Economy bad, but people spending more?
By daydreamer20
@daydreamer20 (1688)
Malaysia
November 14, 2008 12:00am CST
Ever notice that there are more sales, discounts and promotions in the last few months than the last few years? Businesses are doing badly with the economy crisis, and they're trying to sell their stuff MORE in order to survive. Governments are encouraging people to spend by reducing certain taxes and decreasing the interest rates for savings account.
And everyone is falling for it. Whenever I go out for window shopping (I've stopped buying unnecessary stuff), I can't help it but notice that there are plenty of people buying things. Economy bad? People jobless? It's either those people are super rich, or they're just oblivious of the situation.
I was passing by this cake house (Secret recipe) which has this promotion of buy 1 piece of cake, free 1 piece of cake. Guess what. The queue was about 50-100 meters long! And there was also this lady who bought a trolley full of ....washing powder. And another guy, trolley full of toilet paper.
Are they really going to use that much?
What do you think?
3 people like this
10 responses
@daydreamer20 (1688)
• Malaysia
14 Nov 08
I think it's normal for businesses to have sales in order to promote people to buy, and for them to earn. It's up to the buyers to control their spending and don't be fooled by those little discount things.
@ememCz (139)
• Philippines
14 Nov 08
Lol! The power of sales and marketing efforts! All praises to those behind promo tactics! To gain more sales sellers are into promotions and discounts which attracts impulsive buyers. Anything with %less is very attractive since it somehow shows value for money when in reality it enhances spending instead of savings. It can be a win-win scenario for the seller and buyer. Sellers gain sales in tough times and Buyers gets discounts and have more money to spend to something else. On the otherhand, it depends on the Buying Behavior of the people. There are certain states or places where people buy more in difficult times for image creation "not affected by tough times" or by panick buying scenarios "people afraid to lose stocks".
@daydreamer20 (1688)
• Malaysia
14 Nov 08
Hmm, I think there will be a lot of sales in the next 12 months. :D That's why people should not buy so much now. LOL
@dxfanatic69 (378)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Well, I wouldn't really believe all of the "sales," "discounts," and "promotions."
It may say 20% off, but it could be 20% off of an item originally jacked up in price by 20%. So in hindsight, you would save 0% and pay the original price.
Yes, the economy is bad, and people are spending less, not more.
Starbucks reported a 97%-99% drop in profits from this time last year. That's HUGE.
People are "tightening their belts" and cutting down on the discretionary spending.
However, McDonalds profits jumped over 8%! Meaning people will buy cheap food, if they're poor! LOL
Because people are spending less, layoffs and job cuts are coming, which only worsens the economy.
People can pass out all the free cake they want, but if you're not selling those cakes, you're only wasting your time, money, and cake ingredients!
@daydreamer20 (1688)
• Malaysia
14 Nov 08
Maybe people in my country are not feeling the 'heat' that much yet? Because our McD is not cheap and there are plenty of people buying it too. And there are also a lot of people in luxury restaurants.
Economy is bad, but maybe people here just don't realize how bad it is yet.
p/s... the sales on clothes and cars in my country actually went up last month (not by much)
@JOIEMARVIC (2335)
• Philippines
15 Nov 08
I guess you are really right.a lot o people complain about the increase in prices of commodoties but they do not practicaly do anyting about it.I think that they should start re-assesing their budgets and try to cut out expenses on the things they can live without.The economy is falling down and suffering from recession but there are still a lot of sales in the malls which are being patronaged by many consumers.Weird right?They complain everytime gases and goodies increase in prices but they never complain when buying stuffs that are only vices and not necessity.i guess you cannot really remove these weird things in many people's personality.
@shalli17here (627)
• Indonesia
15 Nov 08
hmm..bout the lady n the guy, perhaps they're only buying stocks n they will use it eventually when they need it, wont use it in one time of course. n yes, i agree with u, the economy does seems bad but it also seems like ppl getting richer n richer each day lol. i used to wonder, where did they get all of those money ?
ppl says that they have a financial problems, but they keep on buying motorcycle, changing it when there's a newest motorcycle product, same thing with the car. i know that they might buying it with credits lol, but ufff how can they pay the credits if they have a financial problems but they keep on buying things..arghhh i dont know lol
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
14 Nov 08
Well one reason why people are spending MORE on "things" now is because they are cutting back elsewhere. For example, they may cut out their yearly 3000$ vacation and instead spend 1000$ on gadgets and goodies thinking that way they save 2000$. I think people are just redirecting their spend, basically.
A trolley full of toliet paper is great if the price is right! B/c then you don't have to buy it for a long time. Buying in bulk can often save you loads of cash down the line.
@xParanoiax (6987)
• United States
15 Nov 08
Around my area, shopping season is seriously on. But I've noticed that, most of them are no longer buying big and super expensive things.
Even more people than usual are shopping, but they're refraining and cutting back.
Which, yeah, is weird.
Even the rich people in the area seem to be doing this.
But I'm in a rural part of the U.S. -- not all of the U.S. is like this, and I'm guessing each other country that's experiencing the same problems all have areas which're reacting different as well.
Maybe people in your area are panic buying or in survival mode? When this happens people will buy bulk of alot of things, particularly if it's on sale with the intent of "stocking up for bad times".
@Ithink (9980)
• United States
14 Nov 08
I have noticed the sales, discounts and such. They are trying to get us to buy. I dont see alot of people around here falling for it thou. Stacking up on good sales yes but not spending alot all the time.
I think you will always have foolish people that spend and bury their heads but I think on the whole most realize things arent good and are watching what they spend.
The washing powder and toilet paper isnt going to go bad and it might have been a good deal along with the fact they wont have to buy it again for awhile. I stack up on some things. If I have coupons for like dishsoap, I will use them all and at times have up to 4 things in the cupboard. It will get used and not go bad and then I dont have to buy it for awhile.
