Half Priced Camera Bags? Or Just A Marketing Gimmick?

As an avid amateur photographer, I often visit websites such as Clubsnap and today, I came across a post in the forum about how a user felt "cheated" by a well-known camera shop's methods of offering a "50% discount" off their camera bags. The reply from most of the forum members range from a possible mistake in the quotation of the price to one reply which suggests that "retailers are opportunistic and if you look like a carrot head (Editor's note - a carrot head is Singaporean slang for someone who looks gullible and can be taken advantage of in a financial way at retail outlets), they will chop you (Editor's note - chop is a colloquial term to mean take advantage of)... and it's about how you stage yourself."

Even the thread starter noted that "... the way CP (Cathay Photo, a premium reseller of major camera brands and accessories in Singapore) works is that they have an exorbitant(sic) list price for Lowepro bags and then reduce the list price by 50%. Most of the bags have this inflated price tag on it except for this CompuTrekker AW. When they bring this out from the store, they quoted that it is listed as $350, hence the $175 price to me. I seriously think they may have quoted me the AW Plus price."

What is puzzling is how the shop's prices, compared to their competitors, have such a wide disparity since the thread starter also mentioned a few other shops selling the same bag for as much as S$46 difference in pricing. I certainly hope it is a case of a erroneous quote. If so, does the buyer have any way to get a refund?

It is indeed strange that some retailers, especially those in electronics and photography, are still going by these methods of marketing and if we really want to be a world class service centre, such practises are certainly outdated and not the way to get there. In fact, it can backfire on the retailers even as in the case of the thread above.

If the intention is to indeed sell it at a certain price, why not just tag the bags at the intended selling price? Perhaps the reason for tagging it at double the intended selling price, and then giving customers a "50% discount" off the bag is deemed a good way to give the customer the sense of great value considering how we Singaporeans love to bargain? :-P

I am aware of raising prices by a little then cutting them down if a buyer pays by cash. This is usually done to factor in the added charges the bank imposes on the retailer should a customer pay by NETS (a cashless payment system using your ATM card) or credit card but a whopping 100% increase?

We consumers should also do our homework and find out what the market price for a product we want is, before just rushing into buying things. At the end of the day, the onus is on us, the consumer, to do our homework before plunging into a buying spree. Having said that, straightforward pricing on the retailers' end will definitely be appreciated, don't you think? And as consumers, we should also be fair. Afterall, people run a business, not a charity.

Addendum (25/02/2009) - I have just been informed by the thread starter that Cathay Photo has made a full refund of the price of the bag, as an act of goodwill, and it is deserving of bouquets.

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