I was talking to a friend of mine that's trying to get her business up and running. She gives out special "gifts" and "coupons" and things to get people to at least look at her stuff. She said she's been appalled at the way people try to talk her into giving them more free gifts and coupons and they say "I won't tell anyone else".

How many times have we expected our friends in business to give us special discounts or freebies? Do we try to talk people into giving us discounts?

Don't think this applies to you? Where do you shop? Do you shop at the cheapest stores? Do you complain about the prices in other stores?

Our Christian Bookstores all went out of business because the big name bookstores came in with Christian sections with cheaper prices. If you are a business owner trying to pay your help living wages and giving them full time hours and benefits - uhm, where does that money come from? We complain about having to pay for stuff but then we turn around and complain that jobs don't pay well enuf.

We are so spoiled rotten!

Off my soapbox now.

Well, just to present the other side of this issue:

When I choose where to shop, I am not giving anyone a handout - but paying for services & values that I consider worth my money, and competetively priced. If I choose to give a donation, I like to consider that separately from my purchasing choices.

I don't think it is a particularly good idea to pay more than I need to, unless there is a compelling reason. I find that quite often the family owned places treat their employees no better, and sometimes worse, than the big corporations.

I choose to grocery shop at Aldi's - they are the cheapest grocery by far in our area. They also pay better and have better working conditions than the more expensive places (by more expensive, I include W*l-Mart!).

I was raised to think that good management of money (stewardship in the fullest sense of the word) was a virtue to cultivate. Spending extra at a retail store means that those dollars aren't available for more important uses.

I've noticed that there is a current trend to disguise self-indulgence as "green" "organic" "local" or some other trendy term, when too often what we're really wanting is to buy the best, most upscale things for our own consumption. After all, when we donate to the third world or to the poor in our own community do we shop "green" or "organic" for THEM? (Yes, I have ONE friend who does, but when I look around the food pantry at the donations, almost none of them are the upscale, organic & green items that people buy for their own pantries)

Not saying your points aren't correct, Sis, but just that these issues can be very complex, and there might be more than one right, moral answer.

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

Yes, guilty as charged! I have experienced this myself this week. I was looking for a book that I couldn't find anywhere. I visited this old book store that has been open since the early 70's. I hadn't been in it in forever. Of course she had the book I was looking for, the only catch, it was double the price of Walmart. I could have ordered from Amazon and saved $15 by the time I purchased the trilogy. I complained, and she said, "I know-but I'm barely making it now." I felt BAD! I went back and bought books 2 and 3 and sent 2 friends in for the books as well and shared on fb that she had them in. Today she was sold out. She said her 2nd shipment would be in Friday. She just bubbled when she thanked me for business. It's worth the extra $ to support her. And a neat thing that I loved about her store is her used books. She'll buy your used books for used books credit only. Kind of a neat way to read books and not have books piling up.

I will be shopping there from now on. Cook books, bird books, magazines ect...

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“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”
― Mother Teresa

And another look - we had a local Christian bookstore that recently moved out of the building it was in to a smaller and less-expensive place. It's not what it used to be at all. Just a little hole in the wall.
The problem was - when it was in the larger building, it ended up selling more Christian gifts and knick-knacks than anything. Getting/ordering books was hard. Cds and dvds almost non-existent. So, I would order online. I realize we need to support the smaller stores and I really am willing to do so. However, customer service is so very important. And that goes for small and big stores.

I don't think I would ever ask for extra discounts or coupons. That's just rude, whether it's a friend or not.

There's only one grocery store here, so I shop there. Well, I think there's a smaller grocery store, but why am I going to shop where the selection is smaller and the prices are higher? That just doesn't make sense, lol. For other things, we go to the local businesses, which are a little more expensive than other places, but we save money in gas from not having to travel. If I know I can get something cheaper online or somewhere else, I get it there.

I do feel bad for smaller businesses that go out of business when the big chains come in, but unless I'm really loyal to a person and their business, I'm going after the affordable prices. We have a Walmart being built here, so we can pretty much say goodbye to all the little businesses here.

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Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).

Well, I am an owner of a start-up business. Although I have offered discounts to friends, no one has asked for them.
I HAVE to price my products based on the internet--plus shipping. There are a few products sold by large internet dealers that are LESS than my wholesale price. I just cannot compete with that, and only stock a little bit of that.
And I know I need to base my business on good service. I have struggled with poor service from internet based businesses, so I know it from the consumer end. I have to give my customers a reason to come to me.
At the moment, I barely make enough to cover expenses. I figure it will be at least another year before I can pay myself. Luckily, I enjoy it, and I can be in my store and babysit the grandkids at the same time, so it is worth it. But some day I WILL have to make a profit.
And I almost never darken the door of Walmart. Not everything there is cheaper, and the whole experience puts me off. I did go in there last week, to buy ribbon for a project with my granddaughters. After locking up 3 of the self-check lanes--the ribbon was on sale and locked the machine when entered. I did have an employee that kept telling me to go to a different lane. Finally, the checking station charged me for 5 packages of ribbon and I only had 4. I told the employee to stay right there while I ran and got a 5th ribbon spool. I was not about to waste any more precious time with checkouts that would not work. And no the employee never offered to ring it up herself, just help me with the self-check. ARGH!!! I am more than happy to spend more where I can get SERVICE!

I agree about Walmart - it is one of the most expensive places I shop, and has some dreadful service. Once when I was there (before 9/11, BTW), a little boy with Down's syndrome was lost there. His name was Mohammed. The clerk refused to page his parents when I brought him to the desk because she wouldn't *SAY HIS NAME* over the intercom! (She did allow *me* to use the intercom to page the boy's family).

As for the politeness or impoliteness of bargaining - well, it depends largely on your cultural roots. For Anglo-Saxon Americans it is sometimes seen as rude. But for American people with roots in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, etc, it is the normal way business is done.

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

I guess it is a store to store consideration. The only day to day complaint I have with our Wal*mart is too few lanes open at times. Maybe our employees are just nicer/more accomodating, but we have good service at ours. We shop at Wal*mart and one other grocery store in town. The other store has much better produce and meat, so when we need those we do our shopping there. When we need clothing/toiletries... we shop Wal*mart for those. Many of our small businesses offer things I don't want/need, so although I am a big supporter of small business/family owned stores, rarely shop in them unless they have what I'm looking for.

The more I go to Wal Mart, the more I know why I DON'T go to Wal Mart! It is a rare experience for me. The prices are not that great, and the service is usually lousy. Plus I have to drive at least 25 miles (one way) to get to one. It's not worth it!

My little bitty one-horse town just got a super dollar general store. It is nice and neat, not very big, but has all the basics I need - from lettuce to undies! The prices are better than Wal Mart, too, plus it is less than 3 miles from my house! And everyone there is SOOO nice, friendly and helpful.

I am also loyal to my pharmacist - a privately owned pharmacy, rather than a chain. His prices are competitive, and I love when I walk in, I am greeted by name. Good customer service is worth what you pay for!

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I can do ALL things through Christ, who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13)

Amen to that!