The Bull$hit Artists

We all have our pet hates in life I guess, it's just a fact of life that certain things rub us up the wrong way, whilst others have no issue, or indeed enjoy them. My pet hate, or at least one of them, is Sales people.

Sales people go through alot of training... these days alot of them have degree's in Phsychology, they know how to push your buttons, they know when to do it, and they know who's buttons to push. Sales people may very well be nice people, but their job requires them to be sneaky and underhanded at times. Unfortunately it's not them that we have to blame for it. They have just studied human behaviour, and know how to exploit it. We as consumers are the ones to blame for letting them get the better of us, letting them control us, and what we buy.

They do this through a number of interesting techniques, so I think we should be aware of these techniques, and guard against them. Though some of these techniques may be mutually benificial, they are still a bit of control, and therefor something to at least be aware of.

Driving up the initial price. A clever technique is making the consumer think they are getting a damn fantastic price. This is achieved by initially releasing the product at a greatly inflated price, giving high spending consumers a chance to feel special, and feel like they are getting a top of the line product. Some times the product is even marketed as such. Once the sales figures start plummeting, they realise they have sold the limit to their high spending audience, and they drop the price to the next step down... Advertise it as a sale, and market it to the next price braket audience. This technique can work through a number of layers, sometimes without changing the product, other times with minor changes that don't cost much, but allow a greater number of units to be sold. So, next time you see the latest and greatest product out there, this what it'll be worth in 12 months time. ;)

Buy One, Get one free. You really think they are actually giving you a free one? See above... Greatly inflated prices allow products to have their value halved, and for the company to still make a profit. Thats what the whole game is about folks... Parting you from your money. Always ask yourself what the real value of the product is, and whether you really need two of them.

There are many other techniques that sales people use to trick you into parting with your money. The greatest defence against it is to be aware of it, and aware of the fact that they are trying to convince you to part with your money because they want to make a profit.