Mary Betamax
The answer? 42
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2013
- Messages
- 33
Has anyone else noticed the 'Style & Fashion' channel which has recently appeared on Sky 677?
I flicked through the selly telly channels this morning for the first time in ages, and got stuck on this one. It is too awful to resist! I have been transfixed by it all day. They are offering for sale a range of jewellery items, mostly with CZ crystals or cultured pearls, all of which are described as gold plated, but with no mention of the metal under the plating. The sales are presented as auctions of very low quantities, with a highly inflated start price which is quickly reduced.
For example I am currently watching the female Polish presenter showing item code 5075, "18K Rose gold plated Set with Cubic zirconia (CZ) (Necklace, Earrings, Bracelet). Starting price was £619, reduced in three drops to £78.89, plus £4.95 UK p&p. The bracelet was introduced as a surprise during the sale. It began with a quantity of 4, which quickly reduced to 2, apparently by keen customers getting straight on the phone. A few minutes later it reduced to 1 and the presenter spent the last 4 minutes of the 10 minute sale saying what a bargain it is, what good quality it is, how the price would go back up at the end of the show, that there was only one set available, etc.
My favourite bit was this: "If you call now you will get this. Please don't give up. This is when you should try the hardest. You should pick up the phone now and call..." "Don't give up. This would be the worst thing you ever did. This is luxury. This is high quality. This is top of the line jewellery." "You don't see this in regular stores. You cannot find anything for a lower price than 619 pounds. And you are getting this only today, only here and now for only 78 pounds 89. These are the last seconds for this auction though, we cannot wait a very long time because we are in a hurry, we are reaching the end of the show." "You can only call now. If the show ends the offers expire. You'll have to pay full price if you call too late." And much more in the same vein. The auction ended with 1 still available, which is the same pattern as every auction I have seen on this channel today, presumably to encourage viewers to buy the last one.
I'm horrified by what I've seen. Here are some other random thoughts and observations:
The presenters are pretending to be running live auctions, actually saying so explicitly, however they are clearly not. The auctions are pre-recorded and are repeated during the day. The presenters constantly said 'this afternoon' during the morning, 'this evening' during the afternoon and also referred to it being Saturday, despite it being Friday.
The web address shown constantly on screen is www.emporia.net/uk. This page does not exist. The main website is there, but is a Polish language selling site.
I've seen quite a few rings being 'sold' but not once was ring size mentioned.
Several auctions had options of multiple items, for example three rings with different coloured stones. The quantities of each colour were not mentioned, and all three were still apparently on offer even once the quantity reached 1.
The products are mostly quite gaudy and set with cheap looking crystals. They are ok items but absolutely not worth the selling prices, never mind the starting prices shown.
One of the watches I saw had a crystal missing and everything was covered in fingerprints.
The background music used varied widely and was quite bizarre at times. Fast, loud music with heavy beats is used at appropriate times to apply pressure, also various claxons and other noises to announce price drops and time running out.
One presenter referred to their having been on air for three weeks.
There is no mention of any of the normal jewellery selling references, such as metal weight, types of links in chains, stone sizes etc.
They have a Facebook page but there is nothing to see there.
I do hope that no-one is duped by this deceptive selling technique.
I'd be interested in any thoughts that you have on the subject.
I flicked through the selly telly channels this morning for the first time in ages, and got stuck on this one. It is too awful to resist! I have been transfixed by it all day. They are offering for sale a range of jewellery items, mostly with CZ crystals or cultured pearls, all of which are described as gold plated, but with no mention of the metal under the plating. The sales are presented as auctions of very low quantities, with a highly inflated start price which is quickly reduced.
For example I am currently watching the female Polish presenter showing item code 5075, "18K Rose gold plated Set with Cubic zirconia (CZ) (Necklace, Earrings, Bracelet). Starting price was £619, reduced in three drops to £78.89, plus £4.95 UK p&p. The bracelet was introduced as a surprise during the sale. It began with a quantity of 4, which quickly reduced to 2, apparently by keen customers getting straight on the phone. A few minutes later it reduced to 1 and the presenter spent the last 4 minutes of the 10 minute sale saying what a bargain it is, what good quality it is, how the price would go back up at the end of the show, that there was only one set available, etc.
My favourite bit was this: "If you call now you will get this. Please don't give up. This is when you should try the hardest. You should pick up the phone now and call..." "Don't give up. This would be the worst thing you ever did. This is luxury. This is high quality. This is top of the line jewellery." "You don't see this in regular stores. You cannot find anything for a lower price than 619 pounds. And you are getting this only today, only here and now for only 78 pounds 89. These are the last seconds for this auction though, we cannot wait a very long time because we are in a hurry, we are reaching the end of the show." "You can only call now. If the show ends the offers expire. You'll have to pay full price if you call too late." And much more in the same vein. The auction ended with 1 still available, which is the same pattern as every auction I have seen on this channel today, presumably to encourage viewers to buy the last one.
I'm horrified by what I've seen. Here are some other random thoughts and observations:
The presenters are pretending to be running live auctions, actually saying so explicitly, however they are clearly not. The auctions are pre-recorded and are repeated during the day. The presenters constantly said 'this afternoon' during the morning, 'this evening' during the afternoon and also referred to it being Saturday, despite it being Friday.
The web address shown constantly on screen is www.emporia.net/uk. This page does not exist. The main website is there, but is a Polish language selling site.
I've seen quite a few rings being 'sold' but not once was ring size mentioned.
Several auctions had options of multiple items, for example three rings with different coloured stones. The quantities of each colour were not mentioned, and all three were still apparently on offer even once the quantity reached 1.
The products are mostly quite gaudy and set with cheap looking crystals. They are ok items but absolutely not worth the selling prices, never mind the starting prices shown.
One of the watches I saw had a crystal missing and everything was covered in fingerprints.
The background music used varied widely and was quite bizarre at times. Fast, loud music with heavy beats is used at appropriate times to apply pressure, also various claxons and other noises to announce price drops and time running out.
One presenter referred to their having been on air for three weeks.
There is no mention of any of the normal jewellery selling references, such as metal weight, types of links in chains, stone sizes etc.
They have a Facebook page but there is nothing to see there.
I do hope that no-one is duped by this deceptive selling technique.
I'd be interested in any thoughts that you have on the subject.
