Handbags   (The sad, the bad and the ugly. Non-productive stuff here.)

They used to be in January didn't they.

That was more understandable: destocking what did not sell over Christmas selling period.

But maybe reductions prior to Christmas, (when they are genuine) are of more use to us. I don't know, what do others think?

But, who is to say what the true value of an item might be?
Just look at rail tickets: vastly different prices for the same journey!

What economists call elasticity of demand comes into consideration: whether you get greater revenue from lower volume sales at higher prices, or conversely higher volume sales at lower prices. Something which can be very variable, even for the same item over time.

Sellers will want to get £100 from the customer who is prepared to pay that amount, but will still wish to shift stock at lower prices to customers who are not willing to pay that much.

Then, of course there is the psychology of conning customers into impulse buying , believing that they are making savings, where in reality, maybe they are not.