Why is it that department stores have end-of-season clearances and sales? To put it simply, any products that they don't sell within that season are not profitable for them to hold on to for the long run. Styles and models for many different products from clothing to consumer electronics are constantly changing. For a retailer to stock items past their shelf life is costly for them to do. In order to clear out their inventory; prices are slashed to help them move out of the store quicker to make room for newer products and styles. A retailer would much rather slash a products price by 25% rather then losing valuable stock room space to store an item for another year.
Did you notice that stores begin stocking Christmas products in October? Stores will adjust to a season roughly two months before the season starts. This is done to build buyer anticipation and to attract all the early birds who like to get a jump on their shopping. It's also done so that retailers have an extended period of time to sell their newest products prior to the beginning of the actual season. The goal of this is to generate as much revenue as possible before the season actually starts; and then to clear out the inventory by the midpoint of the season.
So how do you take advantage of this? The simple way is to know what your shopping for and when to buy it. When it comes to seasonal clothing, it's best to wait until the middle of the season to buy clothing for that season. For example, summer clothing will normally hit the shelves during the month of March or April. Depending on where you live, you may not need to prepare for summer this soon. If it does start early, and your clothes aren't too dated; you should be able to get by the first two months of the season without any issue. Start shopping for summer clothes around May and June and you'll notice that the clearances for summer are already starting!
In the world of electronics, there really aren't any defined seasons. The latest and greatest technologies are the ones that carry the premium price. When shopping for a digital camera, you might find that the newest model carries a 25% price premium over the previous model. Do you really need the newest model? Does the old model carry all the features you need? The fact is the typical consumer won't use more then 50% of the features available on any electronic device, for a digital camera most people may not use more then 25% of those features! Think about it; how many buttons does your television remote control have and how many times have you used each button? Unless you are taking the time to read the manual and test every feature, you might find that an older model product has all the features you need (as well as tons of other ones that you'll never use!) If you don't mind being a model behind, you'll save significantly.
The laws of economics also holds true to consumer pricing. Supply and demand for a product can increase dramatically when that product is heavily advertised or used. When products are heavily advertised there may not be many discounts on them. You'll have to wait until the "must-have-it" crowd purchases the product and wait for the supply to increase before you see any discounts. If you stay in tune with the local news, you'll know exactly which items are hot and flying off the shelves. Those are the products that you will most likely want to avoid purchasing until the "fad" or "craze" dies down.
Those same laws hold true for automobile purchases. If it's a rough and snowy winter; you can expect to pay more for that all-wheel drive vehicle because the demand and need is there. You might have better luck getting a discount on a soft-top convertible during this time because most people probably don't want it during that time. While we're on the topic of automobiles, think about gasoline. Which weekends do they normally predict having the highest demand for gasoline? Any holiday weekend (Memorial Day, Labor Day, the Forth of July). Think ahead by having all your cars filled up before that weekend starts, not on that same day when the gas stations are raising their prices.
So when it comes to shopping, just remember that stores are always one step ahead of you. If you can wait, you'll end up saving more compared to buying in advance. Sometimes you need to think 'behind' to get ahead with your savings! |
