Ridiculous unit pricing at supermarket

[disneysteve]

What is the point of the supermarket posting unit pricing if they use different units for each brand of product? I was at the store yesterday and we needed vanilla extract. One brand listed the price per ounce. Another brand listed the price per quart. A third brand listed the price per pound.

I thought the whole reason for unit pricing was to allow customers to quickly and easily compare prices without needing a calculator. I think I need to write a letter to the store manager.

[PrincessPerky]

That is irritating, I wonder if it was all priced at a different time or if they want you not to notice and buy the one they made look better?

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

That is irritating, I wonder if it was all priced at a different time or if they want you not to notice and buy the one they made look better?

That's what I think. They try and make the more costly one sound cheaper so you'll buy that one. I think it was done quite intentionally. I wouldn't be surprised if the manufacturers pay them to do that as part of their marketing plans.

[Gruntina]

Yesterday, I ran into this same problem but with toilet paper! Some were priced by 100square ft while others were priced by 50square ft. I need to bring my calculator from now on.

[SnoopyCool]

Been there, seen that.

[zetta]

It is quite definitely done deliberately, in hopes of catching those who aren't inclined to take the time to do the math. I wonder if displaying the unit prices in the first place was a requirement imposed by law, or just a custom that grocery chains did voluntarily.

Here's my pet peeve for the week -- my favorite chain has taken to selling soda as "Buy 3, get 3 free." So I'm stuck buying 6 bottles at a time to get the usual sale price.

[kmj1104213]

My personal favorite is the "Per 100 count" unit prices. How useless!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by kmj1104213

My personal favorite is the "Per 100 count" unit prices. How useless!

I don't see anything wrong with "per 100" prices as long as all competing products are priced the same way. What I don't like is when brand A is "per 100", brand B is "per pound" and brand C is "per dozen".

[mrpaseo]

I believe this is their "Loop Hole"

It is frustrating, the common consumer does not notice the difference, they bank on the majority not knowing and they sell the higher priced product. This sort of marketing is an example of passing a bill.

The bill is passed with an understood loop hole; the consumer feels they are taken care of with the bill, the seller feels they are taken care of with the loop hole. In the end, the consumer is still screwed; the seller still makes their money. The only difference is the consumer feels good about it.

It's a screwed up world we live in, the best protection is education.
Ray

[boosami]

Originally Posted by zetta

I wonder if displaying the unit prices in the first place was a requirement imposed by law, or just a custom that grocery chains did voluntarily.

Unit pricing regulations are mandated by state or munipical law. Some go as far as regulating exactly what unit of measurement is to be used for each type of item quantity, e.g. "weight" is unit priced per pound. It just depends on your area.

[simpletron]

I find listing the unit price for vanilla extract in per pound just weird by itself. a pound is a unit of weight whereas I have only seen vanilla extract measured in volume units(milliter, fluid ounce, pint, quart, liter). also per ounce is kind of weird, but you could have forgot/not notice the fl. part or they could have not put it and assume you would assume it is fliud ounces. and sometimes fluid ounce and ounce are used exchangably(but incorrect) so per ounce can be explained.

[mom-from-missouri]

Originally Posted by boosami

Unit pricing regulations are mandated by state or munipical law. Some go as far as regulating exactly what unit of measurement is to be used for each type of item quantity, e.g. "weight" is unit priced per pound. It just depends on your area.

As a former store owner, this is correct. Also, the shelf tags are not made by the store, but by the wholesaler. They come in with each order on a peel off paper, and the store removes and uses the tags as needed--for price increases and new items.

In MO, it is regulated by the department of weights and scales (at least that was the name of it back in the 90's and early 2000's and it was a state office. The same guys also verify that gas pumps and various meters are correctly adjusted.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by mom-from-missouri

the shelf tags are not made by the store, but by the wholesaler.

That seems awkward. That means every week when items go on sale, the wholesaler needs to go into every store and change the tags. Seems like it would be much easier to handle that in-house.

[kork13]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

That seems awkward. That means every week when items go on sale, the wholesaler needs to go into every store and change the tags. Seems like it would be much easier to handle that in-house.

Actually, I think that makes perfect sense. Most times a product goes on sale, it's normally put on sale by the product's company itself, not the store. So when a company is pushing a promotion for their product, they send the sale tags to all of their sellers. A bit of a bother for the company, but it's their product, and they want to sell it, so they're going to take responsibility for ensuring it's priced/marketed as desired. Also keep in mind that often times, products stay on sale for weeks at a time, or don't go on sale at all.

