Two-Foot Wooden Optimus Prime Sign at Hobby Lobby, Plus Online Sale

Qwan wrote:Why is the price so low on that, you may well ask? The answer ties into our second piece of news - it appears that Hobby Lobby is currently running some form of sale on a couple of their Transformers-themed items. Both this sign, and an also-available metal sign featuring six iconic characters (Optimus, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave), are reduced to 50% of their usual price - that's why the usually-$35 wooden sign is down to a little over 17 dollars. The sale is described as "Select Group of Home Accents Always 50% off the Marked Price*" (there's no matching asterisk elsewhere on the page) so it's a little unclear when or if the sale will end, or even whether the same applies in actual stores.

Cyrano wrote:

Qwan wrote:Why is the price so low on that, you may well ask? The answer ties into our second piece of news - it appears that Hobby Lobby is currently running some form of sale on a couple of their Transformers-themed items. Both this sign, and an also-available metal sign featuring six iconic characters (Optimus, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave), are reduced to 50% of their usual price - that's why the usually-$35 wooden sign is down to a little over 17 dollars. The sale is described as "Select Group of Home Accents Always 50% off the Marked Price*" (there's no matching asterisk elsewhere on the page) so it's a little unclear when or if the sale will end, or even whether the same applies in actual stores.

The item isn’t actually on sale and the price isn’t low.

“Always 50% off” means exactly that. The product is never actually sold at “full” price. It’s a scheme Hobby Lobby has been doing for years and been taken to court over more than once. It tricks the consumer into thinking they’re getting a sweet deal. A very dishonest business model.

A settled suit from New York in 2014:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hobby-lobby-false-advertising-settlement-20140612-story.html

A class action suit in California last year:
https://www.classaction.org/blog/new-class-action-claims-hobby-lobby-advertises-fictitious-discount-prices

Also, does it bug anyone else that the closeup of Prime’s left arm has a little dashed line leading to his right arm on the full body illustration? I can’t unsee it, gah.

Cyrano wrote:

Qwan wrote:Why is the price so low on that, you may well ask? The answer ties into our second piece of news - it appears that Hobby Lobby is currently running some form of sale on a couple of their Transformers-themed items. Both this sign, and an also-available metal sign featuring six iconic characters (Optimus, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Megatron, Starscream and Soundwave), are reduced to 50% of their usual price - that's why the usually-$35 wooden sign is down to a little over 17 dollars. The sale is described as "Select Group of Home Accents Always 50% off the Marked Price*" (there's no matching asterisk elsewhere on the page) so it's a little unclear when or if the sale will end, or even whether the same applies in actual stores.

The item isn’t actually on sale and the price isn’t low.

“Always 50% off” means exactly that. The product is never actually sold at “full” price. It’s a scheme Hobby Lobby has been doing for years and been taken to court over more than once. It tricks the consumer into thinking they’re getting a sweet deal. A very dishonest business model.

A settled suit from New York in 2014:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hobby-lobby-false-advertising-settlement-20140612-story.html

A class action suit in California last year:
https://www.classaction.org/blog/new-class-action-claims-hobby-lobby-advertises-fictitious-discount-prices

Also, does it bug anyone else that the closeup of Prime’s left arm has a little dashed line leading to his right arm on the full body illustration? I can’t unsee it, gah.