# Are Grocery Store "Deals" Getting Worse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781 "2012-08-17T14:39:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/41 "2012-08-18T04:54:09Z")
> [@keturah](#): > > The grocery stores do not pay the same prices for the same items from the manufacturer. There are multiple factors that play into the cost per unit price from a manufacturer including but not limited to transportation costs, other items carried from the manufacturer, advertising incentives and volume. You cannot extrapolate profit margin for all retailers knowing the price and profit margin of another. Exactly :nodding: ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/42 "2012-08-18T04:57:27Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Market Basket/DeMoulas and Hannaford don’t ever have “ **must** buy \_\_” sales, though. Just Shaws (which is also Star Market in MA?). All the $5 for 5 sales at MB etc are really $1 each. Stop & Shop has the same thing with their 10 for $10 specials. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/43 "2012-08-18T05:06:52Z")
It doesn’t make much sense to compare discounts alone. That just confuses things. It could be that, although spot discounting is less now, the bottom line is the same or better because the regular price has improved. Discounts are distractions. Ignore them and look at the final price only. ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/44 "2012-08-18T05:12:26Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > It doesn’t make much sense to compare discounts alone. That just confuses things. It could be that, although spot discounting is less now, the bottom line is the same or better because the regular price has improved. > > Discounts are distractions. Ignore them and look at the final price only. What? I don’t have any idea what you are trying to say here. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/45 "2012-08-18T05:18:46Z")
Publix doesn’t tend to publicize this that I have seen, but you can get only one BOGO items for half price if you don’t want two. I love Publix. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/46 "2012-08-18T12:16:39Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I think I’ve seen similar. But $3.33 is the _sale_ price for M&Ms? Please tell me it’s a giant bag. The regular ones should be like, $2 max. > > This could be for several reasons. 1) an oversight, 2) to encourage people to buy six because they want both, or 3) so they don’t have to ring them up individually if you mix and match. Some stores need to scan each one if you buy one of every flavor of Lithiated Flavor Drink, for inventory control purposes. Or it’s a scam. Because any reasonable person would think: ‘Oh cool, I’ll get one plain and two peanut.’ Then when they go to ring it up at the register, a lot of people are oblivious as to what the items are actually scanning. Especially if we’re only talking about one item out of fifty. Since the register sees two peanut one plain, it charges full price and the customer is none the wiser. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/47 "2012-08-18T12:39:58Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Really? How many items are there that you’d want four of at a time?? You clearly do not share your home with a pair of teenagers 😛 Here in Troll Country, certain grocery chains have “10 kroner” weeks - lists of items for 10 kr. The lists have definitely been getting shorter and less desirable, but I do think that’s because of inflation. (Which isn’t to say that the groocery chains aren’t greedy in other ways, of course.) You used to be able to really stock up on staples during the 10 kr weeks, but now it’s just a gimmick. I’m waiting for one of the chains to go for 15 or 20 kr, but nobody wants to blink first. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/48 "2012-08-18T12:46:09Z")
Food Lion recently started doing 12-packs of sodas something like this: 4 for $12, 3 for $10, 2 for $7, 1 for $4.99 - so you can’t get just one at the sales price, you have to buy 4 for the deal. And any more than 4 are at regular price. I was behind a woman in the checkout line and she was arguing with the poor cashier. Yes, it was spelled out on the sign, but “4 for $12” was in really big print and the other prices were significantly smaller. I’m skeptical and frugal, so I always read everything and check unit prices. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/49 "2012-08-18T15:11:55Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Food Lion recently started doing 12-packs of sodas something like this: 4 for $12, 3 for $10, 2 for $7, 1 for $4.99 - so you can’t get just one at the sales price, you have to buy 4 for the deal. And any more than 4 are at regular price. I was behind a woman in the checkout line and she was arguing with the poor cashier. Yes, it was spelled out on the sign, but “4 for $12” was in really big print and the other prices were significantly smaller. > > I’m skeptical and frugal, so I always read everything and check unit prices. Hmm, I can understand the confusion. At my local Kroger store you _can_ buy one for the sale price. (I never tried to but more than four though) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/50 "2012-08-18T15:39:25Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > I