Reader Eric writes in to let us know that our advice about inspecting Circuit City liquidation merchandise before buying it saved his brother from getting stuck with the wrong item.

So my brother was at Circuit City last night seeing if he could take advantage of their liquidation. He saw a display advertising a Sirius Stiletto 2 Radio with Car Kit for $90 marked down from $300, a seemingly great deal.

He called me while he was at the store and asked me to look up the going rate for the radio on ebay as he planned to purchase it from Circuit City and turn around and sell it for profit on the net. Brand new radios of this model with a car kit are selling for anywhere between $180 and $230 on ebay; a good return on investment if he could pick one up for $90.

While I had him on the phone I mentioned that he should thoroughly check out the radio to look for defects or any other problems before buying since I had read on The Consumerist that people were getting ripped off at Circuit City during the liquidation and all sales are final. He checked it out it looked ok.

It was sorta in the original packaging which was inside one of those hard plastic looked boxes BB and CC use when they don’t want people stealing small expensive items so he couldn’t actually hold the unit before purchasing. He took it up to the register, the checkout girl scanned it, he swiped his credit card, and the girl unlocked the plastic lockbox.

When she did this, my brother wanted to inspect the radio one more time before buying. He picked it up and took the battery out of the back and on the label under the battery he discovered the unit was not a Stiletto 2, but the Stiletto 1. Circuit City was selling a Stiletto 1 as a Stiletto 2, a huge difference in price. So, because he hadn’t yet signed for his credit card he told them they had falsely advertised the product, canceled his purchase, and just walked away.

Remember that all sales are final at liquidations. Inspect your merchandise before you buy it! Or just stay away completely — it’s common for liquidation prices to be higher than prices at regular stores.

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