Deceptive pricing or creative marketing, do you know when you're being manipulated?

It’s frustrating, but having said that I am aware of supermarkets’ “creative” marketing so I can make informed choices and shop around for better bargains. I don’t tend to do all of my grocery shopping in one store.

It doesn’t anger me but maybe that’s because I’m programmed to dissect an item down all way I can think of. In the land before time (pre 90’s) all of our high schools had mandatory Economics classes which went over advertising, marketing, banking, investing, etc. I thought it was a nationwide basic class.

In our areas, Super Wal Mart, Sam’s Club and Costco are the ones who compete for the basic family goods leaving the traditional chains like Safeway and Albertson’s to wow us with occasional sales on extras goodies such as fancy yogurt, expensive brand cheeses and exotic fruits/vegies.

I do not fall for it at all. It’s great if my husband is along. He’s a math nerd…these types of things amuse him at the store. It’s like the managers have created fun puzzles for him to solve.

I did recently teach my husband that the largest size is often not the cheapest he thought this was some sort of universal truth. Now he’s begun determing which size is the best price per ounce (often our stores don’t break this down on the shelf sticker…they used to but stopped).

The foods we buy are rarely on any sort of a sale so if there is an actual sale on something we buy, I seriously stock up.

@SpatzieLover: My stepkids are honing an art at comparison shopping, they think it’s fun too.

What angers me is that I have to take the time to figure if 4/$7 for a can of Hunt’s diced tomatoes is more than $1.19 for one can of Nalley diced tomatoes.

This chain also makes a big deal about its partnership with a fuel station chain, so when you buy groceries you get a cent-off coupon for gasoline. This gas station locates its stores in residential areas away from competitors and is generally 1 cent higher per gallon than other stations. So the incentive boils down to: I’ll pay 13% more for groceries so I can save 1% on fuel that’s already priced 1% higher than the competition.

@Blueroses We don’t have anything like that in my locale. Personally I’ve had trouble with some of the “cheaper” grocery stores not having the items we need/want and selling brands (especially corporate farm foods) that I refuse to patronize. I now stick to one gourmet foods store, Whole Foods which is quite a drive from our home and occasionally one local co-op store.

We hit Sam’s once a month to buy very specific items and that’s it. I’ve gotten better deals on Amazon by the case than I have at the grocery store.

I don’t fall for it, because I always comparison shop.

This is why I wish all states had a unit pricing law . I was growing up in New York state when this came around and it makes it much easier to comparison shop. For example, if you buy detergent, the label on the shelf shows how much per ounce you’re paying, no matter what brand or size. We don’t have it in Ohio, though I think Giant Eagle might do it voluntarily, and it means that I have to stand in the aisle and do division in my head. Luckily, I can do that pretty quickly. But it annoys me that I have to.

We do all our shopping by the ounce or such. No matter what the size or how many you get, the price per ounce or per piece is the only thing that counts. I used a calculator.

It doesn’t bother me. I believe it is the consumer’s responsibility to look out for their own best interest.

@YARNLADY does it smart! Price per OZ. can be even easier than a calculator, at least here they show the price per ounce very small on the left side of the price label on the shelf. And even if it’s not per oz, they always have a “per unit” price next to the regular price, to more easily compare items of different sizes.

You don’t need laws to protect people from these tactics, you just need people to give a care about themselves enough to be aware.

You don’t need laws to protect people from these tactics True @mrrich724. But when your state has that law, then the price per oz must be clearly labeled for all to see. Not everyone is educated enough to figure this out on their own.

Ah, I see your point.

Been my experience men are the main targets because men, just want to go there, grab something and get the hell out already. The women seem to say “hang on a minute, this is a shitty deal”, because they have the art of bargains down. It’s a stereotype, I know but retailers will take full advantage of it.

Wow, @woodcutter I never thought of sexist marketing for this question. So, you’re saying the national chain is betting that they’ll profit on the backs of men who walk in thinking “She said to get tomatoes and tampons. Done. I’m out of here.”?

After reading a very entertaining book about this, Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (And How to Take Advantage of It) I am aware and fighting. (Not winning, but certainly rebelling.)

@Blueroses Yeah something like that. Generally men don’t want to make a career out of going to the store and the stores also know this. So they cater to the men my making things easier for them…by putting the more expensive stuff where they think the men are more apt to look not using much time or effort. Oh the mind games. When they get home and show ma- ma the receipt he gets an earful because he spent too much. But all he did was get what he was supposed to so he takes away from this whole thing is he remembers why he hates going to the store. And the whole cycle repeats the next time the guy goes in and wants to make the whole experience as quick as possible and gets burned again.