You've planned all year for this shopping day. Your holiday budget is set. You are determined to stick to it and you have high hopes of not overspending.
First stop, the local mall. At the mall, your first purchase is a pair of tennis shoes. $29.95. Fine, you budget was $33. That will just cover the taxes. Then you get the upsell. Your shoes won't be complete unless you purchase their ultra super spicy clean scented leather cleaner and polisher. It's only $5.99.
Next stop, an icee because you are worn out. You tell the clerk that you want a small size for $1.39. She says, for $.79 cents more you can get the Santa cup upgrade. There's not any more icee, just the Santa head on the cup.
Now you head down the hall packed with other eager shoppers to the beauty and bath boutique. You smell all the tempting lotions and settle on two bottles of green apple. One costs $6.00 but they offer you two for $10.00. What a deal.
Finally, about six hours later, you drag yourself and your eighteen bags out of the store to your car and drive home. Upon arriving at home, you pull out your calculator and all your receipts for the day. Total = $520.75. Oh my, what could have gone wrong. My budget was $350.00 and I had everything planned out so well.
Your problem is called upsells! They are big this year and they are persuasive.
I spent two hours at the new mall in town last week. In every store I went to, they tried to sell me something additional related to my purchase. They pushed, they pulled, they persuaded and looked at me crazy when I said no. These uncomfortable encounters were ruining the fun of my holiday shopping experience.
I finally decided the only way to handle this was to take the offensive approach. I simply said, "I'm not interested in your upsell. It's a great strategy but it won't work on me." All of a sudden, the sales associates were on the defensive, back peddling with excuses of just trying to help, etc.
In Summary:
You really don't need that plastic Santa Claus cap on your paper cup, or that new accessory or the shoe cleaner or the extra bottle of lotion. If you are like me, you have 15 of each of the above mentioned items sitting in a drawer at home.
Sales associates are becoming experts at making you feel like you need these things at the critical moment of payment.
Stand firm and just say no.
If you have to: Think Football. Think Offense.
It's your life and your money that pays for that purchase.
Don't let yourself be talked into a last minute upsell.
I'm proud to say that during my adventure at the mall last weekend, I won the upsell battle. I wish you the best in your battle as well. Once you get the hang of it, it can almost be "fun".
About The Author: *By Doris Dobkins Publisher of the free weekly ezine $mart Money New$. To subscribe, click on this link or visit her web site: Mail LinkCreativeFinances.com
P.S. Hot Off The Press FREE Gift For You Get my Free 7-Day Budgeting Course One chapter a day for 7 days. Send a blank email to: Mail Link
As a consumer, I have found this practice to be quite helpful when gift shopping. I may not want the exact item they suggest, but there are times when it jogs my memory about something else I want to buy.
A friends daughter worked for Penneys, so I got some insight into what was required of them. The department heads questioned the sales force as to what was popular, and what the customers were looking for, ad buying.
Their staff has to be familiar with the merchandise, and therefore they are the ones who can help us, the customer, find whatever we want.
I always try to be as courteous as possible. These people are there to do a tough job, which can be very helpful to us, the consumer.
I have to agree with Kendra here. You don't have to take the upsell but please be pleasant to the salesperson while declining it. Where I work we are required to ofer things that go with what the customer is buying.
If we are not doing it it shows up on our regular assessments. We try to make it informal and helpful and do not object if you choose to say no. But it is hard to stay pleasant when customers are rude to us for doing what are employers require us to do. - Peggy Hoehne
I would like to reply to Doris Dobkin's commentary on upsells. I implore those who read her article not to take her advice to literally. While she says that her holiday shopping experience was ruined by upsells, being rude to salespeople will not add to either person's good cheer.
As a former retail store manager, I am always alert for the upsell. Upselling is the mark of a good salesperson so it usually makes me smile. Despite that, I usually do not need that extra item and I simply smile and say, "No thank you, this will do it for me." I am pleasant but firm and have never had a problem. If they are more persistent and look at me a little incredulously, I usually listen to them a little closer and sometimes find that they really are trying to save me some money.
Recently, I was shopping for a stroller and carseat for my sister-in-law. Although a few of my family members were contributing to the gifts, price was certainly an object. When the salesperson walked me to the checkstand, she asked me if I had a "More" card. Thinking that I was about to get hit up to apply for a new credit card, I immediately smiled and told her that I didn't have one but that I do not shop there very often so I did not need one. Rather than let it go, which she could have done, she explained that it was simply a discount card for the mall, that I did not have to purchase anything or pay a fee, and that she could give me an additional 15% off of my purchase if I had one. My only inconvenience was that I had to walk down the mall to obtain the card. Believe me, that walk was worth the $21.00 we saved.
Doris was right in stating that upselling adds up. What she didn't say is that it adds up both ways. Those salespeople aren't just making money for their stores, they are stimulating an economy that can use the boost. There is nothing wrong with being smart and sticking to your budget, but be smart with a smile. Certainly you do not need that plastic cup or leather polish for your tennis shoes, however is there someone on your Christmas list that could use that second bottle of lotion? Those gifts are great for gift exchanges at work, neighbors, baby-sitters, etc. And because those types of gifts usually have a limit of $10, you have just saved $5.00 and gotten something for yourself in the process. Speaking of which, was there anything on Doris' Christmas list that was not for herself? I contend that the salespeople did not take Doris' Christmas spirit, she had lost it before ever reaching the mall.
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