Loading…

That '90% off' mattress sale is bait, and I can prove it with my own receipts | Deal or Dud - Vivisector

That '90% off' mattress sale is bait, and I can prove it with my own receipts

I keep seeing people in this community hype up those big mattress sales, the ones that say 90% off and act like you're getting a steal. Here's the thing I noticed after buying one myself in Charlotte last month: the "original price" they cross out is complete fiction. I pulled up the same mattress model on three different sites and found it listed at $399, $1,299, and $2,499, all labeled as the regular price. The store I bought from claimed the mattress was normally $2,800 and I was getting it for $280, but when I called the manufacturer directly, the rep told me the suggested retail was $350. That's not a deal, that's a made up number to make you feel like a genius. Some folks argue it doesn't matter because you still pay what you're willing to pay, but that's exactly how these companies keep getting away with it. So which is it, are these sales harmless marketing or straight up lying, and should we be calling it out when we see it?

2 comments

2 Comments

ruby65912d ago

The part where I see it different is that a crossed out price has never been the real price at most stores. Furniture and mattress shops have run on inflated "compare at" numbers for decades, and the rules around it are pretty loose. What you did with the manufacturer call is the right move, but it does not really prove bait, it just proves the list price was never real to begin with. People still walk in, lie on the thing, and decide what it is worth to them, and a sale sign mostly gets them through the door. Where I agree with you is the fake urgency and the countdown clocks, those should get called out every single time.

lucast8112d ago

That mattress place near me had a "was $2,499" tag on a bed that the salesman admitted was never sold at that price once, so yeah @ruby659, the crossed out number is just theater. The countdown clock on the website is what really burns me, because that one is a straight up lie about a deadline that does not exist.