The Negotiation

[gordo]

 

[Possumgal]

How many times have I seen stuff on sale, especially with clothes or electronics, and I know darn well that the "was" price they list on the tag is a lot higher than it was last week, so the "now" price is hardly a deal.

 

[gordo]

Ah, there's also a marketing 101 trick that most people are unaware about. The word "Sale" does not usually mean discount price although that's implied. It simply means that the item is for sale at that price. So, the sale price is typically the same as the regular price.

 

[keith1]

What if we lived in a world where corporations didn't have hundreds of people doing jobs designed to produce 'sale' items and design ways to scam and deceive their customers into believing they were getting a deal instead of being played with and in a nutshell, screwed. What if corporations charged a reasonable amount and made reasonable profit and those at the top of such were paid a fair & reasonable salary.

 

[chriscozi]

What if we lived in a world where corporations didn't have hundreds of people doing jobs designed to produce 'sale' items and design ways to scam and deceive their customers into believing they were getting a deal instead of being played with and in a nutshell, screwed. What if corporations charged a reasonable amount and made reasonable profit and those at the top of such were paid a fair & reasonable salary.

But I (Mr. CEO) already make a fair and reasonable salary.
What are you suggesting?

 

[keith1]

But I (Mr. CEO) already make a fair and reasonable salary.
What are you suggesting?

I suppose I was aiming more at those corporations that fall under the 'monopoly' category. That's not a fit for commercial printers, who still must compete for market share.
Besides, most commercial printers that I'm aware of don't even have CEO's. Owners & bosses maybe. CEO is a title reserved for the big time! Also; print shops are generally referred to as 'companies'. Too small time to have crossed the line to 'corporation'.
Don't be difficult

 

[Possumgal]

What if we lived in a world where corporations didn't have hundreds of people doing jobs designed to produce 'sale' items and design ways to scam and deceive their customers into believing they were getting a deal instead of being played with and in a nutshell, screwed. What if corporations charged a reasonable amount and made reasonable profit and those at the top of such were paid a fair & reasonable salary.

I'd start wondering what planet I beamed down to.

 

[MailGuru]

What if corporations charged a reasonable amount and made reasonable profit and those at the top of such were paid a fair & reasonable salary.

I get where you're coming from, but, it just sounds so "Un-American" to me. In a capitalistic society, corporations are supposed to charge "whatever the market will bear", and, those at the top are supposed to make as much as their agents can get them.

 

[keith1]

it just sounds so "Un-American" to me. In a capitalistic society, corporations are supposed to charge "whatever the market will bear", and, those at the top are supposed to make as much as their agents can get them.

Not entirely true. When corporations have been awarded a monopoly, or perhaps just 2-3 companies control a market, they can charge what they please with little, or only pretend (to pacify the minions), oversight. As it stands now the system isn't working. The result is an unjust society - one for the haves, one for the have nots. Note the record profits on the one hand while on the other we have millions that can't put decent nutrition on their tables. And it helps a lot to be born into wealth. There's many examples of this. Health care, education, justice, to name but three.
In case you haven't noticed, we are living in a era of greed. Not to mention gouging. But this gets into territory which won't be made understandable in a couple of sentences or paragraphs here. Research required.

 

[MailGuru]

It's been that way since the beginning of civilization. Communism, Socialism, Capitalism. Take your pick. Is one any better than the other?

Perhaps we should look to AI to finally tell us what works best?

But then, AI would become the bourgeoisie (upper class) and we would still be the proletariat (working class), or, AI would come to the inevitable conclusion that it doesn't really matter. That Mankind simply can not live together peacefully, nor, have they the capacity to govern themselves equally and fairly, and, therefore must be eliminated.

SkyNet is running Buy One, Get One Free specials on Cyborgs through the month of July. LOL

 

[namelessentity]

What if we lived in a world where corporations didn't have hundreds of people doing jobs designed to produce 'sale' items and design ways to scam and deceive their customers into believing they were getting a deal instead of being played with and in a nutshell, screwed. What if corporations charged a reasonable amount and made reasonable profit and those at the top of such were paid a fair & reasonable salary.

Oddly enough, JC Penny tried this and it basically put them out of business. American's are so conditioned to sales, that when someone prices something at the actual price they assume it's a poor product.
Can There Ever Be a Fair Price? Why Jcpenney’s Strategy Backfired

 

[chriscozi]

Oddly enough, JC Penny tried this and it basically put them out of business. American's are so conditioned to sales, that when someone prices something at the actual price they assume it's a poor product.
Can There Ever Be a Fair Price? Why Jcpenney’s Strategy Backfired

The article you link to is NOT apparently associated with 'putting them out of business.'
It DOES contain info on marketing strategy.
JCP's downfall was a confluence of many things - the internet being one of the biggest.
Amazon specifically targeted their products and pricing.
The rest of your comment stands as a testament to the stupidity of people as a group.
Which I would posit is Marketing 101.

 

[MailGuru]

Getting back to the original post, the gullibility of the average human being never ceases to amaze me.

