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Always get the bigger pizza
- Lockyy 13y agoThis seems to be working under the false assumption that because something is better value for money you are inherently saving money. You're still spending more by getting the larger pizza, even though it's cheaper per cm^2. This is a trap that is way too easy to fall into, especially since it's exploited so heavily via deals and sales in supermarkets.
- georgemcbay 13y agoAgreed; Also while YMMV depending upon living/family situation and other factors there are potentially health issues at play too in that chances are pretty good you're going to devour the rest of that pizza in a relatively short time period after buying it, if it is just sitting there in the fridge. I'm personally kind of peeved that it is nearly impossible these days to buy some things (eg. bags of tortilla chips) that aren't comically super-sized, because I know if I buy the big bag and they are just sitting in the kitchen I'm likely to overeat them, so I just end up not buying them at all.
- Dylan16807 13y agoAre you saying that a big bag is more tempting to you than a small bag, or that you want a single-serving package? I can't help much in the latter case except to point out that using your own bags to repack would be fast and far cheaper than typical single serving packages. But if it's the former then you have me intrigued. How does the size of the bag affect your perception?
- aninhumer 13y agoI presume what they mean is that having an open bag in the kitchen encourages you to have a few every time you pass through. The problem with it being a big bag is that this happens more often before they run out.
- Dylan16807 13y agoThis assumes not replacing the bag when it's empty, which seems to defeat the point of having it available in the first place. But assuming you're right: eating an entire non-supersized bag is almost as bad as eating an entire supersized bag. The solution is not a moderately-less-bad splurge size, it's putting the bag away.
- dagw 13y agoThis assumes not replacing the bag when it's empty Which is the common case in my experience. Once every few weeks or so I'll be food shopping and think, you know what I really want now, chips! And then I'll buy a bag, take it home, eat it and then not buy chips for another few weeks. So the smaller the bag, the less chips I eat. You're proposal works on the assumption that human willpower is constant and infinite.
- Dylan16807 13y agoIgnore the proposal then. (though it doesn't assume infinite willpower, it's about putting things out of sight.) Focus on the main point, that it's still quite bad to eat an entire non-supersized bag. If the original wish of 'no supersized bags' was granted, no problem would be solved! There would be even more chip overeating on georgemcbay's part, as they bought more bags. It's like comparing 22 inch and 30 inch pizzas, nobody should be eating an entire pizza that big over the course of a couple days.
- r00fus 13y agoYour example is slightly flawed - I much prefer larger sizes on long-shelf life items like chips because I can just buy a 100ct box of sandwich bags, and divvy it up nicely so that the extra bags are sealed, but separate. I take one to work every once in a while. The hot food example I agree with - small portions are economically punished except with very quality food (which is expensive anyway).
- MichaelApproved 13y agoYou're forgetting about leftovers. For a few bucks more you an end up with an extra meal at a lower than average price.
- JoeAltmaier 13y agoYay. Pizza. Again.
- jamesaguilar 13y agoTwo things. If you really care about the price difference between a med and small, then you may also be in a category that would be willing to eat the same thing again. I.e. You may not have a choice. At any rate it keeps for a day or two in the fridge, so it's not like you have to have it for back to back meals.
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- lugg 13y agoI'm failing to see the problem you see. If you don't like pizza why did you get it in the first place?
- JoeAltmaier 13y agoIts ok, one a week or whatever. Not some great delicacy, Especially not cold and day-old.
- kiiski 13y agoYou know you can make things warm again with a microwave oven, right? ;) Seriously though, there are people who will gladly eat pizza every day. Just because you don't like it (or maybe you just don't have any quality pizza restaurants nearby), doesn't mean it's a bad idea.
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- saurik 13y agoThis article format is apparently "point--counterpoint"; here is the opposing article, "One Reason to Get Whatever Size Pizza You Want". http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/02/26/282547399/one-reason-to-get-whatever-size-pizza-you-want http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/02/26/282547399/one-reas...
- Oculus 13y agoI think to get a more accurate value per pizza size we need to factor in the associated medical costs of always opting for the larger pizza. </sarcasm>
- mitchty 13y agoI know this comment is a joke and all, but really as long as the bigger pizza isn't eaten in one sitting there really isn't an issue. I know I've bought large pizzas with the full intention of eating the whole thing over a few days time.
