Kabasares: My discount, please

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Reaching seniordom is a life changing experience. All of a sudden you find yourself whipping out your wallet in a crowded pay counter to produce your identification card, preferably (in the US) a driver's license, to prove you're in fact entitled to a discount by reason of maturity.

SAN FRANCISCO, California -- I have reached the critical age when cultures, traditions and most governments extend to us that entitlement to, among many others, a discount on specified purchases.

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We become a social class by ourselves – a community of elderly citizens some of whom are pardonably wealthy in their own right, others, though, are living on the edge of poverty. In some cultures, we're no longer legally required to serve prison sentences should we be found guilty of crimes. There's one other thing - we're supposed to be wiser than most in the tribe, as well.

Some sectors, however, denigrate this privilege as a handout of sort - which is a downright misinformation. It's high time to reverse this perception.

Reaching seniordom is a life changing experience. All of a sudden you find yourself whipping out your wallet in a crowded pay counter to produce your identification card, preferably (in the US) a driver's license, to prove you're in fact entitled to a discount by reason of maturity. And – it's no longer impolite for a salesclerk to ask for proof of your age in the context of the transaction. Neither is she flirting with you, you... old goat!

My wife who loves a good discount always regard presenting her driver's license a hassle -- she looks younger than her age. Digging into a purse to fetch an ID with which to confirm one's age is annoying, she says. Age in many western cultures is a privacy issue often disclosed only in strict confidence.

Do I ask for a discount? You bet, I do, and I advise seniors to ask for it, as well. All you need to do is ask for it.

For those who would care to know - there are over 500,000 (2009 figures) stores and institutions across the country (US) that offer discounts not only for seniors, but students, and other specified groups, as well. They range from restaurants, airlines, hotels, car repairs, drugstores, movie houses to a dizzying list of other commodities and services. (Inquire from Google.)

Elderly citizens in Europe some of whom are rich take advantage of the discounted Eurail ticket that's good for travel by train in 29 European countries, an indicant, perhaps, that the days of travel there on a $10-a-day budget are long gone. Despite the euro's strength over the US dollar, almost every other European has a discount card of some kind, it really seems, our travel guide during our very recent trip to Europe revealed.

Why do I take advantage of these discounts?

My very first concession to life as it is when it “re-starts” for me seconds after I wake up in the morning is checking my small medicine box safely positioned conveniently in a spot within easy reach. With that simple routine, I come to grips with reality -- that I'm dependent on many life-enhancing amenities, services, medicines, foods, entertainment, travels, and many others that only money can buy. These monetary discounts, however modest they may be, help me and others obtain many of these needs at a less burdensome cost.

A discount is a time-honored business practice which is a process of reducing the usual price of goods - designed to (1) increase sales, (2) move out-of-date stocks, (3) promote sales, and (4) reward a selected groups of consumers like senior citizens, war veterans, students, employees of a particular industry, and others. Recently, billionaire Bill Gates appeared in a TV skits in which he bought a pair of oversized shoes with a discount card -- hoping that the richest man in the US is not at all loath to the precepts of discount.

It used to be that the rationale for senior discount was “the (senior) customer is assumed to be retired, and have a limited income, and living on a budget.” This isn't the case anymore. The discount phenomena has zeroed in on the seniors, due primarily, according to Wikipedia, to a recent study showing that the senior population “represents a huge untapped market that has the financial means and quick access to assets.” The Journal of Consumer Marketing researchers define the elderly market "as people of 55 years of age and older who are consumers of products and services.”

Another survey tells us that “ the 55-65 market save twice as much as the 25-44; have double the discretionary spending of the younger market; and if motivated to spend and buy, purchase more investment properties, new cars; travel more often and literally buy more of a product that come with a better quality.”

Discount is not a recent development in the business world -- it's as old as man himself -- and often characterized in some cultures as “haggling” which is usually resorted to by the buyer and seller in the absence of a pre-determined discount arrangement. Haggling is a common tradition in Asia. Travel guides in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Macau always recommend to their tourists to haggle on the prices of goods they want to purchase. What it is -- is the seller offers an amount for an item, the buyer haggles down to half of the seller's price, if the seller would not give in, the buyer perfunctorily walks away from the negotiation then waits for the seller to cut down the price some more. The haggling ends when a mutually agreed price is reached, usually the seller grumbling that she made no profit from the sale, and the buyer complaining that the vendor had not given her a good price.

My discount, please!
*****
Cris D. Kabasares writes a column for a New York newspaper. He and his wife are, at this writing, traveling in Portugal, Spain and France.