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]

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]

Unit Pricing

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

[disneysteve]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.