Hidden Bargains

Do Those In the Know Get Better Deals?

When it comes to brick & mortar computer stores my favorite is Microcenter. It has, by a healthy margin, the largest selection of computer related items around. Add in a non-annoying sales staff, and a monthly circular of bargains, and they've convinced me to leave quite a few of my hard earned greenbacks through the years. However, I'm noticing a disturbing trend with their sale items lately.

When I built my now defunct Shuttle there in January of 2004, I was busily scurrying around to collect the parts for my new system. However, after walking up and down the storage aisles, I couldn't find the hard drive in the circular. They had a 160 GB Western Digital drive for under $100 after rebate ( a still average price over 2 years later!). The special edition with the 8 megs of cache no less. After I found a clerk and inquired (assuming they had sold out of such a good deal) he informed me that they were kept behind the counter. I was always a little puzzled as they had more expensive drives displayed on the shelves. If you didn't ask for it specifically, you weren't getting it.

Over the winter, I purchased a 19" LCD monitor. Once again, Microcenter had an impossible price of $200. When I went to the store, could I find it? No! They had the boxes stacked all the way on the other side of the store near the speaker department where I doubt anyone would think to look for them.

While Bill was ordering his new hard drive from NewEgg, I needed a new hard drive as well. I found it in the Microcenter circular. They have a 250 GB SATA II drive for $99. To sweeten the deal, I received a $10 off coupon via email this Sunday bringing the total to $89. When I went into the store, I went up and down the hard drive aisle three times, and couldn't find this one. They had many hard drives in boxes, but not this one. I know, I should just ask, but (a) I'm a man, and (b) I do really like wandering around rather than asking for directions. When I satisfied myself that the Samsung was not anywhere to be found, I inquired to the sales clerk. I was told that they are kept at the service desk. When I inquired why, I was told "That's just where we keep 'some' items."

Would the 'some' items be the sale items? Are they really hoping that you'll pick up and purchase another item either by mistake, or assuming that it is not in stock? My attitude is that if they go through the trouble of printing up the circular, and enticing me to part with some cash, then they should just sell me the item without playing these games.

Did I get the sale item each time? You bet, but the overall shopping experience would be improved if they could dispense with the scavenger hunt along the way. if you bring the circular in, and show the sales clerk you will get the item. Therefore, the informed customer is getting the better deal!

--Jonas

What do you think? Have you experienced the "hidden bargain" phenomena at other retailers?

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