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With Linens N Things it's a double whammy, too -- they don't accept the 20% off coupons during the liquidation. So the pre-liquidation price minus the everpresent 20% off was much lower than the no-coupon \"liquidation\" price. This is practically fraudulent, and it's sad that people think they're getting deals.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-219805-100x100.png\")
soooo GMA did an exposé on something most of us already knew? and nothing will change?
wait! That company will start taking the tags off before putting the new ones on and then there will be no evidence.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-555736-100x100.png\")
@zentex:
\"What I would say -- what I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an expose like that \" (Michelle Bachmann).
Sorry, I can't hear the word \"expose\" without thinking about this crazy bitch.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-472231-100x100.png\")
@zentex: Most people don't read Consumerist. I bet a hell of a lot more people watch GMA. It's good that web sites aren't the only ones looking into things like this.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-537475-100x100.png\")
I've been telling friends who are looking for deals at LnT to recalculate the 20% because it never matches the sign that tells you the price, as if they were so nice to do the math for you. And now I'll tell them to peel back the sticker.
Nothing new. Happens all the time. Grocery stores, for example, make you *think* you're saving a bundle by using your free savings card. Shoe stores make you believe that you're saving *50%* on the second pair of shoes of equal or lesser value (but in actuality, you're only saving 25% of your total). Really. What's so shocking about this?
@dieselman8: I actually do save a bundle at grocery stores with my card. But not for the reason you think. I dated girls that worked at the two major grocery stores around here (Kroger and Albertsons). Both of those stores give the employee discount through the rewards/loyalty card. So I asked them for one of their keychain cards and I now pay 10% less on all my groceries.
On a related note, I am a terrible person because I dumped them both soon after I got their cards.
@MajellaAntinous: Ouch. You're only dating-a-plumber-to-get-a-wholesale-whirlpool-tub-installed away from being a \"Kids in the Hall\" sketch comedy short.
@dieselman8: Who ever said it was shocking? People already know that stores do whatever they can to get people to buy more. What the average person doesn't know is in what ways or how much they are being taken advantage of.
I actually appreciate it when these morning shows have practical information. I turn them on largely for the noise, but I get sick of the filler segments/human interest stories that have nothing to do with anything.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-34426-100x100.png\")
You'd think the liquidators would have sense enough to remove the old price tag if they're going to be scammy douches. I mean, if you're going to be deceptive, try to put a little effort into disguising it. Show some initiative.
As for the deals in Circuit City, they are just as bad. I thought I found a really sweet deal on a Nikon D70, but after some reading realized it was for the display model that everyone and their kid had manhandled and jerked around.
@William T: Man that ticks me off at work, when my employees wont take the 2 seconds to take off an old tag.
@Dansc29625: It may not be the liquidators. In a situation like this, more than likely the liquidators have kept on the existing store staff and management. Why should they bother to do things right? The store is closing, they'll be out of a job soon, and as long as they don't do anything illegal the worst that can happen is they'll be fired. Oh, no! Don't fire me from the job i'm going to be laid off from in 4 weeks anyway! I wouldn't bother to remove the old tickets either. In fact, i might mention the old tickets to customers...the longer it takes to empty out the store, the longer you're collecting a paycheck.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-64687-100x100.png\")
@William T: I saw the GMA report. When they went to Circuit City they did find that the old prices were physically cut off of the items and one of the employees admitted to the reason on a hidden camera. GMA then simply went to other CC stores that weren't being liquidated to compare prices and found much the same as the other places.
Is this any surprise? No. I understand it's not CC that is running the liquidation, BUT they must know what's going on. Heck it was probably part of the liquidation company's sales pitch. This is low and is yet another example of why these companies are going out of business.
Question, though. Isn't it illegal to raise prices right before a sale only to take the discount off those new, higher prices?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-186777-100x100.png\")
@BrianDaBrain: Ah, but therein lies the beauty.
Circut city is out. They \"sell\" the whole shebang to the liquidation company, take the cash, and wave goodbye.
The liquidation company then raises the prices (which is perfectly legal- they just assumed ownership and can price as they see fit) and then offer their \"sale\".
@m4ximusprim3: Another piece of the puzzle is that LnT and CC prices are usually below MSRP. So if the original price was 20% below MSRP, but the liquidator bases all of their discounts off of MSRP, a 10% off discount would end up being higher than the original sale price.