- cgriswald 13y agoNot sure about that. Your body is only able to absorb so much in one sitting. Eating the pizza all in one sitting might be the healthier option.
- drdaeman 13y agoFor a weight deficient person without major health issues, pizza seems good. A single large meat pizza is tasty, has about 2-3Mcal and has fair amounts of both carbs and protein. I just have to not eat it at once but protract the consumption for a whole day (and chew properly and have enough water), to keep stomach reasonably happy with the meal.
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- dkarl 13y agoYou should always let your decisions be dictated by the easiest number to calculate precisely. If it's just a number somebody gave you, that doesn't seem very smart. If you have to guess and wave your hands, that doesn't seem very smart, either. If you compute the number using math, now that's smart. You can graph it, you can pick a nice sharp-looking number of decimal places. You can write the formula using algebra. That's economics.
- TulliusCicero 13y agoSo you're saying that by purchasing a larger size, the cost per unit is reduced? Astounding!
- nitrogen 13y agoStrangely, that's noy always the case. Sometimes the per-unit price increases at the larger size of an identical product. I've seen this in laundry detergent, for example.
- thaumasiotes 13y agoI've seen this too. One of the weirder examples was a KFC offering biscuits for 64 cents each or four for $2.57
- cgriswald 13y agoI just saw this today with lightbulbs. A two-pack cost more than twice what a single bulb cost.
- SixSigma 13y agoBut also your opportunity cost is increased. Now you don't have enough for a drink to go with it, and drinking with you meal increases the nutrients you can absorb.
- polemic 13y agoThis is why, as a company, you always provide demand curve pricing that allows every potential consumer to spend as much as they possibly can. When it comes to pizza, the majority of the cost is labor plus fixed costs. The actual material cost of goods is negligible - but perceived value is high.
- tzury 13y agoa) The pizza place I go to, sell it by weight and it is not round, rather rectangles [1]. b) When it comes to food, money should not be the only factor in the equation. There is the health aspect as well, and if you are not that hungry, you better off eat what you need, rather than eat more just because it is cheaper. This applies on all junk/industrial/processed food - the less you consume, the better! Your health is important at least as your wealth. Another example, if you are thirsty and a can of Coke is enough, get the can, despite the fact a larger bottle has x5 drink in it and cost few cents more, simply because a bottler will make you drink more Coke, while you should drink less. [1] http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293984-d807042-Reviews-Tony_Vespa-Tel_Aviv_Tel_Aviv_District.html http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293984-d807042...
- WildUtah 13y agoa: Even with rectangular pizzas sold by weight, the larger one is a better value than the small. Consider that the border of the pizza is a 2-3cm wide crust that will probably go to waste because eating that much white bread is awful. In any case, it lacks delicious cheese, sauce, and black olives or pepperoni. The larger the pizza, the smaller the ratio of fixed width perimeter to center. If the area of the perimeter were to maintain a constant ratio to the total area, it's width would have to increase in proportion. That applies to any 2D shape, not just a circle or square. In fact, the calculation in op is wrong because a 16" pizza isn't merely four times as large as an 8" pizza. The 1" crust makes the 16" really a 14" while the 8" is really a 6". 14^2/6^2 = 5.44 times as large. b: If you were to say anything like that in the USA, you'd be reported to the TSA for un-American activities as soon as anyone heard you. And the NSA would hear you, even if you said it inside your own head. So bring a 100ml or smaller bottle of lube with you for the probe next time you fly.
- thaumasiotes 13y agoIt's kind of weird to assume that the person you're talking to, who you know nothing about, naturally won't eat pizza crust. I eat it. I like it. The crust is part of the pizza.
- beloch 13y agoBigger pizza's are also the better choice for increasing the ratio of topping area to crust, assuming constant crust thickness through the various sizes for a given pizzeria.
