That’s Not How Sales Work; That’s Not How Any Of Them Work

(We put items on clearance when they haven’t sold in about eight months to a year. Our tags have small numbers on them that show when we got the item in stock, so even without a clearance sticker, it’s easy to tell if something should be on clearance or not.)

Customer: *approaches with a bath rug* “Excuse me. Is this on sale?”

Me: *checks tag* “I’m sorry, but we got this item in too recently for it to be on clearance anytime soon.”

Customer: “Oh.”

(She walks away for a couple minutes before coming back with the same bath rug as before, but this time she is also carrying one with a clearance sticker. The second one is the same brand as the first, but a different size, color, and style.)

Customer: “This one is on sale, though, so the other one should be, too!”

Me: “That’s… not how it works.”