If the liquidator were to base their top-line price ABOVE MSRP, I think that state regulators would be able to take an interest. But otherwise, it's as BrianDaBrain says: The liquidation company is a new entity selling the merchandise, and they can set their retail price to anything they want. Although I have to wonder what would happen during a state of emergency like a blizzard or hurricane. The laws against price-gouging in those conditions are often more strict than the regular price-gouging/false advertising regulations.
In Canada, the sales have been a joke. 10% off? That does not even cover PST and GST in Ontario (15%).
And yet, the morons still crowd the stores and buy things. If they would just buy a BRAIN, first, these lowlife liquidation companies would be forced to provide actual GOOD deals because nobody would be buying at the inflated prices. But then again, this country DID vote for Bush twice, and many voted for McPalin
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-533661-100x100.png\")
@QasimJalople: The real stupid ones voted for Obamanation. Wait until the Neocoms come tax and liquidate your hard earned assets--that will be a real liquidation story.
The way to think about how this country voted twice for Bush is to know that the average IQ in this country is 100. So for everyone with a 125 IQ that voted against the murderer there was some yahoo with a 75 that did.
it's shocking that they're going out of business
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-240645-100x100.png\")
@craptastico: The liquidators are doing quite well actually. I imagine they'll have more and more buisness as time goes on.
I went into a LnT during the closeout sale and they had an employment table set up for people to fill out job applications. That's when I knew things were fishy.
I wrote Consumerist about this over the weekend. Guess my email wasn't confirmation enough :/
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1735-100x100.png\")
A sale must be a meaningful reduction in price, and raising prices in anticipation of a sale is a deceptive practice. Both the FTC and the state attorneys general could pursue such a practice.
@Chris H: The liquidators readily admit that they follow the letter of the law. There's nothing for the FTC, AG's, etc. to investigate. As others have pointed out here, the liquidator is a totally separate entity from LnT, Circuit City, etc. and all they do is buy all the merchandise from those companies then turn around and re-sell it. They simply raise the prices back up to the suggested retail price, which is perfectly legal for them to do, then offer rebates from that price. In the vast majority of cases those prices are well above the discounted prices that LnT, CC, etc. were offering. The liquidators are well within their rights to do this.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-483565-100x100.png\")
@IphtashuFitz: I suspect that at least a few state AGs might disagree with you, since it's quite clear that liquidators are counting on the public's belief that prices are down from what they were formerly at that store. (Doesn't at least one state have a rule that the goods actually have to have been offered at said \"non-sale price\" for a certain amount of time?) I doubt it's been prominent enough to be worth going after, but I wouldn't be hugely surprised to see Andrew Cuomo or Lisa Madigan making a move to crack down on this.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-504010-100x100.png\")
@Chris H: This implies that Linens-n-Things is the retailer in both instances. In the case of a liquidation, the goods change hands from the original retailer to the liquidator, who can now charge their own prices. It's also why they don't accept the discount coupons. That the goods are still sold in a store with a Linens-n-Things sign on the front is of minor--if any--consequence.
@CountryJustice: Ah! Hold it right there. The liquidators were using LNT price stickers to do this. I see your point that the cut and run \"sale\" of the retail store to the liquidator is supposed to absolve the retailer and possibly let the liquidator do this. But the fact that they are using LNT price tags does one of two things. Either it puts them in violation of the laws preventing raising a price in order to put it on sale or it is outright fraud. If they were putting the new higher price on with their own branded price sticker or a generic price sticker they might be able to get away with it. But they are repricing with LNT price tags. They are lying to the consumer that LNT was charging $99 for an item when in reality LNT was charging $20 before said liquidation.
I thought it was illegal to put a higher price over the lower price on an item, without removing the original.
I mean, the store can charge as much as it wants to in my opinion, I already know better than to pay the prices they want for those \"Things\" as it is, but I could have sworn certain states banned this practice years ago.
I saw this the first time I went to the LnT liquidation sale.
There was an older iPod dock that I wanted that was on \"clearance\" at one point for $69.99 but for the closeout price it went back to $99.99 with 30% off that brought it back to 'bout the same price.
