I was lucky that day at the supermarket. Due to my alertness, I managed to escape unharmed, and with most of my money. Many more weren’t as lucky, and countless more continue to be victims every day.
In the age of online shopping, there are still a multitude of local, in-person shopping options. Large stores are among those options, and for most products, there are several brands and package sizes to choose from. It can be a challenge to get the best deal.
Many years ago, in an effort to help customers compare prices while shopping, grocery stores introduced product unit pricing. So, for example, a 16-ounce can of beans would display a price of 77 cents per can, and also a unit price: 4.8 cents per ounce.
That made it easier to compare prices between different size packages, or between brands. It was all supposed to make it easier for me, the consumer. Who wants to do a bunch of math when buying groceries?
It was a good idea. But something happened. Something subversive. Something intended to confuse the shoppers and get us to pay more.
Recently, I was shopping in my favorite one-stop shopping location, and I was in the cereal aisle. My favorite cereal is a bit more expensive at this location, so I was being careful to get the best deal.
I already knew from experience that buying a bigger box is frequently not the cheaper option, despite what we have been taught. They’ll call it king size, family size, even economy size to suggest it might be a better deal. That’s where the ‘price-per-unit’ information comes in handy!
Or does it? What I discovered was totally unexpected.
I was going to choose from between the 12-oz large-size box for $3.49, and the 18-oz family-size box for $4.19. To find out which one was the better price, I could easily calculate the unit price on my phone’s calculator. But I didn’t need to.
The labels on the shelf listed the price-per-unit. Checking the sticker on the 12-oz size, I saw it was $4.65 per pound. A check of the 18-oz size showed 23.3 cents per ounce.
But wait. One label listed the price per pound, and the other listed the price per ounce! I still have to do math.
This is one of the most ridiculous situations I have ever encountered. I was perplexed, and determined to get to the bottom of this
.
I tracked down the head of that department, who was conveniently in the next aisle. I asked him to join me in the cereal aisle. When I showed him the labels, he said he had never noticed, and he didn’t know why it was done that way. He did agree that it was very odd, but he also seemed to have no interest in pursuing the situation further.I asked at the customer service desk. I asked the store general manager. No one knew. They all agreed it was odd, but no one offered to find out why.
As a side note, not one of the three employees was able to do the math to figure out which was the better buy. I had already figured it out, but I was curious. I did enjoy watching each of them being outsmarted by a calculator and simple math.
This time, the larger box was a bit cheaper, but it’s not always the case.
Months later, no effort has been made to correct the issue. You could walk in there today and witness the same disparity.
Another day, another retailer, and this time I was shopping for dishwasher detergent packets. I was checking the prices of the varying package sizes, and trying to compare the price of the name brand to the store brand.
What I found was even more confusing.
A 12-count package was listed with price per ounce, and a 20-count package of the same brand was labeled with price per packet. That was two different package sizes of the same brand. The store brand threw in a price per pound, just for good measure. The price per packet was the only one that made sense for this type product, so that’s what I used when I did my own math.
Why bother with ‘information labels’ if I’m going to need to do the math myself anyway? I’m convinced it’s just another way to rip off the unwary consumer. If you’re in a hurry and don’t notice the units are different, you’ll see $4.65 compared to 23.3 cents.That’s a no-brainer. Make sure no one is looking. Grab it and run. Don’t look back. I hope they don’t catch it at the register. That’s a steal!
It is a steal, but you are the one getting ripped off.
Scott Wright © 2018
