The Mexican Left
- Thread starter Gonz
- Start date
Inkara1
Well-Known Member
I can personally guarantee you that nothing in the store is sold at a loss, with the exception of iPods and the occasional one-time-only loss leader. CDs aren't loss leaders. There simply would not be that many loss leaders in order to get a few plasma TVs and service plans sold. That makes no economic sense and if someone told you that, they're full of shit. Guaranteed.
I should also mention that word-of-mouth advertising is more powerful than TV advertising, for better and for worse.
I should also mention that word-of-mouth advertising is more powerful than TV advertising, for better and for worse.
Altron
Well-Known Member
Well, there's a term "PMI" that they throw around a lot, which I think is something to do with the store profit. Profit Margin something? Basically, PMI is the barometer for how well the store is doing financially, and for whether the managers get their bonus. I've been told by management that small ticket items do not help PMI much, if at all, it's mostly warranties, high-markup items, and services that do it.
post 41
Cue the whining little bitches.
CDs, DVDs, video games & car stereos make the store meet its expenses. Without those, no matter how many big-ticket items get sold, the store goes broke. Big money fluff is nice but it doesn't pay the bills. It creates profit.
Mirlyn
Well-Known Member
Just gotta ask.....
If you went to Europe, would you like them to think the same if you tried to buy a CD? How about food? Hotel? Just curious....
By the way, BBY held the same theory. CDs are sold at a near loss. If you counted labor and associated overhead, it would be a loss compared to other products. Everything else they make more on (hint, look at margin rates).
Mirlyn
Well-Known Member
Inkara1
Well-Known Member
Small-ticket or big-ticket doesn't determine the store's profit margin. It's about percentages. Your store makes a much better killing on a $10 mouse than it does on a $1200 laptop. I spent a couple of weeks working in the building materials department at Home Depot and found out that the store makes a couple of pennies on each sheet of plywood or each bag of concrete... but almost every cent made on the 99¢ plastic putty knife is profit. When you're selling TVs... so they tell you to sell more TVs? Or do they tell you to sell a TV... and get them to also get a TV stand, a universal remote, batteries for the remote, cables, etc.? Accessories are the high-markup items that help the store's bottom line. It's not the microcassette recorder; it's the tapes and batteries. It's not the cell phone; it's the leather case, car charger and bluetooth headset. It's not the VCR; it's the cables and blank tapes. It's not the computer; it's the upgraded mouse, printer cable, printer paper, mouse pad and surge protector. It's not the iPod (in fact, Apple makes stores sell the iPod at a loss), it's the upgraded headphones, the case, the speaker system, the FM transmitter and the arm band.
All these things I mentioned are not only pure profit... they're also things customers want and/or need to have to go with their larger items. That makes them easy sales... and if the salesman forgets to mention those things, it's an almost certain sale for some other store closer to where the customer lives. Ah, shit, I forgot to get paper for the new printer... oh well, I need to head to Wal-Mart to pick up my prescription anyway, I'll just get some there.
Mirlyn
Well-Known Member
Its much better to upgrade to the gold-plated one for just $35.99.
Inkara1
Well-Known Member
The gold-plated makes for better long-term contact. Oh, I'd also suggest getting a spare black and color cartridge so that if you run out of ink in the lower-capacity starter cartridge during a midnight project, you won't have to wait until the store opens in the morning to print. You'll want some copy paper for day-to-day printing, and also some photo paper if you really want to take advantage of what your printer is capable of.
Mirlyn
Well-Known Member
But having a gold-plated cable is just peace of mind for the wackos
Are you freakin kidding? It offers 10% faster data transfer rates. The package says so!
nevermind the absurdity of corrosion-resistance tech on a cable with a useful life of only a few years, or the actual data transmission rates on a freakin printer make old-school PIO look like a Ferrari...
Altron
Well-Known Member
I also get really graphic with the flexibility of our accidental damage warranty.
"So say you're writing your term paper and your hard drive crashes on your laptop and you lose everything. What do you do? Throw it out the window and run it over with your car? With our Accidental Damage protection plan, all you would need to do is bring it into the store, and we would give you a brand new one!"
"So say you're writing your term paper and your hard drive crashes on your laptop and you lose everything. What do you do? Throw it out the window and run it over with your car? With our Accidental Damage protection plan, all you would need to do is bring it into the store, and we would give you a brand new one!"
Mirlyn
Well-Known Member
Are you serious? I hated people like you. Ever had to actually tell the customer what the plan REALLY covers when they acutally try to use the warranty? Oh, I bet not.
I'm just too damn honest to fuck with people like that. Hope you know the exact in's and out's on that warranty better than anyone in the store before you pitch that sale.
Altron
Well-Known Member
Actually, the warranty does cover that.
We have the good ol' 24 month warranty, which covers internal problems, like if the hard drive dies, or the battery stops working, or it doesn't connect to your PC.
Then there's the 25 month accidental warranty, which covers everything except fire and theft.
Mirlyn
Well-Known Member
So you're saying a simple software corruption will be answered with complete and immediate hardware replacement by the warranty? Software wasn't covered by the PSPs at BBY. Could be different across the street, I guess.
I've seen the attemps to claim the insect infestation, water damage, abuse, etc normally addressed in the fine print as not covered.