Guess I didn't think much of it. Made sense to me actually. You put something on clearance because you want to clear it out of inventory. Here they want to clear everything out of inventory, why wouldn't they go back to the original price.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-3865-100x100.png\")
In the case of Circuit City, much of their lost sales are due to customers knowledgable enough to shop online for their electronics. The people who will fall for this sort of ploy are those who don't do research in the first place (the existing CC customers). So they are just unloading product on the same people who had been shopping there in the first place.
Not that it is justified, but if they are customers who fall for 500% mark up on AV cables at CC, they are the same to fall for this type of \"sale\". Luckly, there isn't as many of these types of customers as there used to be (thus why CC is closing stores).
Well, not everyone is an informed consumer. They see 20% off and assume that it's cheaper than before. I saw the same things at Burdines for a sale on Fiestaware(dishes) 10 years ago. It's nothing new.
@bastion72:
Supermarkets do this all the time, too, but in reverse. The sale prices in supermarket flyers are often the items that are scheduled for price increases after the sale is over. So an item might be regularly 1.99, go on sale for 1.69, and then go to a regular price of 2.29. Some places will raise the regular price during the sale so they can advertise 50 cents off instead of 20 cents. They can usually get away with that because the sale price is still below the original regular price.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-235750-100x100.png\")
I went into to check into getting some new discounted sheets at the a Linens and Things liquidation and walked over to the shower curtains and they had huge signs that said clearance items prices were not valid. I looked at their clearance items and i saw a marked out $7 clearance price with a new 20% off price of $18. I was shocked.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-665247-100x100.png\")
My roommate went to our local Linens' N' Things, where they were advertising a 50% off liquidation, only to find that a handful of items were actually marked at 50%.
This company can't go out of business quick enough.
@regcrusher: What's worse is when these liquidators seem to be truthful about the percentages off, they are still lying. For instance, I remember that last year when CompUSA went out of business, they had signs that said \"EVERYTHING 20-40% OFF!\" However, there was small print below that said \"excludes laptop/desktop computers\" (or something along those lines), which were selling for 5-10% off I think.
I'm a bit confused by why there's such a furor over this.
Can someone point to me where the definition of \"liquidation,\" as it relates to the retail world, includes any mention of a dramatic price decrease? The point is for the new owners of all the crap L-n-T or CC used to own/sell to turn said crap into cash. If they feel justified in raising the price, so be it.
I could buy a toaster today, keep the original packaging and mfr warranty intact, and try to sell it at a yard sale this weekend at a 10% mark-up. And I could hang a sign on it that advertises the store I got it from. And if someone buys it, then great. If they don't, then shitty for me.
I dunno. I'm bored of people relying on anyone else to do their price shopping for them. Either pay for the instant gratification, or do a little work to get a good deal. Remember the maxim: If it's too good to be true...
@CountryJustice: I agree. I'll take it a step further by saying that they aren't really rasing the price in the first place (at least in these cases) so there is even less to get bent out of shape over.
Why would you expect them to honor a clearance price now? The whole store is on clearance. The crap you were trying to get rid of when you were a solvent retailer is now no different then all the other crap in the store.
Lets continue with your yard sale parallel. Say I've got a book I'm selling that got wet. All the other books are in fine shape so I'm going to charge $3 less for the wet book then the dry books. Then it rains during my yard sale and all the books get wet so I mark them all down $3. I'm not going to mark the one that was wet before down another $3 I'm just going to bring the rest of the wet books to the same price of the first wet book. The first book isn't more wet. Its the same here. I don't really need to move the stuff that was originally on clearance any more or any less then the other stuff so when the price of everything else gets lowered its just going to bring it in line with the clearance that it was at in the first place.
@CountryJustice: I guess the \"furor\" stems from the advertising that claims these are \"sales\" in which buyers have the ability to save big. 10%, 20%, 30% off signs hang from every square inch of the ceiling ... even though it's a complete lie.
@captadam: If a liquidator advertises 30% off his prices--not the original retailer's--and a customer doesn't understand how the liquidation process/business works, that doesn't make it a lie, it makes the customer uninformed.
The point I'm making though is that a little bit of research would reveal that competitors will probably have the same or comparable item at a better price. If you pay too much simply because you don't do a little price shopping, you can't very well get mad at the person that sold the item to you.
