Not all Wal-Mart bargains are really bargains
Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Shopping
Every retailer loves a sucker customer who walks in the door convinced he will find the lowest prices in their store. In this Christmas of paucity, Americans are abandoning the mall experience for what they perceive to be the motherlode of bargains, Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, those bargains are often illusory.
As MainStreet's Jeffrey Cretan points out, the price of many low-volume items such as high-def televisions aren't any better than what can be found at the big-box stores. In fact, in Consumer Reports' rankings (subscription required) of walk-in electronics stores, Wal-Mart finished dead last, with an average score on price and worst scores on selection, quality, service, and checkout.
Other departments fare little better. Consumer Reports ranks the chain's drugstore last among mass merchants, with above average prices, and last again in small appliances, with average prices and worst quality and service.
Wal-Mart shines, no doubt, in high-volume items such as clothes, shoes, school supplies and inexpensive house furnishings. However, it needs to make money as much as any chain, so a shrewd shopper will comparison shop items of significant cost. Who knows -- you might even find that a retailer with good service can beat Wal-Mart on the price of that mega-TV for which you have been drooling.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-18-2008 @ 1:46PM
Deb said...
Well, I will have to agree and disagree........I just bought a 32" Sharp LCTV for $398., at Wal-Mart, I wasn't even in the market for a TV, but I couldn't pass up the price, I even bought one for my son for christmas also.....Show me any other store who could match that price, and I will take them back and buy elsewhere???
Not every store can be the lowest in every department, I don't expect WalMart to have the lowest prices on everything, but Im a savy shopper and know my prices, I know what to buy there and what to buy elsewhere.
We all just need to be smart shoppers, especially in this economy, I don't care what the name on the front door says, If they have the best price and I want it, I shop there and buy it..
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12-18-2008 @ 2:10PM
elizabeth said...
You need to think more of where you shop and where the money you are spending is going...shop mom and pop stores, flea markets and craft malls...and stop supporting walmart and their direct link to china...that is what's wrong with this society - no one cares to try and stop what is wrong with the economy - you just think of yourselves and your "best deals"...
check out: wakeupwalmart.com
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12-18-2008 @ 2:36PM
art said...
The bigger problem is not just the price but how do you no if
it was made for wal mart at a specail price like the rest of the junk wal mart sells.Wal mart has and is ruining this country
most if not all products are made to wal mart specs and the companys do this because wal mart buys so much that they will do what ever wal mart wants.home depot does a lot of the same thing but not as much as wal mart.now for proof i no a hardware store person that carrys ridgid tools I saw a small drill in home depot and toke down the ser# and I wanted my local hardware store to get for me he saw the ridgit rep and tried to order it
and he came back and said he can not thats made special for home depot. I can go on and on so yes the prices are for the most part less money so the product is not the same.And if you look close and compare you will see.clothes the jeans I but wrangler wal mart has the cheapest price but they are thinner
then the ones you get in kmart. This is why wal mart suck and must be stopped.
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12-18-2008 @ 2:41PM
art said...
amen elizabeth you are right on the money Wal Mart sucks
and should be boycotted all the way to china with they junk.
sam walton had a vision alright destroy america.
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2-02-2009 @ 6:56PM
James said...
It wasn't Sam it was his offsprings
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