10 Things Retailers Won't Tell You

1. "Forget commissions. Our staff gets kickbacks."

Next time a salesperson gets overly pushy when promoting a product to you, think twice about their motives. Sometimes clerks have hidden agendas you might not know about.

Consider the “promotion incentive fee,” which is a selling incentive that leads sales staff to heavily favor one brand over another. This is typically a direct commission from the retailer, and it rewards sales associates for selling certain products – usually those with the highest point margin, says Jeff Green, president of Jeff Green Partners, a Mill Valley, Calif.-based retail consulting firm. It is increasingly popular with retailers, especially in the home furnishing and consumer electronics sectors. Customers who are unaware of this fee just think the salesperson is focusing on the product they believe is best. “Consumers should beware if they’re being oversold on a certain piece of merchandise,” says Green. “They have to ask themselves why this is.”

How can you distinguish good advice from a commission-driven sales pitch? "When you're making a large purchase, make sure you're communicating to the salesperson what it is you need," says Daniel Butler, vice president of retail operations at the National Retail Federation (NRF). "If you feel they're steering you toward something that doesn't meet your needs, find someone else in the store to help you."

2. "That salesman doesn't actually work here."

In some cases, the salesperson helping you isn’t always employed by that store.

Companies such as Hewlett-Packard, for example, sometimes provide their own employees or hire marketing firms or sales-training firms to be present in stores to offer information about a specific brand or product. An HP spokeswoman says her company's reps "help customers identify the best solution for their needs" and wear shirts with identifying logos.

Depending on the store and the companies involved, these people may or may not identify themselves as such, says Steve Frenda, managing director at the In-Store Marketing Institute, a retail marketing strategy association. While they’re knowledgeable about a specific product line, they may be too aggressive about their employer’s brand, he says. How to spot the company man? "If somebody seems too aggressive about one brand, ask him who he's working for," says Frenda.

3. "If you knew our return policy, you might not shop here."

Next time you try to make a return, don’t be surprised if you can’t get all your money back. Many retailers – particularly those in electronics - now charge “restocking fees” on returned or exchanged items, and oftentimes they downplay such policies, including them only in their fine print.

Stores justify restocking fees by saying they deter customers who use products before returning them. With a restocking fee, a store keeps a percentage – often 10% but as high as 20% – of the item’s cost, says Gail Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Some stores enforce this fee when the packaging is opened while others charge it on all returns.

Target, for example, sometimes charges 15% on items like camcorders, digital cameras, portable DVD players and portable electronics. Sonja Pothen, a Target spokeswoman, says that the store does not charge a restocking fee on 99% of its current electronic inventory.

Consumers are best off asking about return policies and restocking fees before making a purchase. In some cases, "there might be a sign at the return counter," says Brad Ashwell, director of the Florida Public Interest Research Group. "Other stores print it on the back of your receipt, but by the time you see it, you've already paid."