But the more you know about how sales work, the less you might be inclined to pat yourself on the back. Johnson came up with the idea of scrapping the ruse of coupons and sales and switching to everyday low prices. "Just looking at the sales price next to a ‘regular' price gave them some indication that they were making a smart decision. "If the anchor price was never available to consumers, there's no real sale, and so the sale price is deceptive," Walker writes. I’m hosting an online discussion about sneaky sales ploys at noon Eastern time on Dec. 20 at washingtonpost.com/discussions.

Source: Washington Post December 11, 2018 20:48 UTC