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In an offensive campaign, the Ark bookstore chain cuts 40 percent of the anticipated price of various games and toys. There is good reason for skepticism, critical voices claim.
The old classic Monopoly has been reduced from 600 to 360 crowns, and several games have been reduced by several hundred crowns.
But a little check with the market shows that Ark’s offerings are largely in line with regular competitor prices, or slightly lower, even after a 40 percent discount. Some games are cheaper elsewhere, even when Ark has a promotion. Monopoly, for example, gets almost 100 kronor cheaper from a competitor.
A price check of ten games shows that the previous prices Ark claims in the campaign are on average 32 percent higher than the second most expensive alternative. Therefore, Ark’s normal prices are consistently at least a third higher than the average in the online store market.
The online newspaper found these prices when we checked the market this week:
– Useless discount
– When I look at the price comparison, I immediately get the feeling that Ark is betting that people don’t check prices in other stores, says Rune Kaino Nikolaisen, who runs the website gjerrigknark.com.
In Nettavisen’s review of ten games Ark offers, the lowest prices of the competitors are never anywhere near Ark’s previous prices. Price history, on the other hand, shows that games can almost always be purchased at prices close to Ark’s sale price or cheaper.
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Based on prisjakt.no’s price history, which shows the lowest price at all times, the Monopoly game has not had a lower price higher than 350 crowns since 2010. As a general rule of thumb, the price is just under 300 crowns, often around 200 crowns, and this summer you can buy the Monopoly game for 119 crowns from a competitor.
Nikolaisen encourages people not to trust percentage offers:
– It does not help anything with a 40 percent discount when the previous price seems to be through the roof. Instead, check the prices and shop around, says Nikolaisen.
I have refs
In the fall of 2018, Ark was reprimanded by the Norwegian Consumer Agency for misleading marketing. Then the bookstore chain had a campaign in which board games and puzzles were sold for 50 percent of the recommended price.
The audit concluded that the marketing was misleading because Ark could not provide sufficient documentation that the indicative prices were actual comparative prices in the market.
– We reviewed the documentation and established measures to ensure that the marketing was in accordance with the law. They were compared with indicative prices, which was a price recommended by the supplier. But this is rarely used now and is often seen as misleading. The reason is that this requires that it can be documented that a significant part of the market is trading at this price. Therefore, the indicative price is little used now, says Jo Gjedrem, department director of the Norwegian Consumer Agency.
CHECK THE PRICE: – Don’t hang on the pre-price, but rather see what the competitors are selling the product for, encourages Jo Gjedrem, director of the Norwegian Consumer Agency.
Photo: Cf-wesenberg
After this, Ark has set the discount relative to its own previous prices, which are more realistic, Gjedrem believes. The law requires that one have had certain invoicing at this price in the period before the sale, so that the discount is considered real according to the Marketing Law.
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While there was previously a six-week rule, different industries are now evaluated differently and specifically in each case.
– There is a difference between a grand piano and tennis socks.
But the new EU rules may force the return of a more boxy set of rules, a certain number of weeks, suggests Gjedrem. He advises checking prices online, and also checking price history, so you can better assess whether the price is good.
– It is very important to look at the rejection and check the price in various places. Don’t hang up on the pre-price, but rather see which competitors are selling the item to.
Compare with other libraries
The current campaign is the third of the year, and the duration of the campaigns varies, says Kari Roll-Matthiesen, category director at Ark Bokhandel AS, in an email to Nettavisen.
– 7-8 weeks have passed between each campaign, in the time between them we have sold the merchandise at the usual price.
– Can you document previous Ark prices for a period of at least six weeks before the campaign?
– We have our systems to take care of this, yes – and we are absolutely sure that it has been more than six weeks between campaigns.
DEFEND THE DISCOUNT: – When we set our prices, we compare those of the industry we are in, that is, other bookstores or retailers with a large network of stores in Norway, says Kari Roll-Matthiesen, Category Director at Ark As.
Photo: private / Morten Solli
Roll-Matthiesen claims that the chain has sold at least 1000 copies of the Monopoly game at full price, NOK 600. Many competitors sell the game for less than 300 crowns throughout the year.
– Some people think that you trade with unusually high previous prices so that the offers look better than they really are when compared to the competition in the market. What do you think about it?
– We are concerned that our clients get what they imagine. When we set our prices, we compare them to the industry we are in, that is, other bookstores or retailers with a large network of stores in Norway. Providers also give us out-of-pocket recommended prices when we price and relate to our games. Prices in the market will always have some variation and we are concerned about being competitive, both online and in store, says Kari Roll-Matthiesen at Ark.
Cheaper online
Rune Nikolaisen at Gjerrigknark.com is a bit skeptical:
– If you can’t call it a scam, then it’s at least so a consumer can feel cheated quickly afterward, even if the chain at least has free shipping. I encourage people not to trust percentage bids, for example using PriceSpy and the Price Guide.
As the Nettavisen price survey shows, it can be profitable to buy a game or two when there is a campaign on Ark, but the fact that the prices are 40 percent off illustrates, first and foremost, that the normal price of games is tall in the bookstore.
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