I've just returned from lunch empty handed after checking out the stores for sales.

Clothing marked 40% off is not in my size and I already have plenty of towels and bed linen. TV sets are discounted but I already have 6 televisions, (because I bought them when they were on sale).

A bargain is only a bargain if we intended to pay the full price. It maybe 30%, 40% or even 60% off, but if you don't buy the items you don't need then you are saving 100%.

Has anyone really made a good buy these after Christmas sales?

Dear Steel Mann,

I've made a really good buy.

I was eyeing a handbag and purse set, prior to
Christmas that was around the $200+ range,
and I got it for $80 in the after Christmas
'sale.' It's a spectacular set, and I'm
absolutely delighted. Now all I need is to be
taken out to show it off... :)

Glad to hear you got what you wanted Foxy. That is a genuine saving because you wanted it anyway.

I usually wait until sales before buying items that I need such as clothing, bed linen and towels. These things are on sale at regular times through the year. I often find though that clothing on sale at reduced prices is never in my size. (I am a normal sized person).

I was looking around for and picked up a bargain at Harvey Norman in their refrigerator sale just before Christmas, $1350 for the same product being sold for $2200 at the Good Guys (who discounted to $1850 for cash).

Like most folk, I have enough TV and DVDs etc. I buy a new computer every two years, at the longest interval and always get best prices for those, the one thing I have not bought yet is another coffee maker... and think I will stay with the Instant,

Like Steel Mann observed, only so much bed linen and towels one can use...

It is only ever a "bargain" if you wanted it in the first place.

Personally, I am waiting for the Mortgagee auctions season of 2009, when the recession has biten... that will bring forth a few specials and me and my daughters are cashed up ready for that "bargain sale".

'Sales' are the biggest scam ever invented. Shops just roll out cheap stock they cant normally get people to buy (especially cheap, badly cut clothes and out-dated technology), say it's been discounted from a fictional price that is much highter and for some reason people suddenly want it.

True, a bargain is only a bargain when you need something and can wait for the sales.
All I bought in the sales is a Tshirt for my son for $25 which was 50% off the full price. I’m a little envious of Foxy’s handbag set though!

Col, I’m not trying to personally attack you but trying to find out where you’re coming from in case I miss something, but I find it quite upsetting when I read that someone intends to profit from someone else’s misery. It’s so vulture like to sit in a corner all cashed up waiting for someone to become the victim of a recession.

For a family to lose their house, perhaps at a loss, in a Mortgagee auction is a dreadful thing to happen.
I just wonder whether you find this ethical, just wondering about the reasoning behind this idea of making profit.