The other day, a reader named Dan and I had a nice chat about liquidation sales. We talked about defunct electronics store Circuit City and whether there were any good buys there. He and I both decided: NOT! I know I'm a fan of a good deal, but just because you put a xx% off price tag on an item, it does not mean that it's a deal.
This is what Dan emailed me after going to Circuit City last month:
Most Blu-ray movies started at $22.99 while a 4GB SanDisk
Extreme III CompactFlash Card went for $45 (that same card costs $26.05
+ $7 s&h at Buy.com.)
The
same applied to gaming. Activision's Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock
Bundle with Guitar for Xbox 360 sold for $55.99 at Circuit City. Online
we found it for $50 (at Toys "R" Us.)
Open box items were similarly overpriced. We found an open box Sony
Bravia 120Hz 46" 1080p LCD HDTV, model no. KDL-46XBR6, for $2,519.97.
Online we found a new model for $1,899.95 with free shipping (at B&H Photo-Video.)
It's worth noting that open box items purchased at Circuit City could
not be returned under any circumstances. Dozens of posters throughout
the store made this clear.
From the article:
The liquidator, not the company, is in charge now, and they want to make as much money as possible. They've guaranteed the creditors will get a certain amount, and they want to make some extra for themselves, too.
So the first thing they do is mark up the items to the manufacturer's suggested retail price, which usually is about 10 percent to 15 percent higher than what the store sold the stuff for pre-bankruptcy.
Yep! I've seen it first hand. I think you are better served just waiting for a holiday sale or even buying full price so that you can take a pricey-item back if it's faulty. It's not a deal when you pay for a good, and it turns out to be poorly crafted and you are stuck with it because the store went out of business.
Do you shop at liquidation sales? Do you get good deals there? Did you check out Circuit City's sales? What about Linens N' Things? Did you know they were opening again?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not so sure about liquidation sales, but I love a salvage store.
Here we have Hudsons Treasure Hunt, and I love it!!!!!
Most every Tuesday, they have a sale because they have gotten some new shipment in.
I don’t rightly know how they come to have some of these items, but they are 99% brand new. I do think they some merchandise from the stores that have gone out of business,some business that maybe caught on fire, some imperfect items.
I’ve purchased many an item there….medical scrubs for 1.00 for pants and 2.00 for tops. I’ve bought 9 West Shoes for 15.00. I’ve even bought some HBA items, the whole Ambi line for about 10.00. None of these things are expired. I think the Ambi line just changed the packaging.
My husband just bought two Ugli Sticks (fishing rods) for 5.00, and some Cabella camo for about 19.00 each.
Can’t beat it!
I had my eye on an HP touch screen computer at Circuit City and believe me when I tell you the price cut wasnt really a cut. They had only cut the price down to the original price of the product if one were to purchase it from HP directly. What a rip off.
PJD
I was in the market for a laptop during the Circuit City liquidation – decreased selection at standard prices. I did better with a sale item at Best Buy.
I didn’t even bother going because I heard it was a joke!
Nat: Is Linen’s N THings reopening?
That’s right, Twiggers. Linens N’ Things is reopening.
http://www.lnt.com/
I experienced over-priced liquidation sales first hand. I worked at Mervyn’s for several years and through its closing.
THE WORD LIQUIDATION DOES NOT MEAN CHEAP, don’t be fooled.
I’m glad it isn’t just me being extremely cheap. I stopped by the Mervyn’s in my area (Phoenix) several times during the “liquidation” and couldn’t believe how cheap things were NOT. It seemed like they were selling the fixtures cheaper than the merchandise. Since then I don’t bother with liquidations sales.