Quote Originally Posted by Gofigure View Post
Never heard of any store allowing customers to buy an item for a sale price when the sale was not actually happening

I think it's a fair arrangement for everybody. What's to stop me strolling into Kmart now and saying hey I want this this this but I'm not paying retail pricd but July toy sale price?

I can see how stores have to get pretty strict with this stuff.
But you can do that. The price on the shelf is simply their offer. They are offering to sell you something for that price. You still have the right to negotiate the price. They don't have to accept the counter proposal, but there are plenty of places that will. The only reason they don't put a cheaper price on the shelf is simply to maximise their profits. Most people won't haggle and they know that. But there's no law stopping you from trying.

At the same time, if they aren't willing to sell for the lower price you are offering to buy their item for, you are equally within your rights to refuse the purchase. The entire transaction is merely an agreement between two parties to exchange goods and money. The value is always negotiable, depending on how far either party is willing to move.

A sale is merely the stores offer to sell you their goods at a lower price than normal between certain dates. The only boundaries on that is what they choose to set. As a policy, they will tell all their ground floor staff not to sell goods at the sale price before the sale. That way they can still make their normal margin on the goods up until that date. If you were to negotiate with a more senior staff member there is a chance you may receive the item at a price that both parties agree is fair, regardless of timing, simply because they have more power to make that decision. But that depends on the person you speak to.

Edit: Well how about that? While I was typing this up, more replies appeared. Thanks guys for you input. Lint, I completely agree with what you're saying. Llamatron, my charisma score probably isn't high enough to do that LOL. But you're right, if you had the assertiveness to pursue a negotiation all the way you could probably get some joy on a day to day basis with your purchases. But it's usually easier to just pay the shelf price, unless you're particularly passionate about something (like Metroplex for example ).