- mistercow 13y agoI feel like pizza places made a mistake when they first decided that diameter was the way to go with advertising pizza sizes. Human brains like to think in linear terms (unless the numbers get really big, in which case we seem to switch to logarithmic thinking because we just look at how long the number is), so at worst, you want the relationship between cost of production and the number you advertise to be linear. Even an educated person is going to intuitively feel like a 16 inch pizza is twice as big as an 8 inch, and a less educated person will actually think as much.
- bryanlarsen 13y agoSince costs are dominated by labour & fixed costs, the production costs may well be close to linear with diameter.
- enraged_camel 13y agoThe hidden cost of always getting the bigger pizza is your health. I wonder what the picture will look like when you factor that into the equation...
- dsr12 13y agoI don't get it. If someone is not hungry then what's the point of paying more for a larger pizza when you are probably not going to eat all of it. I am also surprised that we think it's fine to buy more than what we can eat just because we can pay for it!
- acchow 13y agoAnd eat the leftovers for dinner... reheated on a pan, it's actually pretty good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWIJNaA-JNA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWIJNaA-JNA
- dblotsky 13y agoThis article is wonderful! The whole point is that you can be more efficient with your pizza money when buying larger pizzas as opposed to smaller pizzas. And regarding health concerns: you don't have to eat the whole thing at once! Besides, Pizza is pretty much the food of choice for feeding groups, and being more efficient with your group food budget is totally a win.
- wgx 13y agoOne reason to get whatever size pizza you want: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/02/26/282547399/one-reason-to-get-whatever-size-pizza-you-want http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/02/26/282547399/one-reas...
- the_cat_kittles 13y agoim sorry, this is just astoundingly stupid. the concept that you get more per dollar if you spend more is ubiquitous. thats the only thing this article considers. what the hell?
- SixSigma 13y agoThis engineer hasn't studied the Toyota Way. Put him in charge of production and he will kill your company. "We need 5000 widgets" "That will cost $10,000 but if we make 10000 it will cost $15000 making each one cheaper" Overproduction kills. The pizza place is laughing because the cost of production doesn't square with the radius.
- drdaeman 13y agoDepends on the use case and personal preferences, I believe. For me, as I happen to love pizza, better prices on larger ones is a win. It's either cheaper calories (if I consume it at once) or meal that lasts longer (if I eat a half of it and eat leftovers for a several hours later). In rare cases I consider I really want just a tiny bit and won't like any more pizza for the next 6 hours I obviously order a smaller one.
- SixSigma 13y agoYou need to consider the times you don't eat your leftovers and the times you ate your leftovers because they were there and still ate the other meals you would have without having the pizza In business, inventory is expensive, especially if you end up throwing it away. http://mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-31/american-automobile-glut-unsold-cars-are-piling-up http://mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-31/american-... 3.27 million unsold cars sitting on the tarmac. That's two weeks total US car sales, and 10 of the top selling 20 are Japanese marques http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html Producing more than twice what you sell makes no sense unless your metric is cost of production per car rather than sales per car produced
- schiang 13y agoA lot of companies use this strategy. For example 24 hour fitness in my area offers a 3 year membership for ~$600 as opposed to paying $24/month. I was happy with my decision to pay monthly because I was able to switch to a new gym a year later. Buying the bigger pizza only makes sense if you know you or someone else can finish it. If you buy a bigger pizza and don't finish eating it, you end up wasting money.
- vacri 13y agobecause the medium was more than twice as big as the small, and it cost only a little bit more. This sort of blew my mind. Keep in mind that the cost of a pizza is not just the cost of the ingredients (dough and tomato paste also being particularly cheap). The wages of the worker, the fuel for the oven, and the rental for the shop are all constants.
- wulczer 13y agoThat's also why, when you go to the movies and it turns out tickets cost the same regardless of the film, you should go for the one with the longest running time.
- emiliobumachar 13y agoJust as I was finally breaking free of the mindset of actually eating all I can at all-you-can-eat buffets...
- bryanlarsen 13y agoArea is not the best measure of pizza size either. "Regina-style" pizza is a lot thicker than normal pizza -- an 18" pizza at Vern's weighs 10 pounds. Even better than selling by weight would be selling by calorie. Virtually all customers would get a good impression of both the value and the costs of that pizza. Too accurate -- it would probably significantly decrease sales.