Tag Archives: friendship

Apr 2 2020

Why Fair and Square Pricing Fails

Purple and White Speech Bubble Clothing Logo-2I like for the price to be the price. But, I must be one of the few people who think that way. Fair and square pricing works for me: I can budget for what I need to purchase, and know when it is okay to splurge a bit. However, I have a dear friend who won’t buy anything unless she negotiates a better price. This practice is downright embarrassing at times. Recently, we were in a charity thrift store and she saw a large ceramic vase filled with fake flowers. (I know, taste varies.) Anyway, it was priced fairly, but she stood in line to ask a harried clerk to lower the price by $5. The clerk said, “The price is the price.” My friend walked away. “It’s a charity,” I reminded her. As we got into the car, my friend made up some excuse about the quality of the item. But, I know her. No discount, no sale is her motto.

I’ve sold items on eBay for almost a decade. But, recently, I’ve been rather frustrated with the “Buy it now or best offer” feature on eBay. As a seller, I prefer to list an item at the price I want for it, and my potential customer can pay for the item and the shipping (which isn’t free, so I never pretend that it is) or not. However, if sellers don’t activate “best offer” when creating the listing, eBay will do it later, and before long, I start getting half price offers. Yep, the default “best offer” setting is literally half price. I hate telling customers, “no.” And, I have learned that counter offers seldom result in a sale. Lately, I have been listing items a couple of dollars more than I normally would ask, then setting the best offer for the real price. Yes, the whole thing bothers me, but many, many shoppers want to feel that they got a discount, especially on really low priced items. I’ve literally gotten an offer of $2 on a genuine leather designer handbag.

And, this gotta have a discount mentality is not just for used items, such as the pre-owned books and garments that I generally list in my eBay store (The Alternative Article.) Remember the absolute disaster of “Fair and Square” pricing at J.C. Penney? Although I am not particularly fond of that merchant, I really liked their pricing when that experiment was underway. Apparently, I was alone, however. J. C. Penney customers stayed away in droves until the management jacked up the prices and paid newspapers to print coupons so customers could “save” 40% off.

It’s psychology. And it sucks.

Dec 5 2018

Flag draped caskets

Recently, hubby and I attended the funeral of a contractor who worked for us several times over a couple of decades, a craftsman who was also so personable that we viewed him as a family friend. In addition to being a darned good carpenter, he always visited a bit with us. Mike collected license plates from cars, and he asked for an old plate off my car. (I drive a Honda Odyssey, so my personalized plate says “HOMERS”, thus I drive around in Homer’s Odyssey. A lot of people don’t understand the tag, but Mike was one those who got the joke and thought it funny.) So, after he finished doing a re-roof and soffit repair, I gave him one my old plate, which he put into “a place of honor” in his shop. Since I love to read, he would bring me his old Time magazines. When he gave me a stack, he usually apologized for taking so long, and recommended the articles he had enjoyed the most. I am going to miss those visits.

The first person who eulogized him was his daughter. Although we knew him well, she was able to relay some interesting tidbits of his life, so we were able to know him even better in death than we had in his life. The minister who delivered the message also knew him well, and told some stories of Mike’s service to the church as well as the community.

I didn’t know that Mike had served in the National Guard until the funeral, but his casket was draped with a flag, honoring his service.

When I listened to the funeral of President George H.W. Bush, I was very much reminded of the accomplishments of the forty-first president. His presidency only lasted four years, but he was a hero during our nation’s greatest war, a congressman, an ambassador, and he was commander in chief during the first Gulf War, a crucial time in our country’s history. The remarks by former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney were particularly enlightening, as they blended the public accomplishments with the private persona of the former president. The remarks by his son, former President George W. Bush, a eulogy that was primarily about Bush as a father, also helped the nation know this man a bit better.

Most Americans know that Bush (41) was a warrior, and the military aspect of his funeral was a affirmation that some of the greatest Americans served the country well, and that flag draped coffin is a sign of honor which signals that another of our nation’s heroes has gone on to a greater reward.

Our friend Mike left his fingerprints all over the community, as he worked for many people in our area. President Bush left his fingerprints on the nation, because he was involved in government service at the highest levels. Regardless of the scope, to serve well is to live well.