I used to work in the home furnishings retail industry. Every mattress manufacturer rebrands its models uniquely to the retailer for just this reason. They’ll make slight adjustments to the build and marketing description to make it hard for consumers to price compare. Instead they insist that you lie down on the demo in the retail showroom, knowing that you’re not going to do this over and over again. They also rebrand models just for sales events so that you can’t compare old price to sale price. It’s price fixing but designed to make it very hard to win in court.
Yes, but there’s also https://ca.camelcamelcamel.com/ which let’s you track prices for individual products over time. It’s been extremely helpful when I’ve bought some bigger items.
Solid investigative reporting on high-low pricing tactics. The Bay precedent is interesting b/c it shows how hard proving 'regular price' manipulation actually is when products are store-exclusive. Canadian Tire picking specific items that have broader market comparables might actualy make this case tighter. Reminds me of when I used to track electronics prices across retailers and noticed sale cycles that never quite returned to the 'original' price point.
Don’t get me started! I put far more effort into thinking about everything I buy than is healthy. ; ) Which is why I’m viewing the advent of digital price tags as a very bad thing. I’ll be covering this more shortly.
That’s a really good catch! I’ve often noticed products with no price tags on the shelves and just subconsciously thought it was a goof, or they fell off or something. It never occurred to me that it was purposeful. I’ll keep a closer eye from now on.
I used to work in the home furnishings retail industry. Every mattress manufacturer rebrands its models uniquely to the retailer for just this reason. They’ll make slight adjustments to the build and marketing description to make it hard for consumers to price compare. Instead they insist that you lie down on the demo in the retail showroom, knowing that you’re not going to do this over and over again. They also rebrand models just for sales events so that you can’t compare old price to sale price. It’s price fixing but designed to make it very hard to win in court.
Amazon does this almost every day.
Yes, but there’s also https://ca.camelcamelcamel.com/ which let’s you track prices for individual products over time. It’s been extremely helpful when I’ve bought some bigger items.
And for Canadian Tire-specific price tracking, there’s https://tirespy.ca/
Solid investigative reporting on high-low pricing tactics. The Bay precedent is interesting b/c it shows how hard proving 'regular price' manipulation actually is when products are store-exclusive. Canadian Tire picking specific items that have broader market comparables might actualy make this case tighter. Reminds me of when I used to track electronics prices across retailers and noticed sale cycles that never quite returned to the 'original' price point.
I have noticed that a large retailer, regularly removes sale tickets for items featured in it's flyer.
I had to use their self checking scanner to verify the price.
Items that are below cost often bite into their bottom line.
One of the oldest tricks in retail.
One the other way is to put something on sale when it is at regular price.
Being an informed shopper takes work each week.
I spend a lot more time than most people playing the shopping game. I use a list.
Companies love the impulse buyer who pays regular price and buys blindly whatever their heart desires. They are the most loved shoppers.
Don’t get me started! I put far more effort into thinking about everything I buy than is healthy. ; ) Which is why I’m viewing the advent of digital price tags as a very bad thing. I’ll be covering this more shortly.
It is nice to see someone else who self aware about issues with retail.
Glad I am not the only one.
Keep up the good work.
That’s a really good catch! I’ve often noticed products with no price tags on the shelves and just subconsciously thought it was a goof, or they fell off or something. It never occurred to me that it was purposeful. I’ll keep a closer eye from now on.