Atlanta Retailers Target Frugal Consumers with Lower Dollar Store Prices
Since when are low prices not always a good thing? Since stores began using them as a marketing tactic to get low-end consumers to spend more money.
With many shoppers limited by tight budgets, retailers have started offering selections of smaller-quantity products at rock-bottom prices in an effort to lure consumers away from dollar tree stores, which have been doing big business in recent tough economic times, according to the New York Times. The reduced prices are both a boon and a burden for customers with limited funds, say Atlanta bankruptcy attorneys.
Sure, it's true that shoppers can buy more necessities - things like cereal, shampoo and toilet paper - for less money each month. Stretching every last cent is a big deal when you're almost out of cash and payday is still a few days away. Not only that, but when discount stores like Wal-Mart reduce prices, you can often buy more of the items on your shopping list in one place, eliminating separate runs to the grocery store and drugstore, for instance.
But that's where the benefits end. Unfortunately, stores aren't in the business of offering charity - they're in the business of making money. Most of these new, lower-priced products also happen to be very small in size. Rather than buy a $3 shampoo bottle that will last six months, stores know that short-on-cash customers will buy a $1 bottle, even if it only lasts one month. Of course, at that rate, consumers end up spending more money over time. Stores also know that consumers generally prefer to buy several $1 items rather than one more expensive item, even if we don't really need the extra things. It's false value - we feel like we're getting more bang for our buck, when we'd really save money by avoiding "bargains" and sticking to our shopping list.
In summary, lower prices can help shoppers save money - but they can also cause more problems than they solve. Often, the trouble isn't that things cost too much, but that we don't have enough money because so much of our paycheck is going to pay the bills. Lowering credit card debt, medical debt, loans and other obligations is a guaranteed way to free up more money each month. Bankruptcy is an effective way to make that happen. Find out if bankruptcy can make freeing yourself from debt affordable when you try a complimentary one-on-one debt analysis with an Atlanta bankruptcy attorney.