Surplus shop miserable tight sods

[jimbo75]

With the exception of a few decent stores that the bushcraft community know and trust, I am so sick to death of the miserable unwelcoming, refuse to haggle, can I help you? (As soon as you open the door), looking at you like your a nuisance, stroppy and unhelpful Army surplus stores...
is it something about the smell of the place or the constant flow of school kids trying to buy knives that drives them slowly insane? Or is it that they are struggling to make ends meet, and it's all everyone else fault (even though they sell at ridiculous high margins).
i work in a retail/trade shop myself, but is just don't get it?
so, I popped in my local shop, asking if they had any wool stuff or ex scandinavian stuff?.... No, they reply. I have a mooch round and find a beat up swedish M59 wool tunic! Result! And no price on it... Military mart sell them for a tenner.
How much I ask? Moody bloke disappears mumbling... Then comes back and says 20quid! (Crazy). I offer him a tenner, it's his last one, he didn't even know it was there... "No way he says, it cost me more than that to buy"...
you tight git I think to myself. You just lost a sale. He didn't even haggle... I'd have gone to 15 quid.
i walk out. What a waste of time.
idiot.

 

[mountainm]

Playing devil's advocate... What if it did cost him more than that to buy? Why should he sell it at a loss?

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[jimbo75]

He didn't know it was there... I specifically asked if he had one (swedish m39 clothing) and he said no. He was also a miserable sod.

 

[Wayne]

With the exception of a few decent stores that the bushcraft community know and trust, I am so sick to death of the miserable unwelcoming, refuse to haggle, can I help you? (As soon as you open the door), looking at you like your a nuisance, stroppy and unhelpful Army surplus stores...
is it something about the smell of the place or the constant flow of school kids trying to buy knives that drives them slowly insane? Or is it that they are struggling to make ends meet, and it's all everyone else fault (even though they sell at ridiculous high margins).
i work in a retail/trade shop myself, but is just don't get it?
so, I popped in my local shop, asking if they had any wool stuff or ex scandinavian stuff?.... No, they reply. I have a mooch round and find a beat up swedish M59 wool tunic! Result! And no price on it... Military mart sell them for a tenner.
How much I ask? Moody bloke disappears mumbling... Then comes back and says 20quid! (Crazy). I offer him a tenner, it's his last one, he didn't even know it was there... "No way he says, it cost me more than that to buy"...
you tight git I think to myself. You just lost a sale. He didn't even haggle... I'd have gone to 15 quid.
i walk out. What a waste of time.
idiot.

When was the last time you haggled over your grocery bill in a major supermarket?

Try asking Ryan air for a discount. Try to remember that these people are small businesses and aren't making a great deal.

Although the army surplus store I use is pretty friendly.

 

[boney gumbo mcgee]

As an aside, I have found Surplus & Outdoors, Varusteleka & many small ebay sellers just trying to make a living, and on the whole I have lucked out. Military Mart Swedish M59 Wool Tunic, add P&P. Not much in it really.http://www.militarymart.co.uk/swedish-6pkt-wool-tunic-jacket-m39.html

 

[santaman2000]

Haggling is for housewives.

 

[stonyman]

MASH at Innsworth Technology Park, Gloucester used to be great, sadly it has closed down, when it was in the large warehouse you could rummage around and if you found something and it didn't have a price on it

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[stonyman]

MASH at Innsworth Technology Park, Gloucester used to be great, sadly it has closed down, when it was in the large warehouse you could rummage around and if you found something and it didn't have a price on it you could make them an offer, they would haggle on some items.

Sadly now closed due to declining interest and not enough profit being made

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Sent from my Hudl HT7S3 using Tapatalk

 

[monkey boy]

With the exception of a few decent stores that the bushcraft community know and trust, I am so sick to death of the miserable unwelcoming, refuse to haggle, can I help you? (As soon as you open the door), looking at you like your a nuisance, stroppy and unhelpful Army surplus stores...
is it something about the smell of the place or the constant flow of school kids trying to buy knives that drives them slowly insane? Or is it that they are struggling to make ends meet, and it's all everyone else fault (even though they sell at ridiculous high margins).
i work in a retail/trade shop myself, but is just don't get it?
so, I popped in my local shop, asking if they had any wool stuff or ex scandinavian stuff?.... No, they reply. I have a mooch round and find a beat up swedish M59 wool tunic! Result! And no price on it... Military mart sell them for a tenner.
How much I ask? Moody bloke disappears mumbling... Then comes back and says 20quid! (Crazy). I offer him a tenner, it's his last one, he didn't even know it was there... "No way he says, it cost me more than that to buy"...
you tight git I think to myself. You just lost a sale. He didn't even haggle... I'd have gone to 15 quid.
i walk out. What a waste of time.
idiot.

It wasn't in Camberley was it?

 

[Rabbitsmacker]

I tried to sell a bit of surplus on eBay, and had been a retail manager for over 10 years, and its bloody hard graft, insane pressures and people expecting you to give it away. Then you have to deal with missed deliveries, rearranged deliveries, suppliers not supplying the right stuff and then qc'ing the second hand stock, repairing some of it, photographing it, listing it, describing it, answering never ending questions about sizes and measurements, people wanting to haggle, people saying they haven't received it, damaged in post items, fees. I was working five days a week on the high street as manager and the rest of the time I had to fit all that in!
There is so much surplus out there that prices are tight, asking fir a deal is a bit of slap in the face, and also a lot of the sellers don't know what half the stuff is anyway. Don't be too hard on them. Yes a lot of army shops I go in fall well below the standard, but most didn't envision all the rubbish that goes with selling largely a second hand product and its pitfalls. Pinch of salt mate.

