Does this word get you excited, worried, happy, ecstatic, etc etc ? Or does it just wear you off ?
It started with Diwali sale as far back as I can remember. Then it became New Year and Christmas sale. Then in the past ten years or so there is “Akshaya tritiya” when you should buy some gold or other metallic things like cars :). The summer clothes are put on sale when winters come around and winter clothes are on sale as summers come around. Then the websites came up which are perpetually on sale ! 30% off, 40% off …. In the interconnected, shrunk world, now we buy during Black Friday that happens during Thanksgiving. Every product except Apple products seems to be on a sale some time or the other.
My dad always said, a “sale” is fooling the customer. They will increase their price a fortnight before the sale and then give a discount. While he wasn’t right all the time, just looking at these “every” occasion sale one wonders how are the manufacturers profitable ? Or do they have such high margins that they can give away 50% and still make enough ?
People buy things they would not use, things they would never wear during these “sale” periods and hoard these things. We waste so much, and shopping seems almost like a panacea of all ills. I also had a period when I wanted to buy lots of sarees, more as a reaction for the period when we couldn’t buy even one… But after that it has lost its charm. Now I buy one saree, and give one away, so just replacement, no additions and I wear all my sarees, nothing is just kept.
Just think about the never ending “sale” culture – it means things are overpriced or not moving and how much can you hoard ? Be smart and wait for a sale to buy what you really need, that is good. Manufacturers need to think of how they will feed the “sale” frenzy…
Please watch this video that we got to see at FDC during our classes in Brazil – The story of stuff
You still want to catch a sale ?
P.s – I do like the factory seconds concept and I buy Satya Paul sarees from the factory seconds store because I really don’t care about the latest color, design or print in fashion. It’s value for money and I understand why expensive labels might want to have an annual sale or a factory seconds store.
Imp – It is scary to think of the pregnant woman caught in a stampede in the US during the Black Friday sale – hope she is doing fine.
2 thoughts on “Sale Sale Sale”