OUTSIDE PRICE

Discounts! This short word is so fascinating, so puzzling and so much looked forward to ... But it is so firmly established in our lives and minds that sometimes it is difficult to imagine how people lived without it before! Venerable shopaholics claim: the purchase of a cheap and necessary thing is not only and not so much a chance to spend less money. It is a much deeper process in terms of moral pleasure. Indeed, who would admit that he does not like discounts. It is tantamount to admitting that you do not like presents or surprises. Of course, the discount is not a gift, but its existence is nothing less than a surprise, and a very enjoyable one.

Ever since our country declared a transition to the market economy and the trade sector quickly and sensitively responded to the change by starting to bring some famous and not so well-known brands of clothes, shoes, accessories, furniture, appliances, etc. to the country, seasonal and one-off discount campaigns have become part of the lives of ordinary Azerbaijanis. But our people had been familiar with this system long before. Is it very enjoyable to buy something in the market without bargaining? But the said campaigns are a bit of another story. They clearly indicate the percentage of a price decrease and the occasion. But the people of Baku, especially female residents of the city, experienced enough in buying products on sales, will tell you with certainty: be careful because even famous brands often tend, to put it mildly, not to be very honest with the fans of coupon campaigns.

Discounts can be different

Originally, sales were supposed to help merchants sell the goods that were no longer necessary very quickly. For example, at the end of the 18th century Parisian bakers drew the attention of customers by introducing a 20-per-cent discount on evening sales. This was beneficial for both sellers and buyers: no-one will buy stale bread the next morning. Gradually, this practice penetrated other areas of trade. Today, almost all countries of the world sell everything - from laptops to underwear and chocolate - with discounts.

Azerbaijan has long realized the advantage of discounts. Phrases such as "buy more goods at a lower price", "go shopping in the evening, prices are lower" or "it is a holiday today, of course, I will give you a discount" were part of the everyday life in Azerbaijan in the days of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Today, however, sales have become more civilized. Even the most elite fashion boutiques run discount campaigns.

Like elsewhere in the world, discounts in Azerbaijan are one of the main catalysts for sales, especially when it comes to shopping and entertainment centers. In such places, many people, blinded with discounts, often buy goods they would otherwise not even notice. Today, we can find almost all popular types of discounts in Azerbaijan. And they, by the way, are quite a lot.

First of all, of course, there are seasonal discounts. It is a time in the summer when you can buy a warm jacket at a much lower price than in the winter. Seasonal discounts may be different. For example, sales of winter (or autumn) shoes may start in autumn. In the summer there may be serious discounts on winter products and on summer products in the winter.

The second most popular discounts are provided on an occasion. This includes quite a large number of options. Here are some of them: holidays, buyer's birthday, anniversary of a shop, company, etc.

Another type of discounts is provided on older collections and defective goods. Many stores have special discount-shops where you can find last year's collections sold at a substantial discount. This is another important moment when discounts on goods are justified - sale of outdated products. In terms of clothing, this can be last year's collection.

Another type of discounts which, in principle, has been known in Azerbaijan since ancient times has also become popular in recent years - encouragement of regular customers. Often discounts are available only to regular customers (usually holders of special cards). Today, virtually every fashionmonger has a few such cards in her wallet. First, it is also fashionable and prestigious because a brightly illustrated piece of plastic indicates that its holder is a frequenter at prestigious shops. And, of course, the legally "earned" discounts - by buying up goods worth a certain amount and receiving the card, you can count on a 5 to 10 per cent discount from the seller at any time of year.

However, sadly for shopaholics, we know that business, especially one that is based directly on the "buyer-seller" connection, sometimes plans its income by dishonest work. Profit is above everything else. Buyers often suffer because of this slogan by allowing a business to deceive them. And sales are the most convenient opportunity for this.

Hooked by sales

For example, the selection and purchase of clothing at the time of sales should be attributed to a period of increased buyer activity and less attention to the range of available goods. Quite often, magical figures promising huge discounts veil the eyes. And buyers find it difficult to adequately assess whether a purchase is really needed at this point in time. This is not an unknown phenomenon but one of the main red herrings of stores. To increase sales, it is only necessary to indicate on the windows and clothes that discounts are available. Buyers are glad to be deceived and, purely for economical purposes, buy two or three articles of clothing, not thinking that they could spend the same money on buying one thing which would be more expensive and have better quality. Therefore experts advise: before you go shopping for new clothes, you need to decide whether you want to make a cost-effective purchase and buy new items at a discount or you are interested in products from new collections.

But this, as they say, is not so bad. The point is that some shops deliberately inflate the prices of the latest collections during sales, so that customers could buy goods at a discount. Also, in more recent collections we rarely see goods dramatically different in style from their predecessors.

And, of course, shops don't always provide the promised discounts. There is nothing easier than putting a price tag on an item indicating the same price as before, but indicating that these things are sold at a significant discount. Sometimes clever salesmen even indicate an inflated price on a price tag and then cross it out, misleading the buyer.

There is another equally disappointing trick associated with price tags. Before going shopping, customers hope to buy things at a discount from the last or penultimate collection, but instead may well buy items from two years ago. Just a couple of different colored stickers pasted on a price tag in the right places can turn items from very old collections into almost a novelty.

Another favorite trick of shops is to announce grand discounts of 50-70 per cent but to actually reduce the price only of a couple of jackets. Or to really knock off half the price but only for unpopular sizes. Instead, the most popular sizes will be sold at the standard price. And you can entice customers by promising a tremendous discount of up to 70 per cent, but actually charge 20-30 per cent less. And the reasonable question from buyers, "Why so?", would be answered: "This is up to 70 per cent, isn't it?".

Also, vendors have a nice habit of declaring, say, a 50-per-cent discount on a number of models, but not providing these models with new price tags. And buyers have to rack their brains and calculate how much it will cost to buy an item.

Almost the most widespread way of swindling customers is when a shop puts out an announcement that the goods bought at a discount can't be returned. You may not notice a small hole, a missing button, a scratch on the TV. In such cases, the seller is required to write on the price tag that the item of deficient, which will explain the discount to the buyer.

Fine for dishonesty 

We can cite many more examples of discount deception, hence the distrust for such sales. The situation has slightly improved after the Ministry of Economic Development started monitoring discount campaigns and punishing the violators. According to a ministry source, the inspections are carried out within the law "On Advertising", which forbids buyers to carry out inaccurate ad campaigns about the value of the goods. Moreover, according to the law "On unfair competition", the deception of consumers in the process of purchase and sale by means of illegal advertising causes unfair competition.

For such violations, market participants may be subjected to financial penalties in the amount of 10 per cent of the turnover for the first such violation and up to 20 per cent for the following ones. This is the fine the owners of commercial properties would have to pay if they do not specify on the price tag all the necessary information about a product, namely its name, type and price before and after discount. Furthermore, by announcing discounts, vendors are required to indicate whether they apply to all the goods or only to a certain part of them, group products in the shop by the percentage of price reduction, so that it is convenient for the customer to establish the time of returning or exchanging a product.  

If a violation is established during sales, consumers may apply to the State Agency for Antimonopoly Policy and Consumer Protection under the Ministry of Economic Development. The Agency, in fact, occasionally warns consumers through statements in the media: "Be vigilant during sales!".