OT: Saving two cents

One place you have to be very careful about quantity purchases is Wal Mart. Some of their jumbo sizes of everything from paper towels to a lot of food its is more expensive as package size gets larger. Sometimes a lot more expensive.

RonB

Now you must donate that 2 cents to a charity. That 2 cents should feed one child for two seconds. or two children for one second.

Yes... which always seems a bit surprising given that it uses less packaging and printing (on a per-item basis) to wrap larger quantities.

Do they just charge more for larger because they can get away with it (people automatically assume the larger quantities are a better deal) ior is it all down to the risk of ending up with more unsold product with jumbo packs?

cheers

Jules

When stores went to computer inventory, the software figures in a sort of 'rent for the shelf space'. If something turns over slower, it pays a 'higher rent'.

Reason tells us that if you have an equal number of folks who use the same amount of Mayo, and 1/2 buy quarts, and 1/2 buy gallons. Those folks who buy gallons won't be buying mayo as often. If we don't buy as often, we're not in the store as often, and the store can't get us to pick up those high profit items at the counter.

And the gallons turn over slower, because they are bigger.

So the unit price for the gallons goes up a little. Then everyone who notices it is the same price per ounce starts buying 4 quarts-- driving the 'rent' even higher on the gallons.. . . and so on, until the store stops carrying the gallons because it just isn't profitable. [and sending the real bargain hunters to the big box store to buy the

Jim

Ah yes, a rational explanation. The price per unit is a myth in many places. One product will be quoted in $/oz, another product right next to it will be quoted in $/pound. I can multiply in my head so I can do a rough conversion, but I often wonder why the $/unit is not in the same units, especially when the two adjacent products are the same type of merchandise.

Last summer I discovered this "Landshark" beer that I really liked. The local grocery store had it in 6-packs and 12-packs. $7.99 for the

I buy cheese, two 8oz packs for $4. A 16oz pack of the same brand and flavor is $4.99. A 24oz pack of the same brand and flavor is $7.49.

The store sells "club packs" of meat to compete with Sam's Club. Unit price is usually higher than the individual portions, and I also have to handle raw meat to rebag it and freeze it...

Larger quantities aren't always cheaper.

Andy comments: Great reply, Jim.... I never thought of that...... Thanks for the heads up....

BTW, I've seen this all over in things. As a retired engineer, I seem to automatically do the math in my head , and I wax in wonderment at why anyone would buy five gallons of beans at a higher price than

So, thanks for the enlightenment..

Andy in Eureka, Texas

Eureka, where old men take Viagara so they are able to have sex with old women....

Andy writes :

OK , I just Have to add an observation of mine....

The local grocery store often has "chicken thighs and drumsticks" on sale for 39 cents a pound..

They also, often , have "chicken breasts " on sale for 99 cents a pound...

I eat a lot of chicken...

I bought a bunch of "thighs and legs" and weighed them. I then discarded the parts I don't eat (skin, fat), and cooked them. And then I weighted the parts (bones, gristle) left over..... The cost for the meat I actually ate was about a dollar a pound....

I did the same for the "breasts"....The cost came out to approx the same --- a dollar a pound.....

So, given that info, I will pay a dollar a pound for chicken....

If the store sells " thighs,legs" for MORE than 39c USD per pound, I don't buy...

If "breasts" go for more than one dollar USD per pound, I don't buy...

When on sale, I usually by six months supply....

I have been doing this for several years, and and very pleased with myself...

Any posters than can contribute with similar scientific inquiry and assessment to further this research are encouraged to vent their rath....

Andy in Eureka, Texas

Over the years people have become conditioned to ASSUME the larger packages of things have a lower unit price.

Store owners, desperate to maintain profit margins, have gotten wise to this and are now doing the opposite.

They justify it in their minds by saying that it's the consumer's responsibility to know what they're buying, and technically they're right.

Have you made any plans on what to do with all that money? :)

I buy a lot of Friskies canned cat food. The multi-packs (I've seen 12, 24, and 32) usually cost more than that many single cans. That would be paying for the cardboard (added in multi-packs).

Not always. Many times the larger package contains multiple smaller packages. The smaller ones AND the larger are wrapped.

-snip-

You would think that should be part of the law. I can usually do the math-- but a couple months ago I was having a hard time at Samsclub deciding which jar of honey was cheaper. On the unit price, one was in ounces and one was in pounds.

Just as I figured it out, I noticed that the jar that was unit priced in ounces, was a one pound jar. Duh.

Jim

I'm still smarting over trading in a 5 gallon empty tank of propane for a full tank which in relatively small print on the side says it contains

Another story, a long time ago back in high school, a class mate worked part time in a dry goods store. He said that something like a shirt that normally sold for $2 would be put on sale at 2/$5. Maybe the store had to recoup the cost of advertising the sale ;)

Thats a steal. Around here it costs $50 an hour to rent a woman, just to feel her breasts. If you want to do more to her than that, the price goes up quite a lot. The weight of the breasts dont matter, it's just charged by the hour. Actually, I dont know how anyone would weigh breasts, without cutting them off first. Most women would object to that.

My local BJ's Wholsale carries Chicken Fillets, which are smaller and much more tender than the boneless breasts. The chicken even comes sealed in individual packages (~3/4 lb, ~4 fillets) within the bulk package.

When I asked the butcher why they were so much cheaper he said it was because everyone just "naturally" buys the breasts, so they simply charge more for them.

True, we have to handle more pieces per meal, but we find the fillets better tasting and certainly cheaper.

I like to buy the best deal in single both toilet and towel. I don't like open rolls getting dirty.

Greg

Where are you storing them that they get so dirty?

A lot of propane is sold that way (15lb in 20lb tank). I noticed that the Walgreens store here has it from a company called "Heritage Propane" that claims 17lb. Considering that the tanks aren't supposed to have more than