Editors note: Alex muses over the noise of shopping now and wonders what it will be like in years to come!
Common haggling and bargaining for goods is a practice long since instinct in our parts of the world. Today shop assistants can do as little as point at a sign or price tag and smile sarcastically, and the customer has to obey to whatever is displayed. I, of course agree with set prices for the foods we buy. If everyone was to debate the true value of items over the counter we’d spend whole afternoons waiting to be served, and it would give people cause to be even noisier and more disrespectful in shops. But some figures don’t quite compute with me. Some prices probably should be haggled down to something more reasonable.
“£8 for 250grammes of mince meat?” I begged the question to myself as I strolled up the aisle gazing at the shelves. I gave myself no decipherable reply but for a grumble as the answer was obvious, “This price is too high for me!”
Instead what I do when I’m shopping for bits and pieces I wait for the items to seemingly haggle themselves down in price magically by being reduced after a certain hour in the day. It can be like winning a prize at a carnival when I see something really tasty halved in price. Or I may find something very useful to my cooking habits that I’d usually deem as too expensive, therefore opting for cheaper items, but now with it being reduced I would fling it into my basket like Gollum discovering a precious ring. “No one else is getting hold of this!” I say under my breath, often disturbing passersby.
Sadly there is a downside to all this clever-clogs purchasing. Last week I reluctantly threw away 3 delicious fruity yoghurts that had gone several days out of date because I bought the bulk-pack cheaper and much closer to its sell-by-date. Another example recently is I bought a few beers to enjoy with the football on television that had been re-packaged with sellotape and reduced. Later that evening I discovered one of the cans was missing half of its contents, probably leaked or just evaporated out of boredom. This proves my method to be faulty for there often is a reason why the price has been dropped. You can imagine my excitement being short lived, and I don’t even have the grounds to complain one bit, and that surely isn’t fair.
My other thoughts on food shopping this week are as to what lies in the distant future. In a hundred years I’d like it to be similar to something you’d find in science fiction, with a Zen atmosphere in all shops as you hover from section to section. Things wouldn’t leak or break. There wouldn’t be messy bits of packaging lying about. Everything would be clean, shiny and affordable so long as you’re polite and courteous. And most importantly, there wouldn’t be any small children relentlessly screaming at their parents as I’m trying to choose the best sauce to go with my heap of pasta (I like pasta). We could all get by without the stresses, and of course we’d be served by cheerful and eloquent robots, only that would really increase unemployment figures…
The reality is retail will probably get more hectic over the years, not less. The robots idea could work but they’d only malfunction by trying to scan the individual vegetables. My only real hope is for a Zen atmosphere some day, as I’m a person who likes to shop carefully and softly. I don’t like to rush in and grab what I think I need. I like to know what I’m doing and compare prices as I move along, making sure I don’t become a nuisance by getting in the way. It’s the only way you can be observant and clever with your funds. If everyone shopped like this then we’d all be calm, quiet and considerate. I think…
photo credit: I-5 Design & Manufacture via photopin cc
Companies like FreshDirect have provided interesting insight into the future of shopping (even for perishables). Interested to see what comes next.
Food is tricky because there is a spoilage date! My wife buys produce that is ready to use which means it is cheaper. It works for us because we have weekly menus and everything is well planned. I have successfully negotiated with retail stores over the years. I look for a reason for the retailer to want to negotiate and I am usually successful. For example, I bought a flat screen TV with a 40% discount because they said they would price match.
Yea, the price match seems like the modern form of “haggling” where you can pit other stores against each other to get the best price. You can still haggle if you go to farmers markets or local farm stores though.
Do you have a local market? Ours will sell as little as one sausage and it’s a boon for people living alone.
I do tend to buy things like fruit and veg by numbers – the weight can vary so much by size.
I presume you share my annoyance at the insistence of supermarkets selling things like chops in threes?
I can hear your groan from over the hills. 😉
For most of us shopping is less Zen. Busy lives and families mean a balance of “bargains” and “speed”.
So I have slowly removed myself from the “consumerism” of supermarkets – we only buy fruit / veg and dairy and spend about £18 per week.
Everything else is bought online at a bargain price point with wine / beer / bread products/ cheese / yoghurt / preserves /canned goods made at home. A few minutes every day in being my own processor has driven my spends down and driven me out of the major supermarkets.
What I am saying is …………. you could opt out if you are looking for zen bake some bread,make some pasta sauce….. don’t spend the money.
I completely understand your strategy and share your methods. I too have experienced the occasional bag of carrots that were past their prime. Look carefully before buying the mark downs, they may end up in the trash.
When my in-laws were new the US, they tried haggling in department stores, which you could do in China (and still can in some stores!). I definitely makes shopping take far longer, but it’s an interesting counter to our system of sales. It’s like you’re your own sale, if you’re a good haggler!