I was stalking the motor oil aisles of two major auto parts stores out here, and noticed for the first time something that rather surprised me. For all of the brands that I bothered to check, the cost of a box of 12 1-quart bottles was exactly 12 times the cost of a single bottle. To the friggin’ cent.
I had always sort of assumed that there was some kind of volume discount in the pricing scheme, like there is for so many other things. Food comes most rapidly to mind - the larger sized containers of foodstuffs almost always have a lower unit cost.
Does anybody have any idea why this logic does not seem to apply to motor oil? Or why I’m silly to even expect that it would?
well, not always buying larger quantity will get you better price. I guess if the margin is small enough they have no ineterest in selling you more at a rediced margin.
Even more puzzling is when cereals or other groceries cost more (per unit) in the larger sizes. I have seen this many times.
The only thing I can think of is sometimes there are store sales or coupons for a few bucks off a case of motor oil. It’s more convienent for people who buy their oil in bulk to have it still in the box, rather than having to count out and carry 12 seperate bottles. It saves time in shelving, too.
And sailor is right, you have to look at the unit costs carefully in grocery stores. Sometimes the bigger box is not the better deal. Same in warehouse stores, they don’t always have the lowest per unit price.