@CountryJustice: You know it and I know it, and let the buyer beware, but how about a little honesty? The sale is branded as \"Linens and Things going out of business sale! 30% or more off all merchandise!\" Not \"ABC Liquidators is unloading merchandise formerly owned by Linens and Things!\" The message communicated--which turns out to be a lie--is that you are going to walk in to the sale and find that all items are 30% (or whatever) less than what they would have been if you had walked in before the sale.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-530576-100x100.png\")
I noticed something similar (though not *quite* as shady) at K-Mart recently. They have a whole ton of earrings, rings, necklaces, and other accessories with red tags that say something like \"Special! $4.99\". You THINK it's some type of a discount, but then you turn the package over and you see the retail price, and it's the exact same price as it is on the \"Special!\" tag.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-248759-100x100.png\")
@summerbee: That might not be the same thing. It could be a \"special\" cheap line, what some stores call everyday value merchandise.
@summerbee: Our supermarket chain, Stop and Shop, competes for New England customers with the Shaw's chain. In the past half-year, S&S has been putting little colored tabs on the shelves that look like \"special price\" or sale announcements for various items. But they are really just price comparisons; the top price is what Shaw's allegedly charges, and the larger bottom price is the deal you get (not sale, just regular pricing) from S&S. They are very seductive and I have to stop and remind myself, These are not discounts, just the normal prices here. It's not dishonest, strictly speaking, but certainly intentionally misleading.
At my local LnT I swear they've even brought in some new mechaandise thT i'd never seen this retailer sell before. Like Pink Floyd-branded shot glasses (classy). I swear the liquidator is bringing in additional non LnT merchandise to try to make even more $$ from this liquidation.
@negative-ground: This is a common practice, since the liquidator now has control of the store they can bring in whatever they want to bring in to sell in the store. Its likely leftover product from another liquidation sale, these liquidators buy up everything and anything they can!
@negative-ground: They are. The GMA story this morning mentioned the liquidator was bringing in non LNT merchandise and selling it in the store. The items they found were some super cheapo area rugs that LNT never carried.
Not surprised at all. Both Linens N Things and Bed Bath and Beyond, IMO, charge top dollar all the time, and their sales are farcical because of the high prices they use as baseline. I've done much better over the years at the TJX stores: Homegoods, TJ Maxx, Marshall's. The linens and home stuff are usually high quality and the discounts are genuine.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-332002-100x100.png\")
They had to make money to pay for all the human sign-spinners they employed to stand at intersections all over town.
Yep, I cruised through the local Circuit City to see how great its GOING OUT OF BUSINESS DEALS were. For one hard drive, I had purchased an identical one a few weeks before for about $20-$30 less than the \"sale\" price. And the DTV converter boxes that are going for $50 at Kmart? $55, AFTER GOB discount.
Bastards.
I keep trying to hammer home this point when it comes to liquidations, but the Consumerist is unfairly waggling its finger at the liquidation process.
The FIRST step in liquidation is to REDUCE LOSS. This means you put prices BACK to their list price - a level they're rarely at during normal operation, THEN start to do discounts.
It does a liquidation company no good to start at an already discounted price and discount that further. It's just not smart business when the idea is to completely eliminate stock while attempting to finish above the cost of the total inventory. I don't know what everyone expects - to just watch these companies die and then swoop in and be allowed to pick at the bones until there's nothing left - salaries need to be paid, employee wages need to be covered, and most importantly, the cost of inventory needs to be at least broken even so the country as a whole does not suck up EVEN MORE DEBT.
@Killians1978: How about not plastering percentage-off signs all over the place. Come on, you know that, when signs scream 30% OFF!!!!, customers think they going to get steeply discounted deal$$$. It's a fundamentally dishonest way of doing business.
@Killians1978: I'm not seeing people object to that, though. I'm seeing people object to the liquidators' clear and questionable attempt to suggest that they are discounting from the store's price when they're really not.
They seem to be claiming legitimacy on the grounds that they're not bound by the LnT prices because it's not LnT selling the stuff. But is the liquidator's name placed over the store's? Displayed prominently inside with all LnT notation removed, present on the receipts instead of the store's, so that it's clear to shoppers they're not buying from LnT?
There are good deals to be found. You just have to check the prices as you see them. I picked up a Aerogarden for about $40 cheaper the other day as a christmas present.
Folks, The price is the price, and it is either a good deal or a bad deal. Take it or leave it.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-53870-100x100.png\")
I've been suspicious at various times over the years of stores hiking prices up before lowering them. \"Oh whoops, did we say '10-20% off' because we really meant '10-20% up.'
