Buyer Beware

By Matt Brownell
Daily Finance

Businesses get in trouble all the time for trying to pass off counterfeit items as the real thing. But in a strange reversal, a few retailers have been busted for selling real fur, but claiming that it was fake.

The US Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday that three companies -- Neiman Marcus, DrJays.com and Revolve Clothing -- had agreed to settle charges that they misrepresented real fur products as faux fur. Several products were involved in the fur scandal, including Burberry jackets, Eryn Brinie vests, and some boots and shoes.

Though most of us hate to do it, we're overpaying all the time.

When you're on a holiday, or spending on a special occasion, we willingly fork out a little more. And it's easy to think of things we overpay for on a regular basis, but for a good reason: premium gas, organic vegetables, and business class plane tickets come to mind. But there are many everyday items that are marked up to a ridiculous level that we can avoid. Here are the biggest offenders:

SLIDESHOW: BIGGEST MARKUPS

Condos offer first-time buyers an affordable entry into home ownership but buying a condo isn't the same as buying a house. One major difference is that, on top of your mortgage payments, you'll be responsible for maintenance fees for the building.

And there are other things to think about. Consider these four "R's" before committing to buying a condo.

By Rich Smith
Daily Finance

Hedge funds. Everyone wants to invest in them, but if you want to get into one, you generally have to meet either one of two conditions, laid down by the Securities and Exchange Commission: Either you must earn $200,000 or more a year, or you must have net worth of more than $1 million.

That exclusivity has helped fuel explosive growth in America's hedge fund industry, which has expanded from $300 billion in assets under management 15 years ago, to $2.2 trillion today. Clearly, this is a popular investment party -- one that (statistically speaking) you probably aren't invited to..

Is it time to buy a new car?

According to a Harris/Decima poll from the beginning of this year, although 50 is the average age of car buyers, it's the 18-34 group that will be most likely to buy or lease a new car.

For many of these buyers, the process of buying a car is a completely new process, and one that seems to be shrouded in mystery.

So how to proceed?

Like so many things, it's not about just the colour and how you look in the car. According to AutomallNetwork.com, there are seven sins that could cost us more.

Some people leave you holding the bag, but retailers will leave you holding the merchandise, with less in your pocket, while you wonder what happened.

You went in and you had a set budget in mind, but all of a sudden, the only thing in your billfold is a moth. How does this happen? It may not be all your fault. Retailers employ a number of tricks of the trade that basically hack our brains and emotions and make us spend more money. These trapping tactics are deceptively simple, but very subtle in a lot of cases.

Wrigley is about to roll out a new brand of gum -- and, the company warns, it has a bitter, medicinal taste.

Still, Wrigley has high expectations for the product, because it's packed with caffeine. The name is Alert Energy Caffeine Gum; not quite as catchy as Juicy Fruit, Doublemint, or some of the company's other big sellers, but it does tell the buyer exactly what to expect.

It joins a rapidly growing list of high energy products –- mostly beverages such as Monster (MNST), Pepsico's (PEP) AMP, and 5-hour Energy. But these drinks have been controversial because of their popularity with teens and potential health risks. The FDA is investigating reports of several people who died after consuming these high-caffeine drinks, although no direct link between the two has been found.

Wrigley acknowledges that the caffeine-infused product line is a complex area, and says it wants to enter the field "the right way." The packaging is transparent in terms of the product name, the ingredients, and the warning label, which advises that the gum is not recommended for children or people with caffeine sensitivity. The product also comes in a format that differentiates it from an ordinary stick of gum: a stand-up pack with eight six-sided pellets. Each pellet contains more caffeine than a 12-ounce bottle of Coke (KO), but less than a cup of coffee.

A pack costs $2.99. The gum will start to appear in supermarkets and convenience stores next month, available in two flavors, fruit or mint. Wrigley says the taste is bitter, like drinking coffee, and expects that to be a turn-off for kids.

Of course, millions of us depend on a caffeine boost once in a while -- or, in some cases, every day. It used to come from coffee or soda; more recently, energy drinks. Now, Wrigley is cutting out the middleman of consumption almost entirely; chewing is all that will be required, reducing caffeine ingestion to pure habit. How will groggy consumers respond to the chance to act like smokers trying to quit?

True story. A couple in their late 50's decide to sell the home they'd lived in for 26 years and rent someplace where they wouldn't have to shovel snow, cut grass or repair the roof. They find a wonderful three-bedroom ground floor apartment with a private fenced-in yard, pet friendly, gas fireplace, loft, stainless steel built-in appliances, two and a half baths... the list of conveniences went on.

In short, it was perfect for this work-from-home couple. They signed a one-year lease and moved in early one August with the understanding that they would be long-term tenants. It was not to be.

Suicides in the UK rose significantly in 2012, according to the British Office for National Statistics, and suicide prevention experts in that country say that it's due to irresponsible lending practices by British banks and predatory debt collectors there.

The Brighton Report, released earlier this year, revealed that the number of suicides in the UK hit 6,045 in 2011, a 7.8% increase compared to 2010, with deaths among men accounting for the largest proportion. A total of 4,552 men took their own lives in 2011 compared with 1,493 women.

"Debt clients frequently feel humiliated, disconnected and entrapped, with the process of debt collection having a clear impact on people's mental health," read the report from England's University of Brighton.

The ONS says that, among men aged between 45 and 59 years old, the suicide rate increased significantly between 2007 and 2011 to 22.2 deaths per 100,000 people.

"These figures ... reveal the profound human consequences of the economic downturn, in which unemployment, debt, and the relationship breakdowns that often follow, can push people who may be already vulnerable to take their own lives," Marjorie Wallace, CEO of SANE, a UK mental health charity, told Reuters.

Ever enter a store intending to buy only one thing, only to exit with an arm full of bags? Sure, you could be a shopaholic who lacks self-control and doesn't know how to budget, but, in actuality, it's probably not all your fault.

Store layouts are meant to confuse and disorient you, so that you actually do have that feeling of literally getting lost among the merchandise. Just finding the exit in some of these stores can be a pretty heady task and it's meant to feel that way. The people at the store want to keep you there as long as possible because they know that the longer you are there, the more likely more and more money is going to start leaving your wallet.

Knowing all that, we've complied the tricks stores use in their layouts to keep you spending money and will thereby hopefully inoculate you against temptation forever more.


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