Turn wherever you want, you can’t avoid seeing those big bold letters splattered around—’Up to 75 per cent off’, ‘Buy Two Get One Free’, ‘Winter Promotions’, ‘Special Offers’, ‘Spend Dhs100 and get Dhs25 back,’ ‘Hurry, Special Offers Till the Stock Lasts.’ You must be thinking ‘wow, golden opportunity for shopping,’ right? I beg to differ. Until recently such an occasion would get me into a shopping frenzy. Like any common man I would easily get drawn into the whirlpool of 
‘special offers.’

Not long ago I was a spendthrift. I never realised how money flew off my wallet. Not that I have taken to parsimony now. But, a series of recent ‘bumper shocks’ has made me much 
more cautious.

Don’t get taken in by the ‘Mega Sales’, ‘Consumer Fairs’ and ‘Shopping Promotions’, because while some of them might be genuine most of them are bogus and fake. So, it’s better to tread with caution rather than getting conned.

How often we experience that the moment advertisements announce massive discounts the stores concerned are jam-packed with people as if things are being given out for free. If you actually look around with an open eye, you will see adverts and billboards emblazoned with big bold letters saying ‘up to 50 per cent off’ or ‘up to 75 per cent off’. If you are a keen observer you must have seen the word ‘up to’ is always so small that you need to literally strain your eyes to see it, so most often it 
goes unnoticed.

Does anyone ever verify how genuine these ‘sales’ are? How many people ever check the percentage of discount on the items they buy?

Let me narrate my turnaround story here: Two weeks ago I stumbled upon a big advertisement about a ‘Mega promotion and half price sale of Big Brands’ and I also overheard people talking about it. So I drove my family to the place where a jostling crowd was already scurrying around the promotion hall like a pack of rats, and let me tell you: majority of them were women. We had to wait outside for some time for the crowd to clear, that’s how 
packed it was.

When we finally entered, I first saw a stall of some obscure watches priced: ‘Was — Dh1200, Now — Dh300.’ I asked the attendant where those watches were made in. He claimed them to be from Switzerland, US, UK etc.’ But when I told him that I had never ever heard of those brands before and asked him to prove that those watches were actually worth Dh1200, he replied curtly ‘Go and check yourself outside’. I went and did exactly that. I have been combing the market for the past one month and couldn’t find any of those brands in the market.

Moving to the next stall at the same event, where perfumes and other cosmetics were being sold, I found a man asking for ‘Davidoff Coolwater’ perfume. The attendant quoted Dh185 for the product only to the fury of the customer, who said he can get the same for Dh125 outside.

The incident proved to be an eye-opener for me. How does anyone trust the ‘Now’ and ‘Was’ business? How do you know how much it was before? I have found many stores raising the price and then reducing it during the so-called ‘sales,’ which in other words means: goods sold at normal price.

I have been a loyal customer of a popular British garments brand for the last ten years. I particularly like their shirts, which are normally priced between Dh 165 and Dh 195. But last week when I visited its store in one of the malls I got one of the biggest shocks of my life. The store was offering 50 per cent discount on all items. The shirt that I had bought just a fortnight ago for Dh165 was priced at Dh 395 and was being offered for Dh195 in the supposed ‘Sale’.

Similarly, I saw an advertisement of a popular department store offering mobiles phones for ‘special prices’. As there is seldom any sale on cell phones and electronics I rushed to check it out. What I found was my shock number two. Forget discount, most of the handsets that I was looking for were overpriced by at least Dh 200.

These are not just one off incidents but a regular practice of big players in the market. They know how to work on consumer psychology. With subtle manipulation and smart advertisements most companies rake in millions by fooling the unsuspecting customers. Every day they come up with new ideas to con people.

Though there are rules and regulations in place to restrict these greedy vultures but they know how to override those regulations.

Some people must feel that they are safe with big brands. But my recent experiences have sowed more than a few seeds of doubts in my mind. I can only warn you, the rest is in your hands. The problem that is discussed above is not restricted to any particular city, it’s common with most cities across the world — it’s a global phenomenon. Good luck all you shopoholics!

Shafaat Ahmed is a Senior Sub-Editor with City Times, Khaleej Times and can be reached at shafaat@khaleejtimes.com