Subject:
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Re: Help me understand retail sales...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Mon, 14 Feb 2000 05:24:57 GMT
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Viewed:
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608 times
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Mike Stanley wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Feb 2000 23:48:21 GMT, "Richard Marchetti"
> <blueofnoon@aol.com> wrote:
>
> > Hey y'all:
> >
> > I have read where some people here on Lugnet claim not to get excited about
> > anything less than a full 40% off sale. And I don't doubt that people do
> > occasionally get sales of even up to 75% off original price on Lego sets.
> >
> > Here is what I don't get: how does a store manage to afford such a sale?
>
> I'd imagine they don't afford it. They take a loss. Wal-Mart and
> Sams Club take losses on items all the time just to get them out the
> door.
We just look at the LEGO end of things--in fact they make a killing on other
categories of products year-round. I'd bet that even when they take LEGO sold
per year as a category they still make a huge profit. We see and buy the things
that don't sell; but what about the things that have cycled while we weren't
paying attention? That's why I like the mega-stores for these clearances:
1) Toys are a small percentage
2) LEGO is an even smaller percentage of Toys
3) The people in charge of pricing for those toy stores have no *personal*
vested interest in anything except customer service and the overall productivity
of the store--they don't equate giving a customer 90% off a set that hasn't
moved in two years with taking a meal from their childrens' mouths
4) The corporate P&L (Profit and Loss) cycle dictates clearance, not personal
fiat of an owner or the ongoing balance sheet of the individual store.
I ran across a couple of Cross Bone Clippers and a Red Beard Runner at a
family-run toy store around here a few weeks ago. I asked someone about
discounting for the lot, considering how old they were, but rethought it upon
thinking that this is a family business. (Who knows, they might have taken the
things to eBay upon being alerted to their discontinued-ness, thus depriving me
of having them altogether!) So I bought all three at the asking price, which
was a few bucks over MSRP (the CBCs) or a few bucks under (the RBR). I'm
selling the former to finance the latter, though, because I'm keeping it. ;)
<b-s-t>
(Anyone need a 6250?)
</b-s-t>
best
Lindsay
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