bargainfever

[bargainfever]

Happy New Year! Thanks for coming along for the ride for the last six months - half a year in the half price world we live in now. I will continue updating this blog whenever a story is too good to miss, but posts will probably be more sporadic. Whatever happens, make this your motto for 2014: Keep Calm and Go Shopping - and never pay full price for anything, ever again. 

[bargainfever]

The first segment from 20/20's "Shopping Confidential" special on December 20th involves me, Juju Chang, some button cameras and a lot of surprising, secret discounts. I felt like a bargain-priced James Bond. 

[bargainfever]

Practice a little français (or rely on Google Translate) to check out this story from French broadsheet newspaper, Le Figaro, spotlighting the strange phenomenon of Americans and l'art de marchandange (that's the art of haggling)

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A now-classic routine from Canadian comedian Russell Peters examines the subtle, ahem, differences between Chinese and Indian haggling. 

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And she isn’t the only one of the company’s boldfacers to exit recently…operandi

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Moda Operandi is the ultimate anti-sale company, offering full price goodies in exchange for an implicit promise that the no-discount deal means those fresh-off-the-runway treats will be exclusive. It’s been thriving since it started, and even landed $36m in funding from LVMH, the ultimate luxury endorsement. So what did one of the co-founders do wrong to get cuckoo’d out of her own business? 

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A glimmer of hope after all the discussion of “showrooming” wrecking electronics sales. Apparently, Best Buy is fighting back and defending its turf better against Amazon.com than Target or Walmart. Exactly how it’s doing that, though, is mystifying.

[bargainfever]

Ah showrooming. The new buzzword that retail firms use as a dog-ate-my-homework excuse every time profits wobble. Which companies, though, are true targets for the browse at brick and mortar/buy cheaper online brigade?

[bargainfever]

Thanks to the lovely Paula Faris for nabbing a great soundbite from my segment with Juju Chang on 20/20 - this second piece is from World News the day before Christmas Eve.

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Was it only just a few days' ago? A flashback to December 20, when the marathon openings of Macy's et al for 24/7 were a hint at the discount-driven desperation they were feeling. 

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The superfake story from 20/20 ricocheted around the media - there was even a story in a Nigerian daily paper. This recap from the Mail Online, however, is the most astute, and the comments illuminating.

[bargainfever]

The last edition of 20/20 before the break was titled "Shopping Confidential", revealing a scad of scandalous retail secrets. I was part of two segments  - this one centers on the rise of the superfake, the high priced counterfeit that isn't actually a counterfeit at all.

[bargainfever]

Nothing sums up the new Bargain Fever era better than this story - which points to 50% markdowns as the "price of entry" for retailers, and points to 75% OFF as an ever more common reduction. Next stop: 90% OFF.

[bargainfever]

The Financial Times looks at the day which in Britain has become akin to Black Friday: Boxing Day. Named after the alms-seeking boxes that the poor once toted in the wake of the previous day's gift giving, it's now become a frenzy of sales shopping.

[bargainfever]

"[US Department stores] seem to be on a permanent end-of-season sales mode... They are not interested in promoting products and brands while in display, because they are constantly engaged in markdowns"

Prada CEO Patrizio Bertelli, on the reason his brand has retrenched from many accounts over the last five years (and seen its profit margin skyrocket from 6% to 19%) via @kylestock & Bloomberg Business Week

[bargainfever]

Tick... tick... tick... as the clock counts down to Christmas and the discount frenzy intensifies, Good Morning America's Rebecca Jarvis looks at the best last minute deals - and asks me for some tips.

[bargainfever]

Target became the victim of one of the biggest data heists in history over the last few weeks, when hackers nabbed the credit card details of 40 million customers. Its CEO's response? Offer 10% off absolutely everything in the store over Super Saturday weekend to say sorry. The ultimate markdown mea culpa.