Investing  |  DEC 2001

Working Money: $10 Price Tags On $5 Shirts by Bruce Faber

Working Money: $10 Price Tags On $5 Shirts by Bruce Faber Beware of the rampant ripoffs in retail! “Put the $10 price tags on the $5 shirts and we’ll mark them down to $7 for the sale.” That was the caption on a cartoon I saw in a magazine about 50 years ago. It made a lasting impression on me. These days, friends who want to to buy something ask me where they can get the best value for their money, which in turn makes me even more aware of the ripoffs rampant in the retail world. Scams are nothing new. They have probably been happening since the hunter in the next cave promised a fat T-Rex but delivered a skinny velociraptor instead. In those days, the scamming was limited to a small group at most, and the scammed knew how and where to administer their grievances, which surely had a limiting influence. Things are different now. The technology available to the scammers of today makes almost anyone with a computer, a fax machine, or even a phone potential fodder for the unscrupulous scum on Commerce River. These “fool” makers of the electronic business era are eager to sell us their overpriced goods. Worse, they are good at it. FAMILIAR SCENARIOS In the following scenarios, the names have been changed to protect the duped:

by Bruce R. Faber