Thursday, May 22, 2008

MEA CULPA



I feel guilty.
I went supermarket shopping today and they had a wine sale on. I bought a lot of wine at ridiculously low prices.
Why do I feel guilty? Because I know that these guys are brand-fuckers, destroying the brand equity by heavily discounting to between $6 and $12 a bottle (below their cost in some cases).
Whose equity were they smashing this time? - Selaks, Nobilo, Shingle Peak, Taylors, Mortons, Seifried, Ngatarawa, Wolf Blass, Villa Maria to name a few and because some of these were 'clearance' lines with discounts like "now $17, was $31" I took advantage like a good little robot shopper.

6 comments:

THE WINE GUY said...

OK Mr holier-than-thou, don't go down to Woolworths and buy some cheap Chardonnay
(but if you do buy up all of the Selaks Founders Reserve Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2006 at $17.07 a bottle)

Anonymous said...

Non lo so
R (of you know where)

Anonymous said...

A Roman Catholic priest once told me (in a confessional!) that a price sticker on a product is legally binding and a contract to sell at that price. You did well!

THE WINE GUY said...

Mmm, Robert, the things you get up to in confessionals.
Actually the omnipotence that is supposed to flow through to the RC Priest was faulty and has not taken into consideration the contract law of Offer and Acceptance.
An offer to sell is not made by merely putting a price sticker on a product, it is merely an invitation to a consumer to offer to buy that product. The acceptance is in the shopkeeper honouring the transaction - he is in his right to refuse. This covers shopkeepers from innocent mistakes or fraudulent actions by consumers. If a shopkeeper deliberately tries to hoodwink consumers by advertising wrong prices to get them to come into his store this is covered by other laws.
In the case of the Selaks Founders Reserve Chardonnay 2006, this is not mistaken stickering, it is because Woolworths/Foodtown are deliberately clearing out this stock (a multi-gold medal winning wine and absolutely fabulous.

Anonymous said...

"An offer to sell is not made by merely putting a price sticker on a product, it is merely an invitation to a consumer to offer to buy that product."

What if I just put $5 petrol in my tank and the attendent says he wants to negotiate?
What if "the grumpy old man" goes to the chemist to get his prescription for flatulance and the chemist says lets barter?

THE CURMUDGEON said...

1. The attendant can syphon out the petrol from your tank (i know as I was once a petrol pump attendant
2. No chemist assistant would win the argument if I started farting, I tell you Matey!