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Comment by sethhochberg | Hacker News Reader

Once upon a time, outlet stores generally were all end-of-season, B-stock, etc... but fickle consumers didn't like that it was possible to go to an outlet store and not find anything to buy, so the brands started making cheaper "outlet" lines to fill the shelves.

Stuff like this, or the JC Penny experiment years ago where the new executive team tried to get rid of deep discount sales and have consistently low prices only to be met with consumer uproar, make me really glad that I don't work anywhere near consumer retail.

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I remember being very confused on this when going to an outlet store after college. They were basically rebranded malls, at that point. Not at all what I was expecting from high school days going to outlets.

I apologize for jumping in this convo with unrelated stuff but I was looking at my history and since I can't message you I just wanted to let you know years later how much your reply here resonates with me now. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18475792

Wow, that is a blast from the past. I don't recall my frame of mind in writing that, well. Hopefully it isn't quite as cynical as I feel the past few months. At least, hopefully that isn't the part that is resonating! :D

The outlet stores often have small text on price tags saying that the items may never have been sold at their "original" price. It's a convoluted way of saying that the sale discounts are imaginary.

From Nordstrom Rack's web site:

This comparable value and corresponding percentage are based on what the item, or similar item, was originally offered for by Nordstrom or elsewhere in the market, which may have been reported to us by the manufacturer.

This is exactly it.

You can find actual steals if you know what you're buying, EoL items and end of season items for a fraction of the price.

But then there's the cheap shit with the brand plastered on it, which is usually basic garbage, just rebranded.

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