Computers, in all their forms, like laptops, tablets and smartphones, are big sellers during the Christmas shopping season and this year looks to be no exception. But, if you think retailers will be making huge profits off these sales, think again; the biggest profits will come from upselling.
Computer sales used to be handled mainly through small, independent retailers, stores that only dealt in one marketplace: computers. These independent stores also had a strong focus on customer service, driven by owner-operators who actually had a personal stake in their store’s success.
Over the years, the landscape has changed. Big-box retailers now dominate the retail computer sales world, and offer much more than just computers. While shopping, keep in mind the computer “expert” that sold you your laptop this week may be the clothes-washing machine or car stereo expert next week.
Profit margins on computer sales are not enough, though, to keep big-box stores like Best Buy in business. This fact has driven many retailers to the shady, high profit-margin practice of “the upsell.”
Imagine if you will, that you are at a new car dealership and you have decided which car you wish to buy. You’ve seen the price posted in the window and are sure that’s the car for you. Suddenly, the salesman shifts gear from “isn’t this a great car” to “this won’t be a great car until you pay $2,600 extra for the special rust-proof undercoating and fancy trim package.”
You’ve just experienced the “upsell,” where salesmen try to sell you a bunch of things that you don’t really need on top of an already-expensive item. Extended warranties, special “optimization” services, bundled hardware packages (“But, I don’t need a new printer!”) and bait-and-switch tactics: that’s what the new-computer buying experience is turning into at big-box retailers.
Part of this morning’s reading material was a story I found on Dailyfinance.com about retailers selling unnecessary extended warranties, store credit cards, over-priced “gold plated” HDMI video cables and goofy “credit monitoring” schemes. Unknowing consumers, in the face of hard-sell tactics from pocket-protected college-aged “experts” are conned out of mountains of cash on a regular basis.
I have personally witnessed and refused many such upsell schemes at all of our local big-box electronics retailers. When it comes to stores being full of computer experts, I have learned from experience there are only one or two people in each department that really know what they are talking about; the rest of them only know how to talk you into buying things.
Market watchdogs like Consumer Reports have proven repeatedly that extended warranties are rarely a good deal for consumers; they are, however, huge money-makers for retailers. I have often rescued customers who had the forethought to call me, often from the store itself with the salesman standing right there, and ask, “Dave, do I really need a …..?”
For the uninitiated, it may not be easy to resist such seemingly well-informed and aggressive tactics. My advice is that, if you don’t know much about computers, take someone shopping with you that does, if for nothing else than moral support in resisting the upsell.
If you are going to buy a new computer, and, indeed, anything these days, arm yourself with the will to resist the upsell techniques that you will most definitely encounter. For more education on the subject, go to Google and search for “upsell scams” and then, shop with resolve.