Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

On the news last night, the representative from the Better Business Bureau told us that scammers push you to act quickly. This morning, a commercial said the above phrase. There is a relationship between these two concepts. One of my first positions was as marketing director for a small company.

As I have done throughout my career, I read everything I could about my job. We used mailings, including catalogs, to encourage customers to call us. This was in the early days of the eight hundred numbers. We used one, and our owner thought we ought to have the operators offer buy-now deals to callers.

One chance to get a special price, and then the cost went up. I thought this tactic cost us more sales than it gained. Years later, as a sales service specialist, I advocated keeping prices the same until our vendors raised theirs. I believe you lose credibility when you pressure someone to make an immediate decision.

I know how to interpret sales at retailers. Some businesses begin each season with thirty to fifty percent off seasonal prices. At the end of each season, these same stores clearance these products at up to ninety percent off the original retail price.

My experience tells me that this is probably their cost of the merchandise. I say this because most companies would rather sell at cost than donate overstocked items for tax write-offs. Another thing I notice that most shoppers do not is that many businesses have private label items that compete with name brands.

Think about a few other things when you buy these store brands. Someone must manufacture them. It may be different companies, or it can be the same product that is sold by the original brand name with a different label. I’ve been to plants where I saw products with many labels in the warehouses.

My wife worked at a dairy many years ago, and this was the only brand of milk we would buy, even before she started there. She learned that they packaged another brand that came from the same tanks, and the only difference was the brand and the price. We still buy that lower-priced product when we can. Some of the plants I called on told me that there were differences in their product line and the store brands that they manufactured. The only way to determine this is to try the cheaper products and decide if they are as good.

Another fact I have noticed is that some retailers will suspend selling name brands to boost the sales of their own brand. Others simply refuse to sell higher-priced brands and stock only bargain-priced merchandise. We’ve noticed over the years that buying these cheap products can cause problems.

Certain brands of appliances and electronics in the big box stores are all made at overseas plants, and none of these products last as long as domestically made goods. When I was a kid, you did not want a Japanese-made radio, and many Chinese-made products are well known to have more frequent recalls than goods from other countries.

A Latin saying, “Caveat Emptor,” that you should know. The English translation is, “Let the buyer beware.” Become a perceptive consumer and learn as much as you can about how and why things are priced the way they are. It is a good idea to remember that we have a free market economy. That means companies set the prices at what they want. Market demand affects pricing, and we should always look for a sale.

©Copyright 2026 by Charles Kensinger