 

[Toddy]

That post deserves rep

M

 

[Corso]

I so dont agree with haggling at all.

I remember a few years back helping out at a carboot sale - the amount of grief I got was unreal and I promised myself i'd never do it again

one idiot wanted to haggle on a pair of un-worn italian leather shoes - I think they were up for a tenner he wanted them for £4 because they wouldn't fit him...

 

[xairbourne]

(Haggling is for housewives.)

I always haggle - do you do Police discount? Do you do student discount? How about your staff discount then? Round it up less for cash? Sometimes it works sometime it doesn’t.
But if you don’t ask you don’t get!

 

[xairbourne]

This is where my haggling skills come from - [video]https://youtu.be/1xpzyk8Uo3E[/video]

 

[Tonyuk]

You could of said you saw it elsewhere cheaper and asked for their closest price too that, more than likely you would have got something off. Another thing is getting to know the staff. I've been going to the same butcher for years now, and always get a good price on items because he knows i'll be coming back regularly, different to surplus i know but useful for other things.

Tonyuk

 

[slowworm]

When was the last time you haggled over your grocery bill in a major supermarket?

In a roundabout sort of way all the time. I can choose between four shops and if I go to one for a few weeks one of the others tends to send me weekly vouchers for between 10-20% off. Last year I almost always had them.

My local surplus shop had problems getting the right stock in, plenty of rubbish new stuff but with something as common as UK surplus 34 inch waist trousers they never had any in stock. I think they've now closed down.

 

[Old Bones]

is it something about the smell of the place or the constant flow of school kids trying to buy knives that drives them slowly insane? Or is it that they are struggling to make ends meet, and it's all everyone else fault

i work in a retail/trade shop myself, but is just don't get it?

I know what you mean. To be fair, my (very) local suplus shop is very helpful, and prices are often very keen, but suplus shops often dont seem to help themselves (mine isn't on the net, and doesn't even take cheques any more, never mind cards). Thanks to the net, its possible to find out thewholesale/market price of something from your phone, so coming up with an eye wateringly high price off the top of someones head is just counterproductive.

And the reality is that they are essentially selling second hand goods. Thats OK, but be realistic in pricing, and recognise that the market has changed for clothes. 25 years ago. I would buy surplus for going on a excavation (and so would everybody else, which gave a flavour of a highly disorganised paramilitary unit). Now, for about a tenner, I can buy some cargo pants from Primark, which are not in camo (try going to a neighbours barbecue is DPM camo, and see what looks you get). Or For about £13 you can get some decent trousers in Tool Station or Screwfix, and less than that at Aldi (I got a load for £3.99 - great value).

So selling knackered C95 jackets at silly prices isn't really go to fly any more. I'm not sure about haggling, but its a business where the price is not always the price - its not Tesco's. I totally agree about haggling in the high street - just sad. I blame Money Saving Expert and the like. Frankly, customers can be very odd - we now have charge 5p for a bag, but you'd be amazed at the people demanding you give one free (the law says no), even though they'v just spent £1200 on a macbook.

I also work in retail, and most surplus shops look awful. Frankly, the average charity shop looks like Harrods compared with the bulk of them. My local one is very small, and crammed with stuff. Ok for a rummage, but not customer friendly to someone in a hurry. Most surplus stores smell of surplus, and look like a military jumble sale. Grotty is generally the look, with homemade signs, a front window that hasn't be changed since 1985, often crude fittings (or 5th hand) and camoflague netting everywhere (why?). The changing rooms, if they have one, tend to be on the crude side.

My local people are very nice, but a lot are really rude and unpleasent (the bloke in Poole carried on swearing and being crudely sexist at the top of his voice, even though he could see I had my kids with me - not going there again), and they seem to have never walked into another shop, so carry on in a way which no chain retailer would allow.

There are some really great surplus stores, but most are pants, and even the best ones could be better. I work part time for a retailer which is known to be 'posh', so I'm used to decent shop fittings, good display and layout, and a focus on customer service. But just going around somewhere like TKMaxx (which is basically selling stuff which is surplus), you could see what a surplus store could look and feel like if they thought about it. Decent racking, no camo nets, proper shelving, and room to look. And knowing what they have in stock. Shopping shouldn't be like going to a jumble sale.

Loads of suplus stores have gone to the wall - the internet has changed everything, and rents are high. I like my local store, because I can try stuff on, ask questions, and have a good rummage. But if your rubbish, I wont be going again. If a store wants to survive, they need to give the customer the sort of experience they could expect elsewhere.

 

[nic a char]

"carboot sale - the amount of grief I got was unreal and I promised myself i'd never do it again"
Memories, memories...
Eventually I learned to say "no thanks" and then look elsewhere - to avoid the aghast faces they pulled somehow hoping that would work.

 

[nic a char]

"I always haggle - do you do Police discount?" = good one!!!

 

[adestu]

I always go for a deal
I'll always ask if an outlet for outdoor gear will price match. In fact I'll be doing just that on Saturday for some buffalo tops.
Ive blagged free breakfasts at hotels before.the small pots of jam from hotels because i wanted the jars.ive recently got a mobile phone signal booster free from Vodafone instead of paying 50 quid for it.
You dont ask you dont get