For those times that items are put on sale by the store itself (ex: item on sale in one store but not at one across town), have you noticed that the store uses separate sale signs, stickers, or whatever, but the original yellow price tag is still there? This is the store "handling it in-house."

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by kork13

For those times that items are put on sale by the store itself (ex: item on sale in one store but not at one across town), have you noticed that the store uses separate sale signs, stickers, or whatever, but the original yellow price tag is still there? This is the store "handling it in-house."

That's more of what I'm thinking of. When an item goes on sale at Acme, it isn't also on sale at ShopRite or Wegman's or Pathmark. And the sales at those stores don't apply at the others. Plus, they don't all charge the same price for an item regularly or on sale anyway. I'm sure with computers, it isn't tough for one central place to manage the price changes but it still seems awkward to me.

[PrincessPerky]

Originally Posted by mrpaseo

It's a screwed up world we live in, the best protection is education.
Ray

Ditto that

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by skins_fan

Most stores make the same profit margin on similiar items. Meaning for example on toilet paper, they make around 30% profit on Cotenelle, Charmin or Angel Soft. They really don't care which they sell as long as they are selling something.

Wouldn't they rather sell the most expensive item? 30% of $2.00 is more than 30% of $1.75, for example.

Toilet paper is an interesting example. Years ago (not all that many years), each brand came in just a couple of sizes, perhaps a 4-pack and an 8-pack. Now, the choices have multiplied tremendously. There is a 4-pack, 8-pack, 12-pack, 24-pack. Then there is also the 6-pack of "double rolls" plus a 12-pack and 18-pack of that size. Then there are also the "jumbo" rolls and the "mega" rolls, each with different numbers of sheets and different numbers of rolls in a pack. Just try figuring out which is the best buy based on unit price without an advanced math degree, a scientific calculator and a bottle of Tylenol for the headache you are sure to develop. You can't tell me there isn't some intentional deception built into that process by the manufacturers.

[kork13]

DS, you're totally right. Manufacturers always make changes to their products to save them money, and pass it off to consumers with a positive light. Because toliet paper serves the example so well, I'll keep with it. So here are a couple examples of their "claims" and what it (really means):

"Thicker, more absorbant sheets!" >> (fewer number/footage of sheets, or an excuse to raise the price)
"Now X% more sheets!" >> (lower quality, or an excuse to raise the price)

Same sort of thing goes with cars, clothing, food, and just about any other product out there. Save a couple cents per item saves them bigtime, then they advertise that it's a dramatic improvement when really, it might not be (could even be a negative).

Yes, it's essentially inescapable, but it's better to understand how manufacturers advertise than to go out unaware.

[JeanneElle]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

That is irritating, I wonder if it was all priced at a different time or if they want you not to notice and buy the one they made look better?

Oh, absolutely that's why they do it!! You can't acuse them of lying, either, because they clearly mark what quantities they're pricing. They're just counting on you not paying attention, or being too rushed to bother.

I carry a calculator in my purse... Another thing I do is compare receipts and break down prices into an equal unit for comparison (i.e. per ml., instead of total price) so I get an idea of what a good price is.

Then I have a little notebook in my purse (btw, I'm a SAHM so I have time for this!!) that has the "best prices per ml" that I've seen, so I have an idea of what I'm looking at. I can't remember prices no matter how hard I try, so I have to write them down...

[JeanneElle]

Originally Posted by skins_fan

Keep in mind that these manufacturers aren't out to screw over their consumers. In fact they all work very hard to retain their consumers and their share of the sales.

Also with price increases, this is not the manufacturers neccesarily trying to increase their profits at our expense. Realize that they their costs have gone up just like ours. Fuel is one of the biggest expenses they have. So if they don't increase their prices to off set the increase they have they would go out of business and we would all be growing our own food again.

Good point! You're absolutely right. Mind you, from a marketing perspective, they know that we don't care what the reason for the price increase is, (increased profit or keeping pace with increased cost); they just know that we shop according to our perception of value.

It's true that repeat buyers are the key to their success, but I think if a consumer is more aware of an increase in cost, he or she is more likely to look elsewhere for another option.