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I've started noticing some sneaky math in my local supermarket. When comparing two items, both list the unit price, but they list the price in different units.
by _ah 9y ago
I've started noticing some sneaky math in my local supermarket. When comparing two items, both list the unit price, but they list the price in different units. Example: A 1.4-lb package lists the price per oz, while the 0.8-lb package lists the price per lb. In every case, the intent seems too be an attempt to induce math errors and cause someone to accidentally purchase the package with the higher true unit price.
- fnord123 9y agoJust multiply or divide by 10s or 100s or whatever. It's not hard. Oh.. oh yeah. ;)
- walshemj 9y agoThat's not going to work with imperial units :-)
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- zyberzero 9y agoI've noticed this as well here in Sweden. Take for example bacon - product A is listed in terms of price/slice while the other is listed as price/weight. It's ridiculous.
- tonylemesmer 9y agosame in the UK, some items priced per kg and others per 100g - not insurmountable but just another slight hump in the road to easy comparison when you're stood there.
- 0xfeba 9y agoI've noticed a similar thing. I always assumed it was negligence, not malice.
- gumby 9y agoYeah, Whole Foods in particular often lists the price "per item" (one package of 14.5 oz at $8.25 "per item" and another of 12 oz at $6.10 "per item") which makes a mockery of the unit pricing law. I wrote to the A.G. a few years ago but nothing happened.
- rbcgerard 9y agoI’ve noticed some weird anomalies as well like if there is a small, medium, and large size package the large sized package isn’t always the cheapest per unit - as they assume customer will just assume the largest packages has the lowest per unit price
- WorldMaker 9y agoSome supermarket chains have an ethics policy against shelving like that with mixed units and if you catch it, and report it to a manager they will apologize and correct it. I recall Kroger used to have a big focus on it, but a quick skim of current ethics policies on their website doesn't show an explicit mention. However they still have "honesty" as a guiding goal, so supposedly it's still worth reporting.