Aren’t we all looking to find a deal? You’ll come across sales all the time whether it’s holiday sales, special events sales, clearance sales, and so on. You’re grocery stores will have sales every week. We see sales happening all the time. Are sales a great deal? That’s where you’d have to apply all the financial knowledge that you’ve learned to determine that. Some sales can be good, some bad, and some that are fantastic. Sales aren’t just reducing prices to catch your interest. Sales also have secondary purposes that can be deceiving.

You’re going grocery shopping and you see a fantastic sale on an item you typically buy. What’s your first reaction? Great deal but the sale ends soon. What’s your first instinct? Need to buy more of it because it’s too good of a bargain to only buy just one. Next, you doubled or tripled your grocery bill, you need to find extra space in your kitchen to store all the additional items you bought, and you might have the tendency to eat more food because you see all the food in your kitchen that’s waiting to be eaten.

Sale signs are flashy, big, and noticeable for a reason…to catch your attention and to start thinking about whether or not there’s something for you to spend your money on. Whether it’s tv commercials, social media ads, bill board ads, fliers, or anything else, once you see the word “Sale” the mind triggers a slew of thoughts.

What we should realize is that businesses will not advertise a sale where they anticipate a loss. That means even with a sale, they will stay make a profit. The first step is to get you through the front door…aka get your attention just enough you start pursuing it. This could mean shopping online, going into a store, talking to a representative, etc. If there’s an item you’ve been wanting and you’re pursuing a purchase, anticipate the add-ons such as extended warranties and signing up for reward bonuses.

Sales is a mechanism to get your attention and your interest. That’s the hardest part and once that is successful, everything else comes easy. If you ever purchased a car from a dealership what do they try to sell you afterwards? Extended warranty, accessories, enhancements, service plans, and so on. And they have a good explanation as to why you need to purchase all of them. When you purchase something online, like from Amazon, there’s always a section showing what others have purchased in addition to the item you bought.

The deceiving part of sales is that there’s so much hidden tactics past the sale price hidden. Understand your motive for buying an item. Question your logic when making a purchase that you weren’t anticipating such as extended warranty or multiple food items. Our body has many senses that are vulnerable to the word sale. Sales can be deceiving and it’s an everyday financial battle to avoid falling for the constant sales. If you are interested in following my journey, email subscribe to get alerts of latest posts or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

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