Some stores launch a sale in temporary premises as a way of getting rid of goods which have expired or approaching their sellby date. Most of these items are sold on wholesale and wholesome items are placed on top of the pack with inferior items at the bottom. This is coupled with a deceptive price tag and many fall for it only to find faulty or defective items safely tucked inside away from view. There is little chance for respite since they sell through individuals, agents or auction sites on as is where is basis. It pays to be vigilant no less.
Sales are wonderful with special prices that saves money. Like CVS ExtraCare Card that gives you in store coupons like 40% off one off sale item...I always buy a 5.79 9 oz. of walnuts for the 40% off coupon. Just get your free card and account cvs.com. I don't know if you can get your cvs card ExtraCare card from the cashier any more, but you can go to twitter and find out about their care card. You know I found at Walmart has Ore Ida 2 lb. frozen potatoes for $2.25 a pkg. with a 2017 expiration date, so being diligent about checking items you'll find little gems like I did of frozen potatoes! This is what the extracare card looks like and this image is from their siteLog In.
You mentioned "temporary premises" and it reminded me of a sale every first week of December. A family would put up a stall in a parking area of a commercial building where they sell imported goods from the US at cheap prices. The mother said that the goods came from her children residing in the US. Obviously, the goods are not fake and we had bought from them every year. However, there are items that are not in good condition like deformed cans of meat and deformed cartons of food items. And one time, I was about to get a chocolate bar that my husband noticed to be expired. Generally, the food items were okay. Now this question - what happens if we had bought a defective item? How can we return it when the seller is just on a temporary venue?
In the UK, this is automatic. When things are near their expiry date, they are put in a reduced price section, so that the customer has the choice whether to buy or not. I'm not saying you'll never find expired items on the shelves, but I put that down to human error. Sadly, in Botswana that's just not the case. NOTHING gets reduced, even when it's expired. It seems to me that these stupid stores would rather lose all that money rather than salvage some by reducing the price. When we first moved here from England, I used to make the mistake of just grabbing things without checking the expiry date, because you just don't expect almost expired stuff on the shelves. then I would end up having to throw them out because i only had a day or two before they expired. Now I make it a habit to check the date on every single item before it goes in my trolley. I think it's just ridiculous and have told the managers at both of Spar and Woolworths where I shop.
That's why I hardly buy from stores I never frequently buy anything from. There's this story I heard of people who came into town once to sell eggs at ridiculously low prices. A lot of people thought they were getting great deals. Turned out they'd been scammed. Some of the eggs were contaminated and as there was no telling which ones were, everyone had to throw away all the cheap eggs they'd bought.
