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Buyer Beware: Sneaky Tricks of Outlet Malls

Know what an item is really worth. How can you know whether you’re getting a great deal at the Samsonite outlet if you don’t know the real retail price of a suitcase? Comparison shop for large purchases; don’t rely on the reference price quoted by the store.

Think seasonally. It’s a good bet that any in-season merchandise is from an outlet-only line. Real retail overruns don’t arrive in outlet stores until after the season has passed.

Remember that fewer stores = better quality. If you’re shopping at a store that has posts in every outlet mall in the country, you’re almost guaranteed to be getting outlet-quality merchandise. At an outlet with only a few locations, the merchandise is more likely to be true overruns, discontinued items, and last-season’s line because the company doesn’t have to fill hundreds of stores.

Shop the sales. Outlet stores have sales at the same times that normal retail stores do, and customers can often get even better discounts at these times. But sales at retail stores can offer savings just as valuable as regular outlet prices.

Stores are in the business of making sales, and they’ll do whatever they have to do in order to loosen customers’ inhibitions and wallets. Outlet stores use consumer psychology to their advantage just as any other business does. Whether you’re at the mall, the outlet, or the grocery store, the most important tip to remember is that it’s the buyer’s responsibility to beware.

First published August 2010

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outlet malls, outlet stores, outlet shopping, discount shopping, tricks of outlet shopping, shopping scams (view other popular tags)

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Comments

I always wondered how merchandise ends up at discount stores and outlet malls. I've definitely found some good stuff at places like these, but most of the time, it's a bunch of duds.