Retail Recommended Price.

paultap

Well-Known Member
Hi guys.... I am getting pretty tired of certain retailers attempts to mislead buyers into thinking that they are getting some sort of a good deal by advertising the ridiculously high RRP (Retail Recommended price) and showing their current price and trying to make out that there is some sort of huge saving to be had.

Example

Uttings are currently advertising their attempt to shift the Zeiss Duralyt 3-12x50 (non illuminated) as being a "STAR BUY" it states an RRP of £745 and shows a "saving" of £146 (on the RRP price). Offering the scope for sale at £599.... This guys is a "LIMITED OFFER"!

Two things spring to mind...


1. When did ANYONE last pay the ridiculously high price of £745 for the scope in the UK!

2. The scope is an outgoing model!...having been superseded by the Zeiss conquest model.The price should have been reduced considerably by now from the GENUINE retail price, we can do without the dubious attempts such as the above to market a small saving at best over the Genuine price, as a "STAR BUY"

I am pretty sure they were "only" going for about £650 before they were discontinued!

Its about time this practice was outlawed..... I have recently gone shopping in a few retail outlet parks.... This practice is used extensively by various outdoor type shops

Example

RRP £39.99 outlet price £19.99....... Yes - right! When the product is barely worth £19.99 to start with. The retailer is trying to infur that there is some sort of reduction being made when in fact there is absolutely nothing being taken off.

It is worth noting that any reduction from an RRP is NOT a genuine SALE price Unless the retailer has offered the product for sale at the stated RRP price to start with (highly unlikely). This is why, to avoid prosecution, you will usually never see RRP and the word SALE linked together.

Rant over!
 
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this happens with everything on SALE think of a number double it then knock some off what was a fake price in the first place,eg suite before sale 1990 now slashed to 995,its all smoke screens,
 
The Mrs and I were out a walk around a well known garden centre today, we go quite regularly for a coffee and scone. . . Anyway, just before Christmas the Mrs nearly bought a new Xmas tree but decided against it at the last moment.

It was pretty damn expensive at nearly £300 notes. . . Anyway we walk in today and there's the fricking tree on sale for a square ton, can you believe that a two hundred quid reduction in a matter of two weeks. . . and I assume their not selling it at a loss. . . It goes to show what sort of mark-up is involved on some products.

The same surely applies to shooting gear and specifically optics, someone somewhere is making a very healthy profit per unit whilst bumming us.

I've always been a believer in shopping local if at all possible, but these days I can't afford to.

It's astonishing that I can import binoculars from Eastern Europe or bullets from the U.S. for less than my local high street. . . . Something is clearly wrong somewhere.
 
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I know what you mean AN DU RU FOX, but in reality retailers can use any sale reduction they like as long as they have genuinely recently offered the product for sale at the higher price for a long enough period to start with (it used to be for 28 consecutive days) and as long as the new lower price is not advertised for a longer period than the original higher price... Confused??..., yes it is confusing.

Tesco was fined £300,000 for deliberately misleading customers over their advertised sale price for cartons of strawberries back in 2013, they were marked as half price £3.99 to £1.99, it turns out that they were only sold at £3.99 for barely a week!.... They were then sold as being half price for months on end.

Another trick from years gone by was that certain big retailers had what was called price establishment stores, these were dotted around the country. They would advertise specific goods for sale in these stores at a deliberately over inflated price (like RRP) for a long enough period of time to legally establish the price (28 days). It didn't matter if they didn't sell any. They would then introduce the product to all stores and label them as a sale product, using the inflated price and the new lower price to make it look like you were getting a bargain.

Another ploy that has been highlighted by customers is the deliberate massaging of prices by certain retailers concerning January sale items.

Example

A retailer charges £149.99 for an item throughout November
The price increases to £169.99 throughout December
The item is now marked as Sale £169.99 to £155.99 for the Boxing Day sale

The item was actually cheaper in November prior to the sale.

In reality the price was deliberately increased in December to make it look like it was a genuine sale item on Boxing Day .
 
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Ignore the smoke and mirrors. Look at the price to pay and decide whether you want to pay it. Then buy it. Or not.

I guess a price of £599 is about right for a Duralyt 3-12X50. Possibly a tad high now considering it's a discontinued model. But it's replacement, at a couple of hundred quid more, must be selling alright or Zeiss have got their sums wrong.
 
£50 is more like the right price. My mate has one and if you move your eye from left to right the crosshair moves a good bit too. There is a reason why they are being upgraded.
As for RRP's just remember the only free cheese in this world is usually found in a trap..
 
I was in my RFD last week and browsing through his trade catalogues and was amazed at the difference between the trade price and the RRP, most items were nearly 50% cheaper so you can see why nothing is really ever sold at the RRP as there is still profit to be made even when selling way under the RRP.

