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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Comparison Shopping...

I am feeling a little flummoxed (hmmm... that may be the first time I've written that word in my entire life) here - I was off shopping yesterday for some cotton balls and pom-pons (you'll see why at the reunion, unless you're the other side of the family, then you'll just have to ask) and while browsing the shelves for things on my "wouldn't it be nice" list I noticed a few glaring price differences between the stores I was at.  
Example one - the Fairy Alphabet Set (it's all scrapbook stuff here guys - if you don't care, just scroll on down) that I thought my girls would enjoy making stuff with - at Robert's it's listed at $44 - yikes, even with a 50% off coupon I don't want to pay that!  So, 1/2 an hour later at Michael's I check the same product - $15, and so using a 40% coupon I happily bought the girls a reading prize that will buy me some free time!  (I checked online, it's around $15 at the reasonable places... and it's one of those things I don't trust getting used on e-bay)

next up: the Hippie Chick Alphabet (yes, it's the entire alphabet - I just figured you could use your imagination to see how utterly cool these letters could look in my scrapbook).  First look was at Robert's - $44... go figure, because these dies are way more durable and much bigger than the little kids ones... but there it is, the same price.  Then we're off to Michael's - $75 bucks?  Online - $56...   I picked it up at Robert's with a 50% off coupon for $22 and was happy.
Lesson I will be taking away from all of this - well, first off, I NEED to learn the difference between Needs and Wants obviously because this is sounding way too worldly of me - but secondly I will certainly be doing more comparison shopping before getting burned - is everything out there priced so wacky?  I never buy anything that's more than $10 at Robert's or Michael's without using a 40 or 50% off coupon...  I am obviously not their favorite customer :)

And WHY may I ask are such obvious chick-magnets like craft stores named after guys?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

In my family if you didn't get a gift it on sale it means you don't love the receiver. Hmmmm. Comparison shopping is a way of life. That's why I like Khol's, using my credit card (never leaving a balance) I can get 15% more off their 70% off clearance. What a deal--too bad their stuff is way too expensive in the first place so I get good stuff for slightly less money than I would have gotten at the big bad box store. I have found that living in a small town does not provide the opportunity for comparison shopping very often. How blessed you are that you are able to price shop.

LC said...

There is a world of fun products out there that I don't even know about.
Definitely one of the benefits of living in a Metropolis is being able to "shop around."

Notice how even with girls artsy stuff it's the men who are at the top of their field...think about it...hairdressers, designers, etc. Maybe that's why there's Michael's and Roberts. Joanne's just doesn't have the same appeal.

TisforTonya said...

oooh, I didn't even check the price at Joanne's :)

they don't ever have 50% off coupons though, and they're all the way across town...

Megz said...

I just can't even imagine shopping at both Roberts and Michael's enough to be able to comparison shop. I'll come and do some fun handwriting for you in your scrapbook. And I'll charge you less than all of them!

Mike said...

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