This is true...my wife and I went in their to purchase some Christmas candle holders that were 20% off of 7.99.
The sticker, however, was not covered up, just had a sharpie over the price before the liquidation and was 3.99...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-99881-100x100.png\")
I think the higher prices in bankruptcy store liquidation gambit is standard operating procedure. A few years back, when Service Merchandise folded and liquidated its store near me, I went in expecting to find bargains. Not so much. If anything, I thought they had raised prices. At that time, I was working for bankruptcy lawyers whose clients were mostly creditors in big business bankruptcies, and I realized the raised prices made perfect sense. Bankrupt businesses are under considerable legal pressure not to sell anything for less than its true value, and as much money is possible is needed to pay creditors. It stands to reason that any prices the liquidator deems too low will be raised. And to make the higher-priced stuff move, they of course have to make the consumers think they're getting a deal. Hence, the fake markdowns that are really markups. Caveat emptor.
I'm currently working the Circuit City liquidation, but at my store they killed off all of the sales prices, rebates, etc, and raised the price of all the tags to their normal everyday price in our dps system, which is always a lot lot more than the sales prices or ad items. Take for instance memory, on sale it's like 30 bucks, and normal price is 100. At least in the stores with dps they locked us out of the tag creation system so thats why there are still tags that have rebates and sale prices on them that are covered up with one of those god awful yellow you pay price tags....
This is what you get when the company handling the liquidation specializes in getting every last penny for the current inventory.
Liquidation simply means that WE are the ones getting milked.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-437936-100x100.png\")
Could be that Linens and Things was selling for less than MSRP. Liquidators mark up to MSRP and then apply discounts.
do they still have a price match. because what if you pull of all the \"new sale price\" stickers and bring it to the register. then what happens if every item rings up wrong. Would they give it to you at the advertised price, or the price that they sell for with xx% discount
I'm greatful LnT was still accepting American Express cards up here. Wife and I spotted a stainless roasting pan with lid, 50% off. Got it home and unpacked, had been dropped so hard the dents in the lid and pan wouldn't let the lid seat correctly. Called AmEx and invoked Purchase Protection, got 100% of my money back!
This is why I no longer waste my time at these so-called 'liquidation' sales. No real bargains to be had, crappy picked over merchandise and lots of people looking for 'bargains.' Total waste of time.
Most of the time you can do better on-line these days without the hassle of leaving your house.
(grumble grumble)
A local news station did this same investigation a couple of weeks ago, and it resulted in legal action by the state of Connecticut. Submitted it as soon as I saw it on their site. Did it get posted? Nooooooooo. Here's the segment: [www.nbcconnecticut.com]
My wife worked at Linens and things until October. Last month we stopped at one of these liquidation's and she couldn't believe it. Since she worked the register she knew the normal prices of most items, and the majority were marked up by $5-$20, despite saying they were clearance items at 30-40% off.
The only way to get a good deal at liquidations is when there's less than a month left.
It doesn't take a liquidation sale to see this kind of b.s. behavior. JcPenney and Carsons does it everyday.
One of the worst Black Friday deals this year is at JCP, who is offering a Jumbo Remote controller by Sharper Image. They claim the regular price is 39.99, but it's not, their in store regular price is 19.99. The super-fantastic Black Friday price is 18.88! Wow. It gets better. You can find the same remote in other stores for 9.99 everyday.
@AmericaTheBrave: I saw that in their black Friday ad. I thought $39.99 was way too high for a remote. I bought a scarf there during one of their sales. It was 50% off, so the scarf was $12, about right for an acrylic scarf. If your paying $24 for something like that your way over paying.
Kohls is notorious for doing this. Everything is inflated in price most of the time but goes on sale every other week. So I only buy things there the week it is on sale.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-541151-100x100.png\")
D@mn lib'rul media! How dare they attack a staunchly American company like that? Don't they believe in a free market? Geez!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-512341-100x100.png\")
Surprisingly enough, I have seen this all over the place, especially at our local Hastings! And the awful part is that they don't even completely cover the old label, so you can clearly see that the item used to be cheaper!
nothing new here, its been going on for ages at jewelry and furniture stores. they 2x retail prices then advertise 1/2 off sales and other nonsense.
Oh no, a hidden camera investigation!!
