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Yea, this is something that's always impressed me about this US. In other countries, I have to pull up a calculator app on my phone, and calculate the price per

Yea, this is something that's always impressed me about this US. In other countries, I have to pull up a calculator app on my phone, and calculate the price per kg for various packaging sizes, to figure out which one is the best deal. It's almost as though store labels in the US are designed with the discerning consumer in mind...

blihp 7y ago
Don't be too impressed. We only have the price per unit listings, ingredient lists etc. as the result of bad business practices (and sometimes deaths) in the previous century. So it's not retailers or manufacturers responding to consumer demand... they're responding to government laws and regulation.
- refurb 7y ago
  As most regulations are around the world - a response to some problem. It’s not unique to the US. Do you have a source for the $/Oz being due to bad behavior? From what I’ve heard it was done purely to address consumer demand.
  - hirsin 7y ago
    It's rarely purely price/oz. Often it's mixed units - eg for granola bars or similar you'll see four different items listed at - Price/oz Price/lb Price/bar Price/unit (which might be bar or package of two bars) So you get tk calculate the difference in your head.
  - blihp 7y ago
    True enough re: them usually being a response to a problem. See the 'Background' section on page 11 of https://www.nist.gov/document/sp1181-unit-pricing-guidepdf https://www.nist.gov/document/sp1181-unit-pricing-guidepdf and more generally https://www.nist.gov/pml/weights-and-measures/laws-and-regulations/retail-and-unit-pricing-laws https://www.nist.gov/pml/weights-and-measures/laws-and-regul.... So yes, it was done purely to address consumer demand... by way of laws and regulations with producers and retailers under threat of even more onerous laws and regulations. A contemporary example to hopefully convey the situation back then: if 'right to repair' becomes law at some point, this would also be due to consumer demand. Notice the level of interest companies have in addressing this consumer demand prior to legislation being passed...
Shaanie 7y ago
Which other countries are you talking about? European countries are, afaik, required to show a comparison price. I'm more surprised there are developed countries that do not require it.

blihp 7y ago

Don't be too impressed. We only have the price per unit listings, ingredient lists etc. as the result of bad business practices (and sometimes deaths) in the previous century. So it's not retailers or manufacturers responding to consumer demand... they're responding to government laws and regulation.

refurb 7y ago
As most regulations are around the world - a response to some problem. It’s not unique to the US. Do you have a source for the $/Oz being due to bad behavior? From what I’ve heard it was done purely to address consumer demand.
- hirsin 7y ago
  It's rarely purely price/oz. Often it's mixed units - eg for granola bars or similar you'll see four different items listed at - Price/oz Price/lb Price/bar Price/unit (which might be bar or package of two bars) So you get tk calculate the difference in your head.
- blihp 7y ago
  True enough re: them usually being a response to a problem. See the 'Background' section on page 11 of https://www.nist.gov/document/sp1181-unit-pricing-guidepdf https://www.nist.gov/document/sp1181-unit-pricing-guidepdf and more generally https://www.nist.gov/pml/weights-and-measures/laws-and-regulations/retail-and-unit-pricing-laws https://www.nist.gov/pml/weights-and-measures/laws-and-regul.... So yes, it was done purely to address consumer demand... by way of laws and regulations with producers and retailers under threat of even more onerous laws and regulations. A contemporary example to hopefully convey the situation back then: if 'right to repair' becomes law at some point, this would also be due to consumer demand. Notice the level of interest companies have in addressing this consumer demand prior to legislation being passed...

Shaanie 7y ago

Which other countries are you talking about? European countries are, afaik, required to show a comparison price. I'm more surprised there are developed countries that do not require it.