Camouflaged Price

Let me start by saying I am not a fan of the camouflaged (Camo) color scheme used on various products, clothes, devices even trucks.  But I respect the choices of others who may be a fan of this color scheme, after all, it is why cars come in different colors.  My color choices are just generally—colors.  But there are many out there who crave a design whose initial creation was meant to hide something, this segues nicely into my story.

I am a big fan of fishing and since we are back into the summer activities it was time to upgrade my tackle.  So, it is off to my favorite store, you know the one, they offer low prices every stinking, rotten day.  While browsing the sporting goods area, specifically the fishing aisles, I discovered a rod and reel combination that was on sale, located in a center aisle display.  It looked like a decent piece of fishing tackle with a rod that appeared to be fairly stout and a reliable reel attached to it. The price tag on the front of the display indicated that it was $19.99, and there were two different colors of rods in the display, black, and camo.  The price seemed a little low to me for that combo and I thought I might ask an associate to double check it.

After finding an associate (no easy feat these days) I asked him to verify the price for me.  He used his cell phone to scan the price tag (figures, we don’t use them for calls anymore) of the rod and reel combination that came in black and confirmed the $19.99 price.  Then he also scanned the same rod and reel combo that came in the camo color scheme.  To my somewhat stunned amazement, the camo version was $34.99, almost twice the cost of the flat black model that I was interested in.  Upon further investigation, we discovered a second price tag on the back of the aisle display that confirmed the $34.99 price.

Ok, let me get this straight, the same rod and reel in two different color schemes have two separate prices, with the camouflaged color costing almost twice as much as a single colored rod?  So, it costs nearly twice as much to paint or coat a fishing rod in camo coloring?  Or, could it be that the camo coloring is more popular in my neck-of-the-woods?  I am opting for the latter here, and knowing corporate America as I do, I believe that this is another scheme to mark up a product that is more popular in the name of profits.

Let’s visit the facts here, the rod is identical, the reel is also identical, the only difference is the coloring, smell a corporate rat yet?  So, these customers are being screwed by profiteers who are taking advantage of preference with no regard to value or benefit.  Then there is the display, the price tag facing forward towards the front of the store has a price of $19.99, this is the side that will be viewed most as customers are going from the front of the store towards the rear.  The rear-facing price tag on the display is $34.99 and will not be seen by as many customers.  And even if it is, the rod and reels are all mixed in the display, how the hell can you tell the difference without having a store associate check it before you check out?

However subtle this situation may seem to some, to me it is just another way of these companies trying to bait and switch customers in a manner that is less obvious.  They will gamble that the sticker shock that will happen at the cash register will not dissuade the camo-preferring-customer to take the item back.  If they do refuse it then it slows down the damn checkout aisle, the one that I usually pick of course—arse holes!

Talk to Ya Later

The Grumpy Old Fart Customer @2019 All Rights Reserved