Random Thoughts – Randocity!

While I know the economy is not in its best shape right now and people are looking to pinch every penny, there is one pet peeve of mine that I just have to write about here. That peeve is when someone gets to the checkout lane at a store and begins price haggling over every item in their cart. The thing that annoys me about this practice is that the checkout lane is not the place to haggle or argue about the price of a garment or item. I mention garments because it’s almost always a garment that’s in dispute. Worse, though, is that it’s not just a single item, it’s usually every item in the cart. So, those of us behind you are stuck waiting while you haggle and argue with the checker.

The checkout is not the place to shop

Once you get in line to check out, you need to have already decided what you will and won’t purchase. If there is something in your cart that you don’t need or want, then politely tell the cashier and they will take it from you. Don’t stand there and argue over the price (or lack thereof) of that item with the cashier. Don’t hem and haw and decide if you want it. The checkout is not the plate for making long decisions or doing additional shopping. The store is where you shop, the checkout is where you buy. It’s really a very simple concept.

Getting price checks

In most department stores today, it’s easy to find a price so long as it has a barcode. If so, locate a sales person on the floor or find a bar code scanner. Most stores today offer scanners around the store for just this purpose. However, should you find a garment or item without a barcode, don’t wait until you get to the check out line for for pricing and then decide if you want it. Go to Customer Service or ask a floor person to price the item. It will save you and everyone behind you lots of time at the checkout. You might even be able to derive the price by finding the rack of items and looking for a similar style, color or design. So, use your own resources to find something similar and decide if you really want it at that price. If you really can’t find the item on the floor or the price, take it to the Customer Service desk. They can always help find the price. In fact, Customer Service is probably more efficient at finding prices than just about anyone else in the store. Considering they do returns all day long, they have to have an easy way to locate prices. So, take it to Customer Service and ask them attach a price tag to the item before you get in line to check out.

Haggling

If you live and work in the US, then you know big box retailers don’t haggle. So, why do people try anyway? Seriously! I understand there are a lot of non-US citizens living in the US on visas or maybe they’re working towards a green card. And yes, many countries require haggling to get the best prices. But, not in the US. So, when you live in the US, you don’t go to Wal-Mart and try to haggle with the cashier. Not only does the cashier not have any power to haggle, it wastes your time, their time and everyone else’s time who is in line behind you. So, don’t haggle with the cashier. Once in line, you either want the item at the price that’s marked or you don’t. If feel the need to haggle on pricing, then go to stores that sell on commission or talk to the manager on duty. Granted, there are no big box department retailers that use commission sales, but car dealerships, furniture stores, appliance stores and even some electronics retailers are still on commissions. Some more expensive clothing stores may even be on commission, but never deep discounters like Wal-Mart or Target. If you really want to know if a store is using commissions to pay their employees, then ask. If they say yes, then feel free to haggle all you want. Other places you can haggle include swap meets, garage sales, flea markets and farmer’s markets. You may even be able to haggle pricing shopping in locally owned and operated stores.

But, once again, don’t haggle at Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway, Whole Foods, Lucky, Albertson’s, Sears, JC Penney or any other well known big bix chain. And don’t even try to do it with the cashier. The only exception to this rule and only for Sears and JC Penney is the furniture department, appliances and possibly big ticket electronics. But, never on clothing at the stores and never with the cashier. Only haggle with someone working in the department prior to purchasing.

Time wasting practices

Once you get into line to check out, you need to have already decided what you want to buy. In fact, you should have decided what you are buying when you placed the item(s) into your cart. The other thing you need to do before getting into line is check for price tags or bar codes. If the item doesn’t have a bar code, take it to representative on the floor or the Customer Service desk and ask them to locate the price and price it. This not only saves you time checking out, it saves time for everyone behind you. It also shows you the price so you can decide long before you get in line if you want to pay that price.

Too many times I’ve seen someone bring up 10-20 garments to the checkout lane and hand them to the cashier for scanning. But, the items do not seem to have any bar codes. It’s not just one garment either. It’s like this person specifically searched for items that didn’t have bar codes (or somehow removed them all). I’m guessing they think that if the cashier can’t scan it, they can haggle for a price. This tactic doesn’t work. In many stores, garments or items where prices cannot be located will not be sold. That means you will have completely wasted your time and everyone else’s. In fact, I’d really prefer it if every store adopted a policy of not selling items where prices or bar codes cannot be located. Worse, though, is if the cashier decides to be nice and try to look up the price of the items. So, the cashier calls or radios for a price. That means someone on the floor has to go look for a similar item or stop by the checkout lane and pickup the item for reference.

When a cashier uses a floor runner to price an item usually takes 3-5 minutes. That’s 3-5 minutes that cashier is tied up doing nothing and everyone in line is caught waiting. So, get your items priced before you get in line.

If you feel the need to rip the price tags and bar codes off of items at Target, don’t. It’s not going to save you any money and will just cause you (and everyone else) to wait longer to check out (or possibly, you won’t purchase those items at all). If you don’t want to pay retail at places like Target or Wal-Mart, then go to Ross, Marshall’s, TJ Max or even Steinmart. If you want designer stuff, then visit outlet malls where you can find outlet stores for Coach, Tommy Bahama, Ralph Lauren and other name designers. You may even be able to haggle at an outlet store.

Ultimately, when you get in line, make sure your items have bar codes, don’t rip tags off hoping to get lower prices and don’t shop at the checkout. If you can’t find a price, ask at Customer Service. Make your decision to purchase before you get in line, not after. If there’s something you don’t want, then give it to the cashier who can send it back to the floor. If you forgot something, don’t hang the whole lane by running and getting it. Ask the cashier to suspend your transaction. Most stores can do this now. Then, go get your item(s) and get back in line (at the end of the line). The cashier can then bring up the suspended transaction with your new items and proceed checking you out. And most of all, think about all of the people behind you in line that you are making wait by not observing these most basic shopping courtesies.