I was working for LNT when the liquidation first started so I can provide some insight here. As the picture shows, the tags were clearance prices. Once LNT was bought by the liquidators, those clearance prices were no longer valid, since they had been marked down by LNT standards. Linens N Things technically doesn't exist any more, so if anyone is being \"underhanded\" it's the liquidators. However, every sign in the closing stores will tell you that the discount is off the original price of the item. And yes, it is a terrible deal, yes, you should wait until it's a better deal, and yes, people should not be swarming the stores as soon as they see a going-out-of-business sign. The masses need to learn to read and not go into hysterics blaming everyone but themselves when this sort of thing gets \"discovered\". I got so disgusted with the vultures every day that I had to leave (not to mention I was losing my job anyway [not that any of the customers cared]). You really see the true nature of some people when a closing sale starts. It's repulsive.
Saw some electric blankets being \"liquidated\" there for $125 - after 25% off. The exact same blanket is $89 regular price in Wal-Mart and most other stores. I don't usually do this, but there were others looking at them and I had no choice to point out (loudly) \"Look, the original price sticker's been ripped off and a new higher one put on just like these things are a rip off!\"
Mervyns is doing much the same. They often had 50% off sales before the going-out-of-business thing reared it's head. Now it's 30% to 60%, but almost nothing is really 60% off, and most stuff is 30%.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-27969-100x100.png\")
This is a long time ago, but I remember during the CompUSA liquidation having a cashier tell me that the price on the sticker was invalid, because a higher price was showing up when he scanned the item. I argued, but a manager told me that they were under no obligation to honor that price because they were liquidators (which I'm sure was bullshit, but it wasn't worth the time to file any sort of complaint...)
I Didn't think about it at the time, but I'm guessing this was an item they forgot to put the higher price on!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-48863-100x100.png\")
Yup, I was at Mervyn's this weekend and all their prices in the home, bath and kitchen sections seemed a tad high even after all the discounts. And add the risk of not being able to return something (All sales final), it was just a horrible deal. This just confirms it.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-309558-100x100.png\")
Its not just liquidators that do this either. SEARS reprices everything in the store that will be going \"on sale\" during its \"Warehouse Clearance Event!!!!!eleventy!\" to be higher so that after the discount you end up paying the same price you would have before the \"sale.\" I know - I have a habit of remembering prices of things I'm interested in and comparing during the so-called \"sales.\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-400639-100x100.png\")
The worst thing is, I knew this was possible and I still pwned myself with it when I went with my mom to LNT last week. I picked up some microfibre sponge things that were marked at 4.99 and 20% off, brought them home and discovered that there was a 3.99 price sticker underneath the 4.99 sticker.
I was so mad at myself for getting ripped off that way. :P
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Reminds me of shopping in Victoria BC where the stores are \"50% off\" and all the merchandise is jacked up 125%. Belts that should cost $40.00 are marked at $100.00 \"but it's 50% off\" they say.... yeah, thanks for that. Still damn expensive stuff.
You people are unreal. Do you realize that thousands of people are losing their jobs? And, you are all worried about a toaster or comforter. Where were you all of those years when LNT had coupons on top of sales? It is like you want something for nothing. And, these items you are buying are NOT life and death. Until they get new jobs, hopefully, they have to go by the liquidation rules. They have to keep their jobs. You are still getting good deals. But, you should have supported them while they were still LNT.
The other day my wife and I tried to buy a mirror at a linens n things in the Rochester, NY area. With a \"25% discount\" the mirror was priced at $75. It didn't seem like a great price, but it was reasonable. Then we noticed that the finish at the bottom of the mirror was badly damaged. Figuring we could cover up the damage in some way, we asked if they could offer a further discount and were told that the liquidators do not allow them to negotiate any price. It seemed kind of ridiculous to us.
We looked around a bit and found the prices weren't very enticing for anything. Retailers that are not going out of business are offering better deals these days. Even without any of the deception described in this article, the 25% discounts that were being offered do not seem like anything special in this environment.
I don't mind taxes on stupidity. It would amuse me, however, to see the companies that do this finally admit to it. A big sign next to the \"discounted\" item with the following:
Original Price: $100
Liquidation Discount: $20%!!!
Liquidation Price: $80 (You save $20)
(Oh, and by the way, Sucker, last week we sold this piece of crap at $50, and it wasn't even on sale!)
