[Latheesh]

99.99% (or more) people you deal with try to fleece you (including friends and relatives). Do your research and spend wisely. Stop impulse buying unless it is really important. Sometimes I know that people/companies are trying to fleece me but pay for it because I may not enjoy that product/service fullest at later stage.

[meerkat]

Originally Posted by saket77

For all branded items, I check the prices at e-retailers like Amazon and Flipkart and I think they are a good benchmark.

From my recent experience: I purchased a torch from 'Syska' (a brand known well enough) from Flipkart at Rs. 86/- (the MRP printed on the package was Rs. 120/-). The same item is offered on Amazon by a seller at Rs. 160/-, supposedly discounted from an MRP of Rs. 180/- !!! And this is just one instance of many. It's funny how 'the world's most customer-centric company' doesn't consider it to be their responsibility to rein in such rogue sellers! Heck, even Cloudtail offers a platform to such sellers! This, of course, is not to suggest that Flipkart is much better!

Another "branded" example (offline this time): I purchased a pair of shoes from a Bata store at what I thought at the time to be a good discounted price. I found out later that the MRP stamped on the shoes was an inflated one (is that even allowed to be done at the store level?!) from the regular price that was still stamped as such at other Bata shops nearby, so my actual 'gain' was next to nothing! No, the price didn't increase, -- the actual lower price prevailed for months since!

Originally Posted by Fx14

... some years ago, some vendors used to illegally charge a couple of Rs. Extra above the MRP for a "cold" cold drink stating that it was the refrigeration charge.

This was subsequently penalized and also a condition stipulated that products with a differential in pricing due to specific circumstances carry a printed notification on the product "specifically packaged for ****" with the specific different MRP.

This flouting of the "MRP" happens all the time in smaller shops all around me in my tier II town, and nobody is ever penalized by anybody! This happens especially for things like Amul products which supposedly have "unreasonably low commission", so it boils down to "take it at the asked price or leave it"!

But of course, the "MRP" is fiction anyway! Another offline example (pre-Covid):

I regularly purchased frozen vegetables from a local distributor (who also serves retail customers). The sweet peas price was Rs. 110/kg to me (MRP 190/kg)! Once I happened to find out that the invoiced price to local shops was only Rs. 95/kg ! When I asked, I was told that that was the wholesale price to shops. Fair enough! But the point is, the retailers (even large ones, like Big Bazaar) typically sell those at MRP, -- i.e. at a cool 100% margin!

Originally Posted by dragonfire

... the govt mandated printing of an MRP which includes the taxes. But then taxes varied from state to state and for ease, the manufacturers print the maximum possible price on the products.

The MRP need not be uniform nationwide, -- it can and does vary from state to state.

Originally Posted by Shreyas Agarwal

Now I take this 98k deal to the Reliance digital and they are also ready to sell it to me for 98k and to better his deal they offer Extended warranty for 5 years and 1 year insurance as well. These are the same people whose best deal with all possible discounts was 1,24,900

Depends on the store manager too, I guess! For me, Reliance Digital wasn't even willing to price-match Samsung online store prices for an MWO, let alone Amazon or Flipkart! The manager took pity on me, and agreed to price-match only for the display model! Needless to say, I walked out and ended up buying from Amazon, who were selling at the Samsung online price. Samsung ran out of stock for a few days, but I couldn't wait (and ended up forgetting all about a possible 5% additional discount through HDFC SmartBuy )!
.

[jithin23]

Originally Posted by Fx14

IIRC some years ago, some vendors used to illegally charge a couple of Rs. Extra above the MRP for a "cold" cold drink stating that it was the refrigeration charge.

This was subsequently penalized and also a condition stipulated that products with a differential in pricing due to specific circumstances carry a printed notification on the product "specifically packaged for ****" with the specific different MRP.

This exists only in paper. In reality, I had to pay extra 10 above mrp for a bottle of water. I even tweeted about it and it was of no use. This incident happened a month ago

[highway_star]

I think the firecracker industry was a pioneer in printing MRP at levels that made it meaningless. Long ago before the online shopping era, most products in shops were sold at or around the MRP. However even at that time crackers for Diwali were sold at 1/2 or 1/3 of the given MRP.

[Electromotive]

Today, was a good show. Dalal Street's attempt at price discovery of Paytm shares.
May be some some people learnt a lesson.
All those cashbacks over the years, GONE!