Askari Hunting UK is a good example of what looks like a bargain on clothes. Lots of products are at least 70% off the RRP but they're only just worth the sale price and not a bargain. Just treat the sale price as a genuine RRP and you get a better idea of the quality.
 
Ignore the smoke and mirrors. Look at the price to pay and decide whether you want to pay it. Then buy it. Or not.

Totally agree. Irrespective of the product or service, we now live in a global market place so competition is fierce so whatever a seller has to so to make the sale, within the law, is fair game. In business you ideally need to be superb in 2 out of the following 3: quality of product, price and service. You also have to be good in the third, but for example if the product is of good quality (to your perception of good quality) and the service is exceptional people may not necessarily pay the cheapest price.
Ultimately, you are in control until you make the purchase, so why bother about the marketing methods?
 
Similarly I get upset by restrictive practices & selling through "distributors".
Example :-
I was in the market for a rifle barrel blank. Looked around & thought one manufacturer's product looked right. - Source at the other side of the world.
No stock in the UK --Hmmm.
Contacted one of two uk distributors & got told by one "we don't sell to end users" - only through the gun trade - I walked away!
Contacted the other & was told I could buy direct - ok so far, but the price was high.
Was going to travel the world & pick one up from the factory (really cheap!) then that trip fell through so I asked the factory if they would ship direct to me - answer was - "We won't ship direct to end users abroad - but will within our country" -- WTF they will send to their "distributors" abroad - but to anyone locally! ---- I walked away & am buying my barrel (not that make) locally in the UK.
Barmy restrictive practice lost them the sale -- bl**dy stupid!
If a distributor actually stocks items there is a good reason for them to be there - If they don't, they should not be the only source available to the end user IMHO!
Rant over!!

Ian
 
Another ploy that has been highlighted by customers is the deliberate massaging of prices by certain retailers concerning January sale items.

Example

A retailer charges £149.99 for an item through out November
The price increases to £169.99 through out December
The item is now marked as Sale £169.99 to £155.99 for the Boxing Day sale

it was actually cheaper in November prior to the sale.

Amazon are good for that sort of thing, you often see peoples reviews where they brought the item a couple of months before cheaper than the supposed sale price today.

I always laugh when the old DFS sale adverts come on with there massive savings, you can bet your bottom dollar they are still making a large profit on the sale price. I brought a 3 seater sofa and reclining swivel chair from them 17years ago when I brought my first house, these cost me £1k & £1.2K respectively and I had to wait 3 months for delivery (sat on garden chairs in my new house for 3 months while waiting), when the swivel chair broke about 18months down the line I fixed it, it was all cheap monkey metal and wood and built in Poland, so you can guarantee they paid no more than £100 per piece cost price.


Distributors are just as bad, I used to sell motoring books many years ago and on one instance a new book came out and I could buy it £3 cheaper at Asda than what they were willing to sell to me direct.

For over inflated prices you only need to look at these discount (factory shops) retail parks like Mcarther Glen or Clarkes village, they advertise as being upto 70% off RRP but the RRP is never charged in the high street version of the shop so is normally still the same price at the discount village as on the high street and just for example the Cadbury's so called factory shops in these places are more expensive than buying your chocolate from Asda.
 
I bought tyres for my car off tyreleader, when I spoke to several place near by if they could beat the price (which included free delivery) none of them were close and most said they couldn't even buy them that cheap from the importer!
 
I worked in retail for a few year when i was younger and got many a shock by ways that they used to bring in customers, yer RRP and MRP, load of bullsh!t, i worked in despatch, sales, merchandising checking prices where charged at the proper costs etc etc and this type of practice has been going on for over 32 years since i left school, i have always checked prices from loads of places before then going to specific shop and showing them the prices that i can get it at and wait till they say yeah i can match that price etc etc and always try to get something thrown in as well, i am mindfull that they have to make profit for their own keep but i sure as L won't get the P ripped out of me. Recently i enquired about the possible purchase of a new rifle and mod and was told about this and that, well another gunshop could transfer the rifle and my rfd adding his fee would still come in a lot cheaper than what he was quoting, i did mention to him that would he not rather have the whole profit from the sale of the rifle and mod or would he lose the sale and just accept the fee for transfer...needless to say i got a cracking deal on the rifle and mod, far better than anywhere else
 
spent 4 years in a massey dealers and our rrp was always 55% more than we paid or we didnt buy from the wholesaler.so if we gave 10% discount for cash we were still quids in.and everbody knows most modern items are made for the lowest price to the retailer so quality will be an issue.handle it in a shop you can see how well its made .buy from t,internet and good look to you
 
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