Would you pay to go into a shop and look around?
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22098575

Shops are considering charging people to come in and look around - Shoe shops are even asking for a 'fitting' fee....

I understand their frustration, but they can get fucked if they think I am paying to go in....

As some of the more enlightened retailers said in this report they need to provide a value added service to beat the online retailers....

They charge to fit shoes in Australia due to what they believe to be online shoppers.

It takes about 5 sec to buy a pair of shoes that fit

You have obviously never been shoe shopping with a woman...

There is a store here that sells TV's, DVD players and video cameras. They actually have a setup where they will let you jump online right there in their store and try to find a better price than they offer. If you can they will match it.

Not a bad idea and it likely cuts down on those who come to see the item in person then go home and buy it online.

so you are losing sales because people are not interested in buying in your shop? what do you do to get more sales? charge people just to take a look what you have on offer?

it would be like me starting a TGP and to combat tube sites I charge my visitors just for browsing my TGP site? yeah , not insane!!:1orglaugh

wtf are these people smoking? do the right thing? buy something at double price KNOWINGLY ? is the right thing? ? I have a bridge for sale somewhere in Idaho! only used once :1orglaugh

This really has nothing to do with this subject, but this post reminded me of it. When I was in high school one of my friends was a guy named Pete. Pete was a pretty normal high school kid, except he had a lesser form of an eidetic memory and was able to read really fast. He could read a 300 page book in about 45 minutes and be able to enjoy it an retain it. He would go to the book store, find a book he liked, sit down on the couch and read the entire thing. It was pretty wild.

He loved it when this new, big bookstore opened up that had nice couches and chairs and a coffee shop in it. He could buy a mocha and something to munch on and read an entire book while he had lunch.

Sorry i meant for me

You sell porn online.

WTF do you care what is done in the real world?

:2 cents:

Just have a membership fee, it keeps out the poor.
http://www.costco.com/wcsstore/Costc...ale_214_64.png:thumbsup

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Funny...but true.

A whole different class of shoppers than say, Wal-Mart.

Would you pay for a Trial membership to a paysite?

I always laugh when people say "I would never pay $35 to go into a store!"

Great, stay out of Sam's Club!

Costco I get, the membership fee thing makes sense when they're offering that kind of massive inventory and bulk savings. If you know what you're doing you can recoup your initial fee outlay in just a few visits from the money you save buying in bulk. But small shops charging a cover charge just to look around?

If anything I think that would prompt me to do even more online shopping, not less.

Even online porn sellers still live in the physical, material three-dimensional world, lol.

My understanding of Costco is the membership idea was to circumvent certain tax issues and retail legalities by classifying themselves as an exclusive 'members-only' organization - not open to the general public.

If someone is coming in with no intention of purchasing, but rather, to make sure they know what size fits them, it is not insane. It is a slippery slope, that is for sure.

Sometimes I pay extra locally purely to support the local industry. I am not talking about huge retail chains, small local shops.

:2 cents::2 cents::thumbsup

I often do the same. I prefer personal service by someone who's name I've gotten to know - rather than a cheaper price at a box store served by some bored, bubblegum-chewing teen counting the seconds till her shift is done.

100% agree.

The flipside is, I will go out of my way to not buy from some large retail chains.

Well, Costco makes their case by offering enough value to warrant a membership fee. If there's another retailer who can make enough similar arguments, we'd be all ears. The idea of a shoe store or a clothing store charging seems odd, but not so different as you say from Costco.

For example if a large international clothing store offered much more than "free" stores do, and people could see themselves doing a majority of their clothes shopping there, maybe people would pay.

I paid $110 for an executive costco membership the other day, and I already had access to Costco. My wife's family in Mexico pays for her membership. However it meant she always had to be with me in the store, which was inconvenient and annoying. Also they give me 2-3% cash back on all purchases, and they said if I don't make back the membership fee in cash back over the year, they top it up to make sure I'm not out of pocket on the membership fee.

Make the case. Just by saying "we're going to charge" isn't the right way to go about it. It needs to be value added service that makes the membership fee justifiable.

Just by buying my gas at Costco I save about $7/tank on gas. It's a no-brainer to shop there.

People pay $7 - $12 to get in gun shows, whether they buy something or not. Sometimes you even get charged for parking.

heard of some stores doing this but they refund ya once ya make a purchase, think if ya don't make a purchase you should be able to pick your favorite cashier for a free handjob :2 cents:

if i go im buying a gun or something else

No, I'd just buy online

No, I wouldn't pay a fee to shop in a store. At this point I am buying most of what I need online anyhow. Nearly anything I need I go to Amazon or Ebay. I love to support my local businesses, but if I have a choice between a box store and online I'm buying online.

We do have a membership to Costco, but mostly so we can buy food in bulk.

this has been done for decades, even centuries, just an attention grabbing title. There are many stores, clubs and exclusive services providers where you either are a VIP or you pay a fee

Sounds like the guy here complaining always about tube sites...

If you live in the countryside like we do then it is far easier and cheaper to shop online. Just the hassle of driving to the city center and then having to pay for parking on top of that is putting people off from shopping. I have seen charges in some car parks at 1 pound an hour lol and in London its even higher in a lot of places. Wouldent suprise me if in 20 years from now a lot of the high street shops disapear and go online. They would save a lot of money on staff, renting shop space, electric bills ect.