In keeping with a few other "rant" threads recently...

Mathematics isn't THAT difficult, is it?



Somebody has sat down and come up with this wonderful discount structure, smug in the thought that they'll be enticing people to purchase two of said Micro SD cards

In fact - if £2.50 is 69% off, how can £5.24 be 71% off (unless of course, the RRP for Kingston SD cards is equally as screwy)

Sad also that some punters will think "wow - £5.24 for two - I'll have that..."

Apparently, there was something similar on BBC Watchdog about the same tactics employed by supermarkets - I'm struggling to believe that such 'mistakes' are innocent...

I can't remember the exact figures, but I recall recently working out that you save a grand total of 4p if you buy 4 of Asda's own brand fruit juice (labelled in huge lettering as "3 for £4" or something like that).

Clover margarine in asda [ £3 for a 1kg tub or £2 for a 500g one ], and they were trying to get people to buy 2 x 500g tubs for £4 [ a bargain , in their eyes ] !! Has now been rectified by some bright spark .

Loosely connected with poor marketing I suppose....

Clicky

When I was shopping in a Los Angeles supermarket I saw that all the items on the shelves were being sold in twos. The bread I wanted was labelled "2 for $2". Intrigued, I called across to a sales assistant, asking "How much for one of these?"

"Like duhh? Let me see now - like one dollar?"

For most of this year, my local Sainsbury's had an own-brand spread at £2.50 for a kilo, £1.50 for a half-kilo... but buy two half-kilos for two quid. About three months ago, they changed the price on the half-kilo to a quid. Finally they've noticed in the last week or so and it's cheaper to buy the big one again!

What i dont understand is how Tescos suddenly claim to of woken up to competition from ALDI and LIDL etc. but last month at Tesco's i could get a meal for two in a box for £5 went to get one the other day and it was £6.50 and they wonder why people have had enough! just feel like im being ripped off all the time!

P.S. very good Nigel "loosely connected" i did note Fasteners too

At our local Morrisons we can buy one 12 tin pack of Whiskas cat food for £6.75 or one 6 tin pack for £3.00.

You still see people with 12 packs at the checkout. Why? Can't people do basic maths any more?

It's not that they can't do the maths, more that they don't. The marketing is designed to stop them doing the maths.

"Look at this glossy sticker, it makes it cheap, no don't look at the price look at the lovely sticker"

A few years back a Chris Boardman Carbon road bike caught my eye at £1299. A couple of months later it was on sale at £1299.

Apparently as at least one store nationwide sold the bike at £1500 they could advertise this as on sale.

Still bought it though (Albeit it with 25% staff discount)

It is ingrained in shoppers' minds that bigger quantity=cheaper.

Check out the price per kilo on everything in Tesco (and others, I'm sure) and often the "bulk" item is more expensive per kilo.

PG Tips in the plastic bag, for example are usually pricier than the next size down.

I recall reading that >50% of population don't actually understand what a percentage is thus they are screwed.

I actually prefer Adsa to Tesco, but Asda are bad for using the magic "red sticker" on packaged fruit and veg.

The £1 red sticker makes you think the item is on a reduced price, where in fact it is cheaper to buy the loose fruit and veg.

Naughty naughty

I have just finished a 10 year stint in retail.

Having witnessed a doubling of prices for the required period prior to a sale, followed by a HALF PRICE SALE...I have become quite cynical as a shopper.

A lot of people can`t do maths, they never learned how to due to being allowed to use a calculator.
Watch a checkout operator keep glancing at the screen because they are unable to subtract 3.95 from 10.00 pounds in their heads for example.

God, man - that's almost one in every two!

This pricing racket has been around for decades. Back in the 70s/80s I clearly remember tins of baked beans in KWIK SAVE being more expensive per bean in the larger tins.

Blimey Brian you have been around a bit - I remember that place opening in Pensarn first causing a middle-class shock-horror moment, then a biggie at the bottom of St George Road!

Aldi, Lidl.......it's all been done before - in North Wales

Indeed, Simon - I have even been known to get as far as the beach.

My first Kwik Save was actually in Sale, Cheshire, in 1976.

There's a nice sort of symmetry in that statement....

The one that gets me is Xmas 3 for 2 in boots.
The things are priced with the offer in mind, purchased with the offer in mind and quite often involve a rebate from the supplier to support the promotion.
Don't even get me started on the suggested "meal deals" is said shop, who would ever buy a single component of a meal deal and pay so much for it???
Then there are the designer drugs - nurofen (for example) costing up to 10 times what the same strength mix does in a plainer and smaller box.