Another View of Black Friday

[THE eXchanger]

i've noticed major downsizing in many things

the lastest trick,
is making pototoe chips appear to be the old 500 grams packs,
but, they only have 185 grams in these new packs,
it appears, they seal in a lot of air,
so, they likely, go bad faster

they price them, at 2 for $3.99 (185 gram bags)

regular price, might of been approx 1000 grams for $8.00

vs; 5.4 bags = 1000 grams at $2 = $10.80

it sure looks like you are getting a good deal

til you come home, and, realise

they were actually 35% more expensive,
than, the regular priced ones

trouble is, most folks, can't do math
- so, they NEVER realise how much
the marketing crews, jerk us all around

buyer beware

love/susan
the eXchanger

[Humble Janitor]

I think the solution there is to buy less potato chips. Heh. I deifnitely don't eat as much of that junk as I used to.

I don't mind buying relatives socks and other basic necessities because I care for them. I'm not however going to go overboard on expensive electronics and other junk imported from China.

[Steve_A]

Hi eXchanger,

The practice of putting less in a package has been commonplace down here for some time. The government drew up a law making the manufacturers place the quantity of the product very clearly so as to make it clear to the consumer what they are buying.

It started with yoghurts, then went on to biscuits and the like.

To keep it very simple, with any company, growth and increased profits are a sign of success. When a company can't expand any more it has to find ways of increasing profits (growth). One of the simplest forms is to give the consumer less for the same price, which is ironic as before companies 'sold up' to increase their profits; ie. buy 4 get 1 free.

The air put into bags of potatoe chips is actually to protect them from breaking during the transport, acting as a cushion. However we cannot escape the fact that it does make the package look to be fuller and I'm sure the manufacturers play on that.

I am in the process of sueing a supermarket chain for mis-labeling their prices on products: Was R$5,00 per Kilo; Now only R$0,49 per 100gms! The way the labeling was done with the sizing of the letters and numbers itt appeared that the promotion was: Was R$5,00; Now R$0,49!

There is an English traditional folk song called "Rigs Of The Time" which tells of all this sort of thing: http://sniff.numachi.com/pages/tiRIG...tRIGSTIME.html

It seems that some traditions never die.

Best regards,

Steve

Originally Posted by eXchanger

i've noticed major downsizing in many things

the lastest trick,
is making pototoe chips appear to be the old 500 grams packs,
but, they only have 185 grams in these new packs,
it appears, they seal in a lot of air,
so, they likely, go bad faster

they price them, at 2 for $3.99 (185 gram bags)

regular price, might of been approx 1000 grams for $8.00

vs; 5.4 bags = 1000 grams at $2 = $10.80

it sure looks like you are getting a good deal

til you come home, and, realise

they were actually 35% more expensive,
than, the regular priced ones

trouble is, most folks, can't do math
- so, they NEVER realise how much
the marketing crews, jerk us all around

buyer beware

love/susan
the eXchanger