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Power Shopping By Thomas 8-13-05 Say it isn’t so…Auntie Martha Stewart has to wear that ‘attractive’ ankle bracelet an additional amount of time beyond the original court order? Doesn’t the public know that the new fall fashion line is out and ankle bracelets are not on the ‘in’ list? Don’t worry Martha…Thomas to the rescue… somebody alert security!!!!! Shopping Ritual and Etiquette Lesson 50: Haggling Does the Body Good! While in China, Thomas was enticed (no, enticed is too weak)…required (no, too demanding)…mandated (no, too Communistic)…make that…obligated, to haggle over the price of an item. No matter what was being offered for sale, be it jewelry or toilet paper, I felt it was my Power Shopping duty to ‘negotiate’ the price. After all, Thomas’ reputation and honor were at stake! The ‘Gems’, Goldie, Jade, Pearl, and Coral, honed this skill all through China. Goldie was good, but Pearl and Coral were superior at haggling! A day never went by that they didn’t show me their ‘steals’ at 75%-90% off what the vendor was asking. But who should surpass the Gems in brokering ‘the deal’? Lucy and Ricky Ricardo (from I Love Lucy fame)! You may recall my article of 7-19-2000, where I talked about their shopping powers. Each year, Lucy, Ricky, and Thomas take one extended International trip. I am always observing Ricky’s haggling techniques each year to see if something has been improved upon. Ricky never disappoints me. While shopping for jewelry in Hong Kong, Thomas decided to ‘pull-a-Ricky’! The place: A jewelry store at The Hyatt Hotel on Nathan Road. The object of desire: An 18kt yellow gold, diamond, and lavender jade ring. The haggler: Thomas The adversary: The entire sales staff The goal: Need I spell it out for you? Turning $$$$ into $! Ricky doesn’t follow the traditional rules of haggling. Ricky prefers to be kind, gentle and soft-spoken. Thomas? Kind? Gentle? Soft-spoken? Not in my vocabulary! But I wanted the ring, so I whipped into Thespian mode and ‘became Ricky’. (Goodness, I wanted to ‘toss my cookies’, just the thought of being…dare I type this…gentle, makes me nauseous.) Here is how it went down: It was about 11:00am. It had rained earlier and the humidity was near 90%. Compound that with 100 degrees and, well, you get the picture. I decided to go shopping on Nathan Road, the Rodeo Drive of Hong Kong. I also decided that I would only go into stores that looked like their air conditioning was on the ‘north pole setting’! I ventured into the Hyatt and was immediately drawn to a glass case that had “the ring”! I was offered a seat and something to drink. I remarked that I had been in their store 13 years earlier and admired their selection back then, and was impressed with the variety of items that they had to offer now. I commented that I purchased cufflinks and a ring the last time I was in their store. They welcomed me back to Hong Kong and their store. I had the sales girl pull out the lavender ring from the glass case. She said I had great taste (obviously, I AM Thomas!). I inquired about the price and she stated…special price for my American friend…$6,000 USA. Smelling salts, anyone? Ricky (Thomas) calmly replied; “It is truly beautiful, but I just can’t afford it.” The sales girl replied; “How much do you want to pay?” I said; “What is your ‘best price’?” She came back with; “$3,000”. I thanked her for showing it to me and again stated that I couldn’t afford it, adding; “It is just out of the price range for a poor school teacher” (that’s right, the actor in me said to try the ‘poor teacher angle’). I continued with; “Not all Americans are wealthy. I saved and saved for years to be able to afford this trip and that while worth every penny, I just couldn’t afford the ring.” (I sense an Oscar!) She then says; “Let me talk to my boss”. Five minutes later, she comes back and states; “My boss said that we could sell it at $2,000 since business had been bad that day due to the weather.” Ricky (Thomas) softly replied; “That is so very generous and worth every penny, but my teacher’s salary just doesn’t accommodate making that major a purchase (anyone else need some anti-nausea medication?)” I then lowered my head and said; “The ring is very beautiful, but I can’t afford it this time, maybe I will be back in another 13 years and will have more money to spend on luxury items.” She says; “Let me see what I can do”. She goes back to their office and out comes the ‘big boss’. He says to me; “I really want you to have this ring, let me see what I can do.” He proceeds to go through his books and writes down the number $1,000 on a piece of paper and hands me the paper. He states; “That is the lowest I can go.” My sixth sense said that that WAS the lowest price that I would be able to get him down to. I said; “I will take it, and that it would be a special gift to myself for starting the new school year.” I thanked them all and promised to bring the ‘Gems’ in the next day (which I did and they made good purchases). So what about my statement: Haggling does the body good? Well, the entire ‘transaction’ took over 45 minutes. I walked a mile back to my hotel, in 100-degree heat and 90% humidity, and weighed in on the weight scale in my room…I was 7 pounds lighter! Yes, Power Shopping Devotees…haggling DOES the body (and wallet) good! And now… DON’T DOUBT THOMAS! THINK FABRIC BOOK COVERS! Now that most schools are back in session in the next two weeks, thousands of classroom textbooks are being issued. Most teachers require the student to use book covers. Target [nationwide] has a 2-for-$1.00 sale on stretchable fabric book covers. They come in a variety of colors and patterns and are washable and reusable. SOOOO much nicer than the ‘brown grocery bag’ covers that many of us had to make when we were in school! THINK PORTABLE DVD PLAYER! Value City Department Stores [nationwide] is offering a 7” portable DVD player, by RCA, for $179.99. Compare at $320 and you have a savings of $140. It can also be mounted on your car seat. THINK USB JUMPDRIVES! OfficeMax [nationwide] has a great deal on a 512 MB USB JumpDrive Secure, by Lexar, for $29.99 after $30 rebates. All students should have one so that they can store, transfer, and carry their computer data from school to home and back. THINK 1-CENT SALE! CVS/pharmacy [nationwide] is having a ‘buy-1-get-1-for-a-penny’ sale on a variety of items. Revlon cosmetics, Ajax dish liquid, Nature Made vitamins, Avery binders, and other school and office items, by Avery, are just a few of the items available. Walgreens [nationwide] also has similar items at the same ‘buy-1-get-1-for-a-penny’ sale. Thomas is waiting for the ‘buy-1-Lexus automobile-get-1-for-a-penny’ sale! THINK MEN’S DRESS SHIRTS! Marshalls [nationwide] and TJ Maxx [worldwide] just got in a huge selection of long sleeve men’s dress shirts. I found, and purchased, two dress shirts by Geoffrey Beene for $16.99 per. They are $28.00 in the Geoffrey Beene store. I like the 55% cotton/45% polyester blends that are virtually ‘wrinkle free’. THINK BACK-TO-SCHOOL CLOTHES! Every clothing store that I went into this week is having a sale on back-to-school clothing and shoes. Kohl’s [nationwide] was having a Reebok and Nike shoe sale. JC Penney [nationwide] was offering their entire line of Arizona jeans for $19.99. Meijer [nationwide], Sears [worldwide], Carsons [numerous locally], and LS Ayres [soon to be renamed Macy’s…yeah, that Macy’s] have numerous clothing items on sale. Hmmm, Thomas is headed to the local flea market…I am in the mood to ‘haggle’! Thomas |
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