Is this the company's way of getting back at consumers for not having shopped there before they caught teh bankrupts?
speaking of fraud...my experience was that the computer prices at the register were set higher than the original price that was marked on the merchandise! and they refused to give me the stated discount on the original price. Only the discount on the computer price!!
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I always notice this crap, my wife thinks im crazy for it, Mervyn's is closing down so I went to see what I can find 40%-60% all but some small items where crap, seriously they had nice button dress shirts originally priced at $44.99 and now on liquidated sale of $27.99 that's a big reduction right but I am 100% sure I saw that same shirt on sale just weeks before for $19.99 I hate them for it ,that is why I shop online or go by the $19.99 rule if anything is priced under that amount and you like it buy it.
I'm wondering why people continue to allow these abuses to continue.
Almost every state has their laws posted online these days; look up the definition of fraud.
What's going on is nothing new; society has recognized these problems and written laws to deal with them. I'm not surprised that some choose to break the law to obtain a little more profit - but I am quite surprised by those who jump up to defend these illegal activities.
This happens at every \"going out of business\" sale. Generally, by the time consumers find out about it, all the real deals are likely already gone.
Nobody is forced to buy anything they do not want! You don't like the price, let it be- move on, but no, you want something for nothing. Keep your self at home if you don't have the money to spend. Any retailer can put whatever price they decide on an item, if you feel the need to haggle-visit a flea market and don't take it out on the employees that you are broke.I mean really! If a price is crossed out or covered up, it simply means, that price no longer applies...get over it !!
Wish I had read the warnings sooner......I want to make a comment about the pricing policy at Linen N Things. BUYER BEWARE!!!! I made a purchase yesterday; it was going to be a small gift. When I arrived home and went to remove the price tag which was on the outside of the packaging it revealed another price tag which was attached to the inside packaging (underneath the plastic bag the time was in). This was not a major purchase and the price I paid was $12.99 less the 40% discount. The price tag I found under the $12.99 tag was $8.99. The tag had all of the same information as did the $12.99 price tag. I was furious, not so much because of the price difference, lets face it, $4.00 isn't any reason to get angry over, however, the fact that just because this company has gone bankrupt is no reason to RIP OFF the consumer. The product was never meant to cost $12.99 and it was a deliberate act to make you think you were getting a deal!!! In any circumstance this immoral, if not illegal?? I called the store and explained the circumstances and was told “Oh well, there is nothing YOU can do”! This infuriated me even more, it was obvious from that conversation that the people working there are well aware of this practice, so shame on them and shame on the people in charge of the bankruptcy. A policy in which you blatantly raise prices then offer a discount to imply it is a sale is in my opinion is theft. Signed Ripped off and Angry In Dartmouth NS
I barely shop, so it doesn't matter much to me, but when I stopped into the store with my brother we both thought that everything was way overpriced. I was going to check again after Christmas, but I'm guessing there is no point in me even bothering to do that.
There aren't really very many things you're going to actually need to buy from there. Either it's something you need so you've already had it, or it's something you don't need and should find the best deal for it, usually online, or you shouldn't care and just buy it wherever you feel like it. Personally I tend to just buy from Walmart whenever I do need something.
I'm an attorney so I understand full well how liquidation works. I don't think most attorneys shop much, since we are usually working anyway. Men in general don't shop nearly as much as women, in general (many exceptions, as I said I find female attorneys are generally no nonsense either). I think these sales are more preying on the female psyche. Most women I know love to shop and are victims to these scams.
I used to be management at LNT until we closed at the end of December, and you people need to quit your whining and actually pay attention to the fact that thousands of people were laid off in Canada and the US
The clearance prices were reset to the prices that they were originally, and then the clearance was taken off of that. And once the liquidators took over, we weren't Linens 'n Things anymore, so we couldn't accept the coupons.
After all the crap we (the employees) went through, I have absolutely no respect for the penny pinching, rude, animalistic trash that came through the doors at the end.
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Interesting...my gf and I picked up a very nice spice rack from LnT during this liquidation for $20. We saw the same spice rack last week at BBB for $58 so I guess we got a good deal.
Is this the same company that is doing CC and did CompUSA?
@startertan: It is the same company doing Circuit City. Dunno about CompUSA
@startertan: No, Great American Group LLC is doing this liquidation, along with Steve and Barry's-which also has prices going up. I think the same liquidation company (not Great American Group LLC ) did both CC and Comp USA's though.