Quelle last-ditch clearance sale founders as website crashes - Germany

The biggest clearance sale in German history started with a whimper rather than a bang on Sunday, when the website of bankrupt mail-order giant Quelle collapsed.

The best that could be wrung from the address www.quelle.de on Sunday was a note saying "Error: network exceeded," as the expected rush of bargain-hunters overloaded the site's capacity.

Quelle wanted to clear its stocks with 30 percent price reductions, first over the internet, and then in its shops. Around half the remaining stocks are clothes, which are expected to be offered at even greater discount. Meanwhile furniture will sell at 20 percent off, and technical equipment at 10 percent off.

171 words remaining. Click to read the [thelocal="http://www.thelocal.de/22955/">full article[/thelocal].

Note: Comments posted below will also be published on The Local.

I´ve just tried, and they still don´t seem to have got the website up and running............it´s very sad!

For a company that is going bust I don't really think a 30% sale is anything to get excited about. There are shops in the UK such as Dorothy perkins who are having sales of 70% and that's just an average seasonal clearance for them. I have yet to find good sales here, especially when you compare the non-sale prices to the uk.

Bah, I could do with some cloths. I have a nasty spill that I need to wipe up...

- got too excited again, did you Grampus???
;-)

There's just something about The Local that turns a boy on... maybe it's the journalistic integrity, maybe it`s their superlative punctuation and 5pell1ng, maybe it's their Americano readership... nevertheless, the stain remains

It depends how genuine the sale actually is. The Quelle items are products that have been sold at a standard price online and in their catalogue, in which case 30% is a good discount. A lot of the "70%" discounted stuff aren't genuine discounts, it's just cheap shit specially bought in for the sale. Stores sell an item at an inflated price for a few days in one store, then offer it for sale in all their shops at this magical 50% or 70% discount.

Of course the mark-up on clothing is massive so there's definitely room for a lot of discount, but no business wants to sacrifice more margin than it has to. Anything that is reduced by 70% is either something that absolutely no-one wants to buy, or is not a genuine discount. Fake discounts are particularly common among clothing because, away from the main brands, price comparisons are almost impossible.

It's working on again, off again now. Mostly off again when you try to switch to a new page. I'm just checking the shoes and most of the normal sizes seem to be "nicht lieferbar" already.

STB I agree that is the case with most discounts, but dorothy perkins are one of the most popular and reputable uk high street stores, they have been around for years and their stuff is very good quality, i always buy my winter jackets from them and they last for ages, they just have really good seasonal sales, alot of the stuff on their website is now sold out coz people snap it up so fast.

What i meant was that in german high street shops you don't find such good sales, like january sales for example.

Iam urisd one can actually buy something on a German website1 The ones I try only let you see their company, but there is no place to buy something online.

Ok, so I have a question being new to Germany and lacking the full understanding of the German language....

As I am watching news reports, they are saying that nothing you purchase will come with a warranty. I purchased a washing machine from Quelle about 3 months back, in which I am paying rates, and I am wondering if my warranty is null and void? Does anyone have a clue? Right now, I have paid off the actual machine, I have 2 rates left which is covering the extended warranty. Getting a hold of Quelle has not been successful. Anyone in the same position or have any suggestions??

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or comments

No offense but have you asked them?

No offense taken. Yes, I have tried to contact them via telephone with no success. That's why I decided to post here, just to see if anyone else has a similar concern or experience. I plan to keep trying to contact them though.

The warranty is with the manufacturer, not with Quelle, so you still have the standard 24-month warranty. The fact that you bought the product on credit doesn't matter, since your relationship here is with the credit provider, not with Quelle either. However, this article recommends that you register for the warranty by sending in the warranty registration card that should have come with the product. If you're going to phone anyone, call the manufacturer.

If you've bought an own-brand product like Privileg, then you may be in trouble.

Yes, a Quelle spokesman said on the news last night that Privileg merchandise bought now won't have a warranty/guarantee since the company is going out of business. Buyer beware. Don't know how this would work out with previously purchases Privileg stuff still under warranty. They're going to have plenty of angry customers.