buy a lot of Lean Cuisine at Jewel. At regular prices the freezers would be pretty full. But every 4 weeks almost like clockwork, they’d be on sale and I (and lots of others) would stock up and the freezers would be practically empty. How low do the prices go on the Lean Cuisines at Jewel? I just go to Target, because they generally have something like six or seven varieties of Lean Cuisines or Weight Watchers Smart Ones regularly priced at 1.89 or 1.99. The prices at Jewel are insane. When you get lucky, Target will have a “buy 10, get a $5 gift card” sale, so that’s essentially 50 cents off each unit. Then, if you’re extra clever, you look and see if one of the meals has a “Save $3 when you buy 10” coupon (or is it save $3 when you buy 5?) I think it’s only Weight Watchers that has this coupon. So now you’ve got your lunch meals at effectively $1.09 a unit. 🙂 Admittedly, I don’t usual bother waiting for sales, because Target always has one brand or the other (usually both) at under $2 a unit, and that’s my cutoff point for these sorts of convenience meals. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/51 "2012-08-18T17:29:09Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > You clearly do not share your home with a pair of teenagers 😛 > > Here in Troll Country, certain grocery chains have “10 kroner” weeks - lists of items for 10 kr. The lists have definitely been getting shorter and less desirable, but I do think that’s because of inflation. (Which isn’t to say that the groocery chains aren’t greedy in other ways, of course.) You used to be able to really stock up on staples during the 10 kr weeks, but now it’s just a gimmick. I’m waiting for one of the chains to go for 15 or 20 kr, but nobody wants to blink first. What goes for 10 kr? An apple? 5 grapes? 🙂 [This is three years old](http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/5-times-4-is-less-than-20/), so I don’t know if it’s still true, but it shows some questionable deals at some McDonald’s. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/52 "2012-08-18T18:18:54Z")
> [@keturah](#): > > What? I don’t have any idea what you are trying to say here. He’s saying that if a product is right now selling for $2 off, so that it’s $3 when the normal price is $5, that doesn’t mean much if last week the product cost $3.15. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/53 "2012-08-18T23:31:21Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > He’s saying that if a product is right now selling for $2 off, so that it’s $3 when the normal price is $5, that doesn’t mean much if last week the product cost $3.15. Yup. Similarly, if Store A advertises 10% off and Store B 20% off, it doesn’t necessarily follow that Store B has the better price. 20% off _what_? All these discount deals are just hand-waving and misdirection. Look at the final price you pay. Is it better or worse than 5 years ago? Relative to inflation, I suspect you’d find it’s not much worse. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/54 "2012-08-19T00:42:13Z")
Different chicken for the sale price is becoming common. Regular priced chicken is, well, chicken while the sale stuff is labeled “enhanced with up to 15% of a natural broth”. Well, the “natural broth” is pretty much just salt water that increases the sodium count of the chicken about 2-3 times while increasing its selling weight by 15%. Can’t say that about Kroger- all their chicken is “enhanced”. So is their pork. Jerks. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/55 "2012-08-19T02:31:36Z")
I worked at Kroger’s. There \*\*ARE \*\*some deals where you have to buy 10 in order to get the discount price. If you go to [kroger.com](http://kroger.com) right now, you’ll see an example in this week’s ads. These are different than your usual “10 for $10 but you don’t really have to buy all 10” deals, with these ones you MUST buy the exact amount or you don’t get the discounted price. It was a bitch to deal with, both as a customer and a cashier. I still hate Kroger for pulling that kind of crap. Customers shouldn’t have to deal with these kind of stupid tactics. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/57 "2012-09-25T14:25:25Z")
I bought a smoked shoulder last week. When I opened the package I finally noticed the little consumer advisories on it: Water added in processing. and This product contains up to 23% added content. Taken together, I’ll bet that means, “1/4 of the weight you’ll pay for is tap water.” Which I believe, because when I cut the heat sealed plastic open an absolute GUSH of water made a huge pubble on the counter. \<\\> OTOH, the meat itself _was_ juicy and tender… ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781/58 "2012-09-26T12:55:49Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > Yup. Similarly, if Store A advertises 10% off and Store B 20% off, it doesn’t necessarily follow that Store B has the better price. 20% off _what_? Rite Aid is the worst at that. they like to advertise “Buy One, Get One Free” deals such as Nutri Grain bars but not tell you what the price for one is in the ad. Then you call them and find out the regular price is $4.89 for a pack of 8. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-grocery-store-deals-getting-worse/631781.md?page=2)