Back in the 90's (when postage was cheaper) we were doing mail for automobile dealerships that averaged about 50-cents each, out the door, including postage. We would normally do 10,000 piece drops for a total of $5,000. We started losing some business to a competitor that was charging twice what we were charging (one dollar each out the door).

I asked a couple of the dealerships how that was possible. Their reply: "His comes with a guarantee that we will sell at least 20 automobiles, or, he will personally pay for a second mailing of 10,000 pieces out of his own pocket"

I was in total disbelief that anyone can be that stupid.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Getting back to the original post, the gullibility of the average human being never ceases to amaze me.

Back in the 90's (when postage was cheaper) we were doing mail for automobile dealerships that averaged about 50-cents each, out the door, including postage. We would normally do 10,000 piece drops for a total of $5,000. We started losing some business to a competitor that was charging twice what we were charging (one dollar each out the door).

I asked a couple of the dealerships how that was possible. Their reply: "His comes with a guarantee that we will sell at least 20 automobiles, or, he will personally pay for a second mailing of 10,000 pieces out of his own pocket"

I was in total disbelief that anyone can be that stupid.

Or, you make your competitors so desperate, they start making wild claims like that in order to sell printing. Silver lining possibly?

 

[Possumgal]

Getting back to the original post, the gullibility of the average human being never ceases to amaze me.

Back in the 90's (when postage was cheaper) we were doing mail for automobile dealerships that averaged about 50-cents each, out the door, including postage. We would normally do 10,000 piece drops for a total of $5,000. We started losing some business to a competitor that was charging twice what we were charging (one dollar each out the door).

I asked a couple of the dealerships how that was possible. Their reply: "His comes with a guarantee that we will sell at least 20 automobiles, or, he will personally pay for a second mailing of 10,000 pieces out of his own pocket"

I was in total disbelief that anyone can be that stupid.

I was half expecting you to say that he promised to buy the unsold vehicles to make 20.

 

[MailGuru]

Or, you make your competitors so desperate, they start making wild claims like that in order to sell printing. Silver lining possibly?

I worry about you Priceline. This was not a "wild claim". If you do the math, you'll see that it was simply a spin on the old grocery store "Double the price, then put it on BOGO sale". Only better.

At 50-cents each back then (when 3rd class postage was around 10-cents each), we were making about 25-cents each in profit. So, for a 10,000 piece run, we made around $2,500 profit.

But, the competitor was selling for 1-dollar each with a guarantee of 20 units sold, or, he would mail another 10,000 at his own expense.

Best case scenario, they happen to sell 20 cars. Since competitor charged 1-dollar each, they made 75-cents each in profit ($7,500). Worst case scenario, they sold less than 20 cars, competitor pays for 2nd 10,000 piece run. 20,000 total pieces mailed for $10,000 - our original price of 50-cents each - effectively selling TWO 10,000 piece jobs at 50-cents each instead of just One.

After being miffed at the client for being so stupid, my second thought was being pissed off at myself for not thinking of it first. LOL

 

[Possumgal]

There was a nearby dealership that once ran a mail campaign offering a free lottery ticket for anybody that stopped in with the mailpiece. That one drew quite a crowd.

 

[keith1]

There was a nearby dealership that once ran a mail campaign offering a free lottery ticket for anybody that stopped in with the mailpiece. That one drew quite a crowd.

When customers came to me for a bulk mail piece - often a post card of sorts - they'd ask me what to put on it - how to word it.
I'm like; WTF! It's your business, not mine, how the F am I supposed to know?
I might have expressed that to them a bit differently.
But I would nearly always advise them to include some kind of giveaway, or coupon. It's astonishing the lengths people will go to if they think they're getting something for nothing.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I worry about you Priceline. This was not a "wild claim". If you do the math, you'll see that it was simply a spin on the old grocery store "Double the price, then put it on BOGO sale". Only better.

At 50-cents each back then (when 3rd class postage was around 10-cents each), we were making about 25-cents each in profit. So, for a 10,000 piece run, we made around $2,500 profit.

But, the competitor was selling for 1-dollar each with a guarantee of 20 units sold, or, he would mail another 10,000 at his own expense.

Best case scenario, they happen to sell 20 cars. Since competitor charged 1-dollar each, they made 75-cents each in profit ($7,500). Worst case scenario, they sold less than 20 cars, competitor pays for 2nd 10,000 piece run. 20,000 total pieces mailed for $10,000 - our original price of 50-cents each - effectively selling TWO 10,000 piece jobs at 50-cents each instead of just One.

After being miffed at the client for being so stupid, my second thought was being pissed off at myself for not thinking of it first. LOL

Holy shit that's actually brilliant.

 

[MailGuru]

Holy shit that's actually brilliant.

Oh yeah, the beauty of it is that you're taking advantage of auto dealers, who make a living taking advantage of consumers.

In the words of Bret Maverick from the movie "Maverick::

"There is no more deeply religious moving experience, than cheatin' on a cheater"