Outlet Malls

Now that the holiday shopping season is in full force, we at Savvy Student want our readers to know some important secrets involved with many of our favorite shopping destinations. When it comes to outlet stores there are a lot of tricks that retailers make pushing you to spend more. Retailers use holiday sales and bargain prices to entice you, making you believe you are saving.. but in reality, you might be spending more than you realize or more that you budgeted for because of these incentives to buy.

Outlet malls are great places to shop, but you also have to be weary of some of the ways they take advantage of you. Did you ever think about how outlet malls are placed in the middle of nowhere? Not only is there an advantage in real estate costs, but the fact that a person has to make an effort to go to the stores makes it more likely that they will spend more money. Your time and effort to reach these stores is usually more than if you were going to a regular shopping mall and the outlet stores know this. Many outlets are also missing the conveniences of benches or restaurants to allow you to rest, meaning more of your time will be spent going in and out of stores, spending more money.

Another important piece of information is, branding. Many retailers such as Coach and Gap make their own outlet brand, however, the quality is not as good as it's non-outlet counterpart. So, sometimes what you're saving isn't actually saving at all.

We hope now, that before you run to the outlet malls to make all of your holiday purchases, you will think twice, not only about what you're buying, but what you're spending your money on. What may seem like a real deal might be worth less than it seems.

Seasons Greetings,

Savvy Student