Someone is Making a Tonne - But it Won't be You! (Cash Converters)

Member Name: Pingu

Product:	Cash Converters
Date:	10/07/01 (453 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap CDs

Disadvantages: Lots of stuff very overpriced

It's true that some stuff at Cash Converters is very very cheap. I've had lots of luck with CDs (maybe that's because I listen mainly to stuff that other people get rid of). In fact, when I'm looking for a specific album, I can quite often find it there, at £2.99, and save a packet - I actually look there before buying CDs online now.

But the rest of their stock just isn't cheap enough to justify the risks you take in buying second hand stuff. OK you get the Cash Converters 60 day warranty, but what good is that when you're spending £100s. I saw a set of Kenwood Surround Speakers in there at £800 last week. Would you be willing to pay £800 for something which will be utterly worthless if it breaks in 60 days time? Especially when it's years old, and very probably will break in 60 days. The Hi-FI equipment is all massively overpriced for second hand stuff, as are the Playstation Games, the fitness equipment, the TVs etc.etc. Some stuff is actually more expensive than it was new, presumably because the staff know next to nothing about the market they're dealing in.

And if you're hoping to make money out of them, then you'd be much, much better off using the classifieds in your local freebie paper, or even Buy/Sell. The routine is you throw your stuff on the counter, the guy behind it says something like, "Ooh, can't give you much for them, simply because we've got so many of them coming in!" and then asks you how much you want for your stuff. I was naive, and didn't realise this was because they genuinely haven't a clue what it's worth. I thought the prices would be pretty standard, and that my request would make no difference. In fact, what they do is first use the line about having loads of your item coming in, to embarrass you into feeling that your stuff isn't really in demand and knock down what you're going to ask for it. Then, when you shrug and tentatively ask for
some ridiculously low amount, they whistle through their teeth, shake their heads, go through your pile pretending to add up the street values and then quote a total which is £5 less than you asked for. If you've got the nerve to ask for some ridculously high total there is a good chance you'll get it (minus £5), because they really don't have a clue. Unfortunately I didn't realise how it worked. I walked in with 5 newish videos, 3 new Playstation Games, a brand new Scart Cable, a G-Con gun in perfect condition and a couple of CDs - and asked for £20, because I was thrown by the "Got too many of these" trick. So I got £15. Bear in mind they then sell the videos at £3.99, the games at £7, the lead at £7, the gun at ca. £15 and the CDs at £2.99. They're making over 300% profit.

The only reason to go to Cash Converters is that you can get rid of stuff, instantly, which is very difficult to sell by yourself. You can't really sell videos and CDs through Buy/Sell. But, for most stuff, you can make a lot more by taking the effort to advertise it yourself.

Cash Converters is a superb idea, but it needs some intelligent staff, and more of a bargain image. They have to stop pretending they're selling top notch stuff. After all, why did people get rid of it?

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