Author Attacks Price Cutting Retailers

NewsBusters ^ | July 5, 2009 | P.J. Gladnick

[PJ-Comix]

Your humble correspondent always checks out NeverPayRetailAgain very carefully every morning. That site often provides information about sales bargains that sometimes defy belief. In fact, yesterday at Publix I was able to purchase 2 packages of Ball Park Franks plus a large seedless watermelon for a total cost of just $4.98. $3.99 BOGO (Buy One Get One free) on the hot dogs minus a $1.00 Ball Park coupon so my cost was just $2.99. The watermelon was $4.99 but there was a $3.00 discount coupon if you bought two packages of Ball Park Franks so the watermelon only cost me $1.99. Total cost of everything was $4.98 rather than the regular full price of $12.97. A savings of over 60%.

However, according to Ellen Ruppel Shell, I was guilty of not only bargain shopping but also aiding and abetting in despoiling the environment and taking advantage of cheap labor. Here is Ruppel Shell's assertion in her book, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, as covered in the New York Times:

Ms. Ruppel Shell, a contributing editor for The Atlantic Monthly and a journalism professor at Boston University, is disgusted with retailers who she says have abandoned their principles in pursuit of rock-bottom prices. And she is angry with the rest of us for supporting them.

Ms. Ruppel Shell argues that our national obsession with bargains has lowered our standard of living and hurt the environment and the quality of American products.

[PJ-Comix]

I've been saving a lot just by checking out NeverPayRetailAgain on a regular basis.

[PJ-Comix]

PING!

[La Lydia]

Ellen Shell apparently has never heard about how supply and demand works. And she teaches at a university!

[ChildOfThe60s]

Ellen Shell apparently has never heard about how supply and demand works. And she teaches at a university!

Logic as you and I know it says those two facts should be mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, in our society they go hand in hand.

[Oldexpat]

I do buy part of her argument. Quality on most items has gone to hell. It is nice to get discounts on quality housewares, but then you notice that quality of some brands declines..in the small details. In the metallurgy, the quality and stength of the plastic. There is just a lot of crap being sold in oyster packs. I figure that the market will take care of..like me really looking for the quality stuff.

[TomGuy]

Here is Ruppel Shell's assertion in her book

In her BOOK?????

Doesn't Shell realize those are made from trees!!!!!!

O the huge manatee!!!!

[La Lydia]

A little research will get you the quality stuff and a discount. For instance, Cooks Illustrated has equipment reviews and taste-test reviews. Before I buy anything for my kitchen, I check out what they recommend, then find the item on sale or discounted. Consumer Reports rates everything. There are many, many ratings sites such as epinions. You are right about a lot of crap being sold, but it is easily avoided. It pays to read labels and ask questions. I don’t buy anything made in China because of the quality issue.

[troy McClure]

A half gallon of Ice Cream is now 1.75 quarts.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

Not spending is the greatest discount of all.

[hinckley buzzard]

And she teaches at a university!

Well, she is a journalism professor, so it isn't as if she actually knows anything worth teaching.

[hoosier_RW_conspirator]

A half gallon of Ice Cream is now 1.75 quarts.

And a 3 pound can of coffee is now either 2lbs 2 oz or 2lbs 3oz, depending on the brand.

[sausageseller]

Ellen Ruppel Shell is an ivory tower dweller.

[KarlInOhio]

$25.95 list price but only $17.13 at Amazon.com. :-)

[libertarian27]

Brilliant!!!!

[sausageseller]

$25.95 list price but only $17.13 at Amazon.com. :-)

Do as I say not as I do!

[KarlInOhio]

A half gallon of Ice Cream is now 1.75 quarts.

Some are down to 1.5 quarts.

I remember a Mad Magazine article about that same thing in the 1970s. There were probably Roman authors complaining about getting only 20 librae of grain in a 25 librae bag or 7 congii of wine in an amphora.

[NoGrayZone]

PJ—— Thanks to you and your DUmmie FUnnies, in which I first read about Never pay retail again, I have been saving bundles.

I am now obsessed w/ CVS. Thanks for helping me save some cash!!

[PJ-Comix]

A half gallon of Ice Cream is now 1.75 quarts.

I have a whole bunch of $2.00 off coupons for Starbucks ice cream. Right now I am just waiting for their $3.79 pints to be sold BOGO at either Publix or Winn-Dixie. Of course, I could buy them right now for just 50 cents each at Wal-Mart since I was told they are $2.50 each there.

[PJ-Comix]

NeverPayRetailAgain had listed that if you bought a couple of 99 cent sunglasses strings you would get a $10 EYB at CVS but that ended very FAST.

[NoGrayZone]

I LOVE the cash back coupons. I may not need what is offered, but someone I know does. That, combined with coupons (which NPRA provides links to)saves us all bundles.

I must admit, it’s fun too!