DS Lite on sale at Target (but not really)

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DS Lite on sale at Target (but not really)

Posted Apr 24th 2007 12:00PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: News

The Consumerist brings forth evidence of a horrible practice: misleading sale documentation. The guilty party is a Target in the Turnersville area (no word on where exactly Turnersville is), as a shopper named Colin found out while hunting down a DS Lite. Upon questioning a nearby employee, Colin found out that such an appropriation of "sale" only means that the product is meeting the price documented in the flyer. That's all well and good, but if something is marked as being on sale, shouldn't it sell for less than its normal price? Call us crazy, but we think so.

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1. This practice is as old as Methuselah.

Heck, back in the day when I worked at Piggly Wiggly a.k.a. "The Pig", we'd have baby food regular price at 33 cents. Put 'em "on sale" at 3 for 99 cents, and they'd sell like crazy.

Posted at 12:20PM on Apr 24th 2007 by haywood jablomey

2. Slow news day?

Posted at 12:50PM on Apr 24th 2007 by Asystole

3. Back when I worked at Circuit City they used to do the same thing. A new tag would print off for a product listing it as a sale price, when I switched it with the regular price tag they would have raised the regular price by $10 and put it on sale for $10 off, thus selling it for the same price and listing it on sale. I found that a little sneaky so I would tell shoppers looking at the product that the sale price was actually regular price if they felt like waiting.

Posted at 12:51PM on Apr 24th 2007 by PhoenixGeek

4. Every Target I've been in does the same thing. I can't tell you how many times I've seen the "SALE! Super Princess Peach $34.99" tag up. You just have to know what the usual prices are beforehand, never take those tags at face value.

Posted at 1:19PM on Apr 24th 2007 by M

5. I don't think that's shady at all, without seeing the store ad at least. The sign clearly says "As Advertised", nothing about a sale price. There's an important difference, but most people just glaze over it and think "sale", which as you have now learned, is wrong.

Posted at 2:23PM on Apr 24th 2007 by Joe

6. It'd be a sale in Europe. :p

Posted at 2:26PM on Apr 24th 2007 by Marc

7. The "Giant Eagle" grocery store chain does that sort of thing all the time too.

The fact of the matter is, it's deliberate deception. That makes it a scam.

Posted at 3:20PM on Apr 24th 2007 by Abscissa

8. That is a "sale" considering my wife had to order one from Amazon.com for my birthday for like $150, because they were out of stock everywhere else. :-)

Posted at 3:54PM on Apr 24th 2007 by bhall

9. I work at a Target and get asked about this type of thing all the time.

The way those little signs are constructed the little flag, the price, the plastic holder, and the colored label above the price are all different components. the label is correctly marked "as advertised" there are matching flags to go with that but in this case the wrong one was used. the sale flag is just a mistake made by an employee who was not paying attention when putting up signs.

Posted at 5:42PM on Apr 24th 2007 by Kyjibo

10. #5 wrote: "The sign clearly says "As Advertised", nothing about a sale price."

Except for maybe that large red tag sticking out with SALE in big, white letters.

Posted at 5:56PM on Apr 24th 2007 by haywood jablomey

11. Scam, deceptive or not...shit like this happens everywhere. I guess I don't feel sorry for the sap that buys this thinking they are getting a deal. In most caess the important thing is the person thinks they are getting a deal. If you only buy something, anyting not just a video game, becuase you "think" it's on sale when in fact you paying the regular price...well you're an idiot and that's just that.

There are far more important things to worry about than this. Like when will I be able to sync my DS with my Wii.

Posted at 3:13AM on Apr 25th 2007 by Phil

12. From Merriam Webster Dictionary:

Sale
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English sala; akin to Old High German sala transfer, Old English sellan to sell -- more at SELL
1 : the act of selling; specifically : the transfer of ownership of and title to property from one person to another for a price
2 a : opportunity of selling or being sold : DEMAND b : distribution by selling
3 : public disposal to the highest bidder : AUCTION
4 : a selling of goods at bargain prices

Notice which definition comes first? People assume that sale always means clearance or discount which it does not. I see no issue with Target's practices. Yes, they are trying to sell things. If putting spiffy signs next to things help them sell, so be it.

Posted at 11:41AM on Apr 25th 2007 by puma

13. This is not standard policy at Target. I used to work that department in a Target, and the price tag itself is quite clearly marked as "As Advertised." Customers would commonly confuse this with being on sale, but we would make it clear this merely meant it was in the ad, not necessarily a special price. It's a way of saying to the customer, "yep, this is that item you saw in the ad that made you come into the store." That Sale tag on the side is a separate item an employee threw up there without thinking about it.

Posted at 12:43PM on Apr 25th 2007 by Jarrett Kaufman

14. I can understand it being a mistake about putting up the little flag (which also implies the price is only valid through Saturday). But why does the main tag have a date range that the price is valid through? I know, it's probably some bureaucratic mumbo jumbo but it's always seemed a little fishy when I see "deals" like this.

Posted at 8:48PM on Apr 29th 2007 by shane

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