Sales: where everyone now expects a bargain

I AM responding to Bob Scott (Letters, 7.1.21) ‘‘When does the word ‘sale' lose all meaning?’’.

While I cannot advise him as to when a sale represents a ‘‘real’’ discount or not, I can tell him that this situation has been largely brought about by the consumers themselves.

As a former retailer, I can assure Mr Scott that retail is an exhausting business when potential customers relentlessly haggle, ask for an automatic 10% off the marked price, threaten to go to one's rival if an exception isn't made for them, demand a twoforone deal or threaten to try the internet or a secondhand dealer if they aren't given the item at a price they feel is fair.

And it's worse when consumers darkly suggest that the honest dealer

(as I was) deals in sharp business practices. No wonder retailers have to resort to putting up sale signs.

Mr Scott himself even owns up to only buying certain products when they're on sale at discounted prices.

Mr Scott wants it all — permanently discounted prices, along with the added satisfaction of knowing he got a bargain, even though rockbottom prices impoverish our country by denying honest retailers a reasonable profit, force youngsters to endure minimum wages and ensure that container loads of inferior products continue to be imported when we could be training youngsters to engineer superior products at home.

Sometimes, one can't have a Bob each way.

Mike Hamblyn Former secondhand book dealer

Opoho