At my local grocery store you can buy the 1/2 gallon container of milk for $1.85, or a full gallon container (same brand, same quality) for $3.94.
For the math impaired, that means if you buy two 1/2 gallon containers (total $3.70), instead of the one gallon container ($3.94), you save 24 cents.
BTW, the price has been the same for several weeks now, so it is not a sale, or a misprint.
Doesn’t this seem a bit assbackwards? I mean, isn’t buying in larger containers usually cheaper? Granted, 24 cents isn’t exactly a down payment on a Mercedes, but still…how did they come up with this pricing scheme?
Many people don’t pay attention to the unit price. I admit I’m not even going to scrutinize the price of milk that closely, but I buy half-gallons anyway because I live alone and can’t drink the entire gallon before it goes sour.
I always check the math. And no, it doesn’t make sense to me.
I just bought a bunch of canned chicken broth because the box which was 4 times larger cost more. It was the same brand too.
I couldn’t believe that a paper container would cost more than 4 cans! The “green” part of me really wanted the more biodegradable paper container, but the cans can be recycled, and they were significantly less. I think closer to $1.
By the way, do the grocers there have unit price listed? Here (I’m guessing it’s legislated) all grocery stores have the unit price under the main price.
Probably because milk gallons are purchased by people feeding large families, who are in too much of a hurry to comparison shop. So they can gouge a few extra cents.
I’ve seen similar situations with other products - the larger container has a higher unit price. So I always check. Even tho a gallon fits better in my fridge than 2 half gallons, if it was cheaper to get the half gallons, I would. However, at my grocery, it’s not. Plus we’ve got a buy 9 get one free on gallons of mile - that’s 10% off.
Not sure about that, I’m going to check the math next time I go shopping but we drink a lot of milk and with not enough room in the fridge I’d rather buy a big one than go to the store more often.
What ticks me off is people who have already jumped the price of milk in anticipation of the recycling program* that comes into effect… next June. Not everyone, and not where I usually buy milk but I try to pay attention to my prices.
*We’ll be able to turn them in for 25 cents/4L jug then. I’m not holding onto my milk jugs until June! My basement would be darn full by then, so I just recycle them to the free one for now.
If they have raised the price, then that is more of a deposit on the jug, than a recycling program. And ya, who has room to keep all of their old milk jugs for that long?
I just saw the same thing with cat food at Target. 4 pack of 9-Lives $1.19. “Super Value” 12 pack of 9-Lives, same flavor $4.50. Huh? It was the everyday prices, too, not a sale.
With chicken stock, the box is different - it’s aseptically packaged, which means it isn’t subjected to as much heat as the canned product and has a much better taste.
Check the smaller unit vs. big container as much as you have time to, and you’ll find this disparity all the damn time. Peanut butter is another big offender.
I HATE IT. I buy large quantities of a lot of things, and it drives me crazy to know the bigger container isn’t always the best value. It’s hard to do the math when you’ve got children in tow.
It doesn’t make sense from a strict $/unit size point of view, but it does make sense from a supply/demand view. I’ve seen this type of thing on many other products, which is why I often check the price/ounce on things. If you look around you’ll see it more often than you might think. As others have said, lots of times people just don’t check these types of things or would rather pay the $0.24 for the convenience of having a single container.
The one that amazed me was a large Gas Station store on the corner near where I lived.
For most of the weeks of summer they had cooler by the door with 1 liter brand name pops for $1.49 On the other side, near the groceries was another cooler with 2 liters of the same brand name pops for $1.29
I asked the manager about it, and he kind of laughed and said they both sold very well and made money for the store, but had different markets. The guys and kids who were grabbing something to drink were willing to pay 1.49, not really caring the price,and didn’t really think about it. The moms who were getting stuff for their family priced them as part of the food budget and wouldn’t pay more than $1.29 for a two liter.
I always compare price/oz, but sometimes I get confounded with one brand being price/oz, and a similar item being price/pint, quart, gallon, liter, etc.