I agree. Actual prices would be much better. At this point, it's obvious that the first price is just that, the first offer in a negotiation to see how much they can get for an item. Prices are set to allow them to come down. I don't encourage that by paying full price.
Full price, in my mind, is for people who want to have the newest thing immediately. That's not me. Clothes don't make me salivate. I can't recall the last time there was something I "had to have" so much that I was willing to pay full price (in the US; Germany, where sales are once a year and truly clearance, is different. I don't drool there either, but I do decide what I need and go buy it for the regular price). I don't buy the latest trends; I buy things with the intention of wearing them for years, so getting an item midway through or at the end of the season, when the price is lower, is not a problem for me.
I don't play the game of "wait to see if this exact item goes on sale". Places like Lyst.com are as easy to shop as Nordstroms website, and The Rack physical stores are just as well set up as Nordstroms main stores where I live. Idk if the Saphire blue loafers from NAS will show up at The Rack or not, but there are plenty of shoes to choose from, as long as I don't get hung up on that one pair. I searched Bluefly for blue shoes a couple months ago and got literally pages of results to weed through. Many other retailers, like Anthropologie and Banana Republic, offer huge discounts on their sale items as well, but with less selection. I generally don't look at the full-priced stuff. What I don't know won't hurt me, in this case.
The more I know about what I want, the more I can focus on finding the price I want, whether it's pants or airfare. My disorganized wardrobe is a remnant of how I grew up shopping, and continued for years--always shopping current offerings for outfits, which were worn and laundered together, like suits. If one piece wore out, I had an orphan. The closest to mix & match I ever got was buying several items from a collection. Doing that pretty much requires shopping early in the season, when you'll pay full price.
I much prefer to do my shopping on line, so it's all about the filters for me. Lyst's are as good as or better than Nordy's (and Nordstroms has to keep The Rack website a step below the main one). If I want a long sleeved pink /orange /tan (ie blush) knit top made of natural fibers, why would I choose the more expensive site? It's not as if the dollars spent there go towards ensuring that labor standards are fair or products are environmentally produced. Those are things for which I pay full price, in groceries or clothing
Granted, retailers still want you to think it's a "steal" or a "find", but really, stores in the US are just like any market you've ever been to where people haggle over prices and shake their heads at those who pay the first price. The biggest difference is the existence of a second marketplace where prices start out lower.
