5 Types of Shops That Are Always On Sale In Malaysia

Malaysians just love to love sales, don’t we? There’s always some big sale going on nationwide at almost any point in time like the 1Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival, Hari Raya Sale, Year-End Sale…. In fact, KL has been crowned fourth best for shopping by CNN. The article stated: “KL’s impressive score comes from its winning combination of high quality shopping, affordable prices and reliable sales, which can stretch for several months.”

Ok, ok, we get the point – sales! Even so, sales seasons don’t last forever and in between, there are breathers. But there are 5 shops that are ETERNALLY on sale. And by that, we seriously mean NO breaks. Let the shopping games begin!

1. Optical shops

At optical shops, sales are usually presented in percentage. You’ve got the 10% off section, 20% off, 30% off, blah, blah, blah, sometimes all the way up to 80% (kita witness before). Then there are the endearing (arguably so) budget island counter – like, in every.single.optical.shop.in.Malaysia. At these budget counters, they give you a low, all-in-one price, say RM99 for a pair of glasses (frame + lens). Just don’t expect them to be Gucci or Prada frames la.

Discount range: 10% – 80%. Some shops even offer an all-in price like RM99 per pair of glasses (Frame + Lens).

2. Furniture shops

Furniture shops are forever pitching closing-down or moving-away sales. It’s a scenario that makes customers feel like it’s now or never. Sometimes leh, shops put up opening sales, hoping to catch customers who love owning the latest, the hippest, the trendiest…. At other times, furniture shops go with the seasonal flow and offer Merdeka, CNY, Raya or Year-End sales.

Dem signs they put up? Have been there a long-long-loooong time. How do we know?

*As we looked at the faded ‘SALES’ signs*…
CILISOS: “Nak pindah ke? Moving sale semua ni?”
Salesperson: “Tak lah, ni diskaun saja. Cari katil?”
CILISOS: “Tak de, tengok dulu.” *Flicked at dust from a ‘SALES’ sign*

Discount range: From 10% – 70%. Then again, sometimes they don’t specify the percentage and just slash RM200 off a RM2,000 couch, with that self-pleased grin like they just did you the biggest favour in the world, and like don’t-tell-the-boss-but-I-give-you-la *winks, nods* Ehmmm… yeah, just call if ever you need a kidney donor.

3. Pharmacies

Although they don’t use flashy signboards or flailing airdancers, pharmacies – especially chain pharmacies – will always have items on sale. Just walk along the aisles of any Guardian or Watson outlet and see.

Funny thing is, they have odd number discounts, especially 15%, 25% and 35%. Why la, why? Wouldn’t be easier to round them off to 20%, 30% and 40%?

To spice things up, pharmacies even ditch the percentages for these colourful offers:

• The Must-Buy/Now-At
• The x-for-something
• The extra ml’s
• The x-day specials
• The Buy 1, Free 1

What was supposed to be an undercover mission of discount sniffing spiralled out of control and became a shopping excursion, when the seduction of sales made us drop the ringgits on the cashier like BAMMM! K la, the stuff we bought will become necessary in the very near future. Like shampoo… hand sanitiser… vitamins… nail clipper… oh snap!

Discount range: From 10% – 50%. Cosmetics are constantly on 10% discount. We promise… sorta.

4. Air Asia

Oh, and who could forget Air Asia – the budget airline that made travelling affordable for everyone? Air Asia regularly offers cheap flights packaged in different ways, such as all-in fares, discounts if you book together with hotels, etc. We can certainly be proud of Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, who’s business concept (and tagline, ‘Now Everyone Can Fly’) has sparked a revolution in air travel.

Booking a flight is so easy today because travellers can just search online for the cheapest deals, so if you don’t find a suitable price from Air Asia, you can also check out other budget airlines like Firefly or Jetstar.

Discount range: For domestic flights and even a couple of international destinations, it’s possible to get tickets for less than RM100. Their promotions change all the time so you can check out the website to keep up with the best deals.

5. Watch shops

Watch time is it? Time for more sales! Heh.

Although watch shops don’t offer discounts on the widest range of products, they do faithfully have 10% to 30% offers and can go up to even 70%. Unlike optical shops, furniture shops, and pharmacies, their discounts may apply mostly to older stock (since timepiece turnovers would generally be higher than say a sofa or pair of glasses), so maybe don’t put too much hope on new arrivals la. Also, they sometimes offer additional discounts if you pay with certain credit cards.

But hey, good news… you’ll never be late for an appointment again!

Discount range: 10% – 30% or so.

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Why are they always on sale?

OK, onto the concept of ‘value for money’… is it really true we are getting our money’s worth from these sales? Especially for the items that some of the shops above are selling? It’s not as if we need a change of beds or dining table every year. And bringing home a new pair of glasses every month is one heckuvan expensive hobby, if we purchased them just because they were on sale.

Dear valued customers, there is a reason why these shops are permanently working their sales signboards. For optical and furniture shops, for example, they sell items that people don’t buy on a regular basis. So, they have to create a sense of urgency in customers by telling them that the sale will run for a limited time.

Another thing they play at is perceived scarcity, which makes customers think that they have limited stock. Talk about mindffffuyoh. Many a time, stores will dramatically mark up their prices just so they can offer a juicy slash when customers walk through the door. Mindfffffffuyoh!!!

And it works! Sales are very seductive to Malaysians and we’re too kiasu to let the opportunity slip by. (After all, it’s a limited-time offer! *next year – still there*).

So, before you give yourself a pat on the back, remember that you are under the sales spell technically paying the normal price for things you THOUGHT were a good bargain. Bummer! O.O

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SALESSS??? Sssomebody ssstop me!!!