Interview with author of Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture Special

Cheap: the High Cost of Discount Culture presents an alternative view to conventional buy-cheap philosophy. As Publishers Weekly wrote, the book "analyzes the psychology of pricing and demonstrates how retailers manipulate subconscious bargain triggers that affect even the most knowing consumers." To find out more I set up an email interview with the author, Ellen Ruppel Shell. BE Your book, Cheap: the High Cost of Discount Culture contradicts the bargain mentality that seems to dominate society, and thus possibly contentious, what feedback have you received about the book? ERS Most people seem to sense that so-called discount culture has led us astray, and are interested in finding out the how’s and why’s. Readers are responding very positively, and CHEAP has garnered mostly glowing reviews. BE Why did you decide to tackle this subject?

ERS This subject combines many things I look for when considering a project—it’s important, timely, highly visible, has a fascinating history and also a technical component (psychology and the mathematics of markdowns) that appealed to me. Bargain shopping is a universal tradition—and the determination to get the “best deal” for oneself is close to a biological imperative. But I wondered—as do many people who’ve found themselves losing traction in today’s marketplace—what all those so-called bargains were getting us. Researching and writing CHEAP answered those questions for me, and, I hope, for readers as well. BE Can the damage that has been done by buying cheap be undone and if so how?

ERS Yes, we can do much to push back the negative impact of discount fever. We can become truly frugal—sometimes even choosing high quality second hand goods over low quality new goods. We can chose to patronize local merchants whenever reasonable to do so—especially those who offer good quality at reasonable (rather than inflated) prices. We can demand service, and be willing to pay a little more for it, understanding that in many (though not all) cases expertise will guide us to make better long term purchasing decisions, and save us both headaches and money. And we can start to look beyond low prices-everyday or otherwise—to seek value—that is, search out and demand quality for our precious dollars. To that end we might require retailers to label all consumer goods with the country of origin, and maybe even insist that they name individual suppliers on their web sites. That way we can have a clearer idea not only of the quality of the merchandise we buy, but also of the quality of the life of the folks who made that merchandise.