"Designer Villages"

[Deleted User]

Do you have one? A retail park that's supposedly full of factory outlets selling designer brand merchandise at knock down prices on the pretext that it's all surplus or end of line stock.
Perhaps the first ones were, but there can't be enough surplus goods to stock them all, now that they're springing up everywhere! The clothes on sale at ours are all either the same as you can get for the same price on the high street, or cheap rubbish purpose made to sell at knock down prices.
I've had a cheap cagoule for £15, the same price as it goes for in every outdoor shop in Keswick.
You can buy sweaters reduced from £30 to £10, just like in any branch of JJB on the high street.
I bought a polycotton anorak supposedly reduced from £40 to £15, within a month the surface of the fabric was all going bobbly, like a cheap woollen.
I've had trainers for £20, exactly the same price and model as they sell in JJB.
Yesterday I saw some jackets "reduced" from £40 to £20. Two weeks ago the same ones were supposedly reduced from £20 to £10.
Where are Trading Standards?

SidB_2

jack_pott wrote:

Yesterday I saw some jackets "reduced" from £40 to £20. Two weeks ago the same ones were supposedly reduced from £20 to £10.
Where are Trading Standards?

I'm sorry but I can't see the point in this. What would you prefer ? Reduced from £40 to £10 ? What's the difference.

Xbigman

The point is the shop are lying. You cannot sell something as having a base price of £20 (further reduced or not) and then sell it for £20 and claim the base price was £40.
Regards




X

trace-j

Pricing legislation in this country is useless.

1. The higher price doesn't have to be in that particular store- e.g. the shop at John O Groats had it the higher price and you wouldn't know.

2. Trading Standards can't prove it was ever at the higher price- company records can be doctored. They need to have people make a complaint about the item they have bought (with a proof of purchase) at the higher price x months ago to verify the claim of a reduction is false.

Don't know about you Trading Standards are only human, not miracle workers!- though it would be nice.

Trollydolly_2

We have Cheshire Oaks near me and its fab!

Full of bargains and loads of shops to choose from!

[Deleted User]

SidB wrote:

What would you prefer ? Reduced from £40 to £10 ?

Well of course I would!

SidB wrote:

I'm sorry but I can't see the point in this.

The point is that they've doubled the price, and yet are still claiming that it's half the high street price.

My general point is that if you accept the premise that there can't be enough surplus stock to supply all these "designer villages", then they're being marketed as something they're patently not, apparently in contravention of the trading standards legislation.

John_M_Business

Unfortunately Marketing is merely about the 'APPEARANCE OF VALUE' - which is not the same as the actual value.

Always measure things by what you are paying, not what you are 'saving'... then you don't ever get sucked into the 'I saved £XXX' mentality when, in actuality, you spent '£YYY'.

'Design' is such a subjective word in any case.

shopbot

jack_pott wrote:

Well of course I would!


The point is that they've doubled the price, and yet are still claiming that it's half the high street price.

My general point is that if you accept the premise that there can't be enough surplus stock to supply all these "designer villages", then they're being marketed as something they're patently not, apparently in contravention of the trading standards legislation.

I don't accept the premise that there is not enough surplus stock to supply the designer villages. If you think of a major name High Street retailer such as Next (only as an example), they on average have approx 350 stores who trade in the standard full price trading and two major sales a year stance. If for example, they have 10 designer village shops then each designer village shop has 35 stores that they can take surplus stock from. There will also be all the surplus stock from their Home Shopping Catalogues and Internet operations to sell.
The reason that retailers use designer villages is so that they can clear out sale stock and leave the stockrooms and warehouses in their core locations clear for profitable full price stock.

As for the Designer Villages trading on a false premise.....
The trading standards legislation is probably quite a bit different to what you first assume and that is probably where the perception arises from. For example if I asked a group of people how much sale stock had to be at 30% discount before the retailer could advertise a 30% sale, most people who say the logical answer...i.e more than 50%. However legally the figure is much, much lower more like 10 or 20%. I think a lot of people would be very surprised by that!!

I agree...from a consumers point of view it does look like madness though!

kev.pudd

I think the adage of "buyer beware" is most appropriate when it comes to designer villages. Most local authorities allow a certain percentage of the stores not to be "outlets" where as other sites are self regulated by the local management.
As with all retail sites you attract more people if all your retail units are taken up.
Locally we have Whiteley Village, which on the whole is a genuine outlet site, with A tesco adjoining, and maybe four or five none "outlet" stores, excluding cafes and coffee shops.

As i said at the beginning if you think the quality is not good, regardless of the reduction, just walk away, and spend your money on a real bargain. And dont forget the sale of goods act still covers you in Outlet stores and villages as well as the high street, and online. :beer:

Happy bargain hunting!

toozie_2

Trollydolly wrote:

We have Cheshire Oaks near me and its fab!

Full of bargains and loads of shops to choose from!

I second that, this is our nearest Designer Outlet Village, although it's about 70 miles away from me.

We go about 3 times a year, and I love it. New Years day is great, no one about, coz they've all got hangovers, and millions of bargains. Always buy my xmas paper, cards, and some birthday pressies then. In fact I want to go there now...as its been some time since I last went...

Nile

I visited a designer outlet at Spalding, Lincs recently. What a shock, you have to pay £1 to park or £2 for all day parking.:eek:


The choice of shops was nothing special either.