merchandise, with next to no one shopping. I just laughed and left. The morons couldn't even go out of business right.

Eug · Dec 31, 2008, 10:12 AM

Originally Posted by torsoboy

I don't even bother looking at an ad unless it is more than 25% off.

I suspect that's one reason why some stores do the stupid the mark-up-then-discount-the-price thing.

The "sales" that are for 5-10% off make me wonder why they even bothered printing the ads in the first place.

I'd be quite happy to get 10% off regular prices for my next iPhone.

tooki · Dec 31, 2008, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by Maflynn

AFAIK, circuit city filed for chapter 11 and are not liquidating their assets, i.e., chapter 7 filing. In other words they are not having any sort of liquidation sale. Some stores may be closing and they're eliminating the inventory from them but in general the chain is still alive - for the moment.

That's correct, but CC is closing (or already closed) dozens of underperforming stores, and the chosen liquidator is indeed the same crappy company that did CompUSA and Linens n' Things.

kmkkid · Dec 31, 2008, 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by torsoboy

I don't even bother looking at an ad unless it is more than 25% off. The "sales" that are for 5-10% off make me wonder why they even bothered printing the ads in the first place.

I agree, especially here in Ontario where we have 13% sales tax, it just isn't worth the bother unless I save at least the tax.

Our mall did have a "save the tax" day a week before Christmas, which was pretty nice. You actually ended up saving more because they'd discount the 13% then charge 13% tax on it, because of course we know, we still have to pay the tax.

Wiskedjak · Dec 31, 2008, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by flabasha

Yeah, it's CRAZY how much plasma TV's have dropped in the last two months... three months ago I bought a Panny 50' 720p set (very highly rated) for $1200, two days ago I saw the same set on Dealnews for $900 SHIPPED. Insane.

And, they may drop even more very soon. From what I understand, the prices we're seeing right now are just to clear out current stock before even cheaper models come to the market in 2009.

brassplayersrock² · Dec 31, 2008, 02:58 PM

wow, went back to the same store and purchased two more pairs of shoes and this time the first pair was 10% off and then second pair was 60% off. sweet. saved over $100 this time.

Jan 4, 2009, 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by flabasha

Yeah, it's CRAZY how much plasma TV's have dropped in the last two months... three months ago I bought a Panny 50' 720p set (very highly rated) for $1200, two days ago I saw the same set on Dealnews for $900 SHIPPED. Insane.

I think Plasma will become a thing of the past in a year or two. LCD is catching up (or already has) to Plasma and uses less power.

tooki · Jan 4, 2009, 10:49 PM

Yeah, no. LCD doesn't have the picture quality of plasma. If you want dark blacks, you still need to go plasma. And the difference in power consumption is small.

Paco500 · Jan 5, 2009, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by tooki

Yeah, no. LCD doesn't have the picture quality of plasma. If you want dark blacks, you still need to go plasma. And the difference in power consumption is small.

But... they are much heavier, hotter and quality diminishes over time (I think this is still the case- loses brightness).

freudling · Jan 8, 2009, 04:48 AM

I don't know if the discounts are any deeper for this time of year than they have traditionally been. Same old crap out there, 20-70% off! Of course, anything that is close to 50% off or more is almost always stupid (i.e. size -3 shoes).

tooki · Jan 8, 2009, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by Paco500

But... they are much heavier, hotter and quality diminishes over time (I think this is still the case- loses brightness).

They're a little heavier, create a little more heat (big LCDs consume almost as much power as plasmas), and don't really lose quality any more. That was a problem only in older models. Plus, LCD backlights lose brightness, too!

EndlessMac · Jan 8, 2009, 10:26 PM

Originally Posted by freudling

I don't know if the discounts are any deeper for this time of year than they have traditionally been. Same old crap out there, 20-70% off! Of course, anything that is close to 50% off or more is almost always stupid (i.e. size -3 shoes).

I wasn't really only talking about the holiday discounts around Christmas/New years but rather the ongoing price discounts because of the poor economy. Things like stores going out of business causes liquidations of merchandises and really low house prices like these $1,000 homes are just some of the examples.

Some people seem to be in a state of panic about the poor economy rather than seeing the cup half full and seeing the opportunities that are out there. When was the last time we have seen things like houses go for such a low price?

andi*pandi · Jan 9, 2009, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by flabasha

I think the stupidest one I saw was when Linens N Things was going out of business... I went to the "blowout sale" at my local store, only to find "almost everything 20 percent off!".

I also stopped in to LNT during one of their store closings... it looked like a train had hit it. I really didn't need anything just wandered a bit, and saw a roboraptor. Thought the kid would like it, it wasn't marked, took it up to the price check to see what it would be with discount. $70 bucks. Decided against it, only really wanted it if it was a deal. Later saw same raptor at Target for $40.

Some discount!

Will be watching for prices of new TVs. I suppose that means I ought to pay attention to this whole plasma vs lcd debate?

freudling · Jan 9, 2009, 01:32 PM

EndlessMac:

Interesting... I guess I should mention I am from Canada, and I know you guys are getting hit much harder on this right now.

Here is something funny I saw at a store yesterday: "Up to 70% off entire store."

Nice play on words! They just wanted to collocate 70% with 'entire store'. The translation: discounts of up to 70% in our store.

I took a look and found that only a few racks were 70% off, like those purple plaid sweaters size xxxxxl.

flabasha · Jan 10, 2009, 09:03 PM

I just walked by the local Borders books. They are having a REAL closing sale. EVERYTHING at least 40% off, and by everything, they mean EVERYTHING... the tables and chairs from the cafe, the book racks, even the lighting fixtures!

It was crazy because they just started the sale, and it was FULL stock, so basically a gigantic book/music/DVD store with everything almost half off. I bought three expensive filmmaking books for 70 bucks. I could have dropped a TON more cash... so many box sets, so many CD's, Criterion DVDs... I really had to pull back on the reins.

It's strange to see them basically dropping a bomb on even huge chain stores like that. It's kind of bittersweet - the deals are amazing, but you really see the depth of the recession, and start to get scared for all the people losing, or about to lose their jobs. I like bargains, but I hope this thing turns around soon...