What's wrong with 'comparison shopping?'

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Some people keep "price books" to track the prices of items from different stores. I have heard, second hand, that many stores don't like the practice and if they think you are working for the competition they may ban you from the store. Legally, it's not a crime. But also, legally they can refuse whomever they wish admittance to their store. If the person comes back they are now tresspassing and can be arrested. However, the tresspass charge is usually reserved for shoplifters who have been caught in the past and are now not welcome.

Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever.

I imagine they have to buy the item in order to get a receipt that confirms the price, hence the other store can beat it. If that's all that goes on, it's not so bad given it's returned to the original store in new condition but what she does in this story is pretty low, opening the packages and/or measuring it up to other products, hence she is returning a used item that often cannot be restocked. As it is in the story, it's kind of a dirty job and I don't have much sympathy for her. I like her brazen nerve (at least in the 1955 tv version) were she sees her antics gets one man fired from his job at the department store and then she turns around in goes into another department to continue her dirty deeds and buys some underwear from another seller!! I guess she got away with it a second time since the underwear was inexpensive whereas on the train set they were instantly suspicious of her buying it without blinking.

Price comparsion shopping is not bad in itself as a consumer and I would imagine most people do it but you don't have to write down the price or buy it at one store, just remember the price, doing it professionally is a bit different. I suspect some stores still have employees checking out the rival's prices but buying it when you are definitely planning to return it seems classless to me.

I, myself, was a comparison shopper for Macy's in NYC one summer. We were given bus or subway fare and a list of items we were supposed to look for in each of several dept. stores. We did not have to buy the items, just write down the prices. It was a pretty easy job, but I remember it was a little tricky to surreptitiously write down prices without sales people noticing--not that it mattered to them, probably. I just felt self-conscious, because I knew what I was up to! Macy's then had a policy that no one undersold them.

Stores still do this. I had a friend that worked for a grocery store chain and was occasionally sent out of town on day trips for "secret shops" at stores both part of the chain and part of other chains. He had a specific list of things to buy and what to look for at the stores. He was comparing cleanliness, friendliness, helpfulness, consumers in the store, layout, lighting, pricing errors, etc. Comparison shoppers looks at everything, not just price. There are also online comparison shoppers that test customer service. They kept her job duties simple in the movie, but there was a lot to it. Even when prices are the same, such as the stockings she reports on, she would have reported customer services, etc.