As my husband has been telling me for years, we are going to go broke saving all that money on sales- buying things we really don’t need. I have found that many of my prior year sale purchases weren’t really things that I loved, so when it was time to give them or wear them- I didn’t really want to. I should have a list of Christmas presents for next year, things like Grammy’s sweater, Dad’s gloves and scarf- the pajamas I buy for each kid as well as the socks and underwear. Not everything, fashion pieces for my 4 kids (22-15 years of age) must be returnable since I can’t distinguish between a must have and a can’t be seen in item. However, there are a number of gifts that I should be able to buy now, put away and hopefully remember them next year.
So my job this year at the sales is to be smart and selective. Saturday, my husband and I ventured out to see just how deep the discounts were. We were off to the mall- the first surprise was that the parking lots were full.
At Lord & Taylor’s the Polo white undershirts were 25% off which made them marginally cheaper than buying them at the outlets like I had preChristmas this year but not so cheap I had to buy them for next year. We saw lots of signs for sale items with an additional 50% off. Things I liked, but not much I needed.
A quick stop into Abercrombie & Fitch showed tables full of sale merchandise- a winter sweatshirt marked down to $130. The long lines (lots of returns) and still pricey prices weren’t worth the effort. They had a lot of staff- but it seemed that it was more important for them to fold on the floor than to expedite the payment and return process. I guess I am too old to be intrigued by a store that feels like you should want to wait to purchase their items.
The news said luxury goods were particularly hard hit so off to Saks Fifth Avenue to see what we could find. In the men’s department we did score a great travel coat for about $200 which was less than half its’ original price. Lots of signs that said 40-60% off. In the woman’s departments the sales were good, if not great, 40- 60% off already marked down goods. Then we spied gowns at 60% off the last ticketed price and our teenage daughter has a formal in Feb. We bought every dress that we could find in a size 6. These dresses had original costs between $300 and $500, we walked out of there with 6 dresses for well under $600 including taxes.
Our final stop the Apple store- NOTHING was on sale at the Apple store that I could see, but I couldn’t see very well, the store was packed!! The temperature in this store was downright hot but still people crowded in. Even with tons of sales associates, actually completing a sale and getting the merchandise took longer in the heat than was comfortable. We got a card where we could make an appointment and go see and learn about a product – I think I will go that route in the future.
In the end, we didn’t buy any Christmas presents for next year or even presents for upcoming birthdays. If they don’t love it and can’t return it- you haven’t really saved anything. However, our daughter fell in love with one of our bargains (the most expensive of the lot- but now just $121- down from $508) and we returned all the others the next day.
