Biggest Ripoff in the Grocery store

If there was one (or two, or a few) items that you chose to buy somewhere other than the grocery store, what would those item(s) be?

toilet paper

Beer and OTC medication.

DVD’s, batteries, greeting cards and cookware.

Razor blades

Although I switched from a Mach 3 cartridge to an old school safety razor a couple years ago so it’s moot

Having worked for the USA’s largest grocery wholesaler, I can state that the largest profit margins (thus the most over-priced to customers) are on the non-food items in the store. Just about anything that you don’t eat: office supplies, paper, pencils, light bulbs, batteries, utensils, pots & pans, greeting cards, etc.

And the most over-priced of them are the seasonal items: halloween masks, christmas items, etc. These are priced higher because they have a short selling season, and any left unsold after the holiday get sold off at major discounts.

But possibly there is one item that is a bigger ripoff than any of these: bottles of water. Many grocery stores now sell water at a vastly inflated price. This water comes directly from the same city water pipes that go to people’s houses, and the containers aren’t even filled – the customer does that work in the store! Supposedly, this water is filtered; stockboys are supposed to change the filters regularly – do you think that actually happens?

It seems to be that way, if I can buy it on Ebay and the P&P isn’t horrendous, it quite often turns out cheaper. For example, the dust bag and filter for our vacuum cleaner.

The biggest ripoff in the grocery store is anything you buy that’s not on sale. Every week, a bunch of different things, food and non-food, are on sale, so in the space of a month, you can pretty much buy everything you need at a discount, if you time it right. When on sale, the grocery store price is usually competitive with just about anywhere else.

Drinking straws.

General Questions is better suited to questions which have a distinct factual answer. Polls are better conducted in IMHO. Moved.

samclem GQ moderator

Batteries and light bulbs. Easily triple what Home Depot charges.

The little plastic packages of fresh herbs. $2.99 is nuts. The other problem is that they’re exactly the wrong size–if you’re making, say, tomato sauce, you don’t even need half of the package, but it would take half a dozen of them to make a decent batch of pesto.

I don’t know if this counts, but on a non-sale day (which is most days), a 12-pack of Pepsi or Coke costs $4-5 at the regular big grocery store.

On most days (especially in the summer and on holidays), there is a sale on Pepsi and Coke at our local “deep discount store” which puts it between $2.50 and $3 for a 12-pack. I was just there the other day and there were no sales - a 12-pack costs $3.88 regularly, it seems (no sales).

The “deep discount” store is also where I go before I go to the “grocery store” to get whatever I can find for cheaper. I usually buy paper products and cleaning supplies there. It’s one of those places where the stock is hit-or-miss. So, technically it’s a grocery store just not a very good one :slight_smile:

Blowjobs in the warehouse.

Nuts are cheap for $2.99!

Costco, baby. I pick up a 36 pack of AAs once a year for like ten bucks. That lasts through a full year of kids toys. Compare to 4.99 for a 4 pack at Safeway? Yeah, not so much.

Too bad you don’t have a Kroger Plus! card.

Yes, and on triple coupon week! :rolleyes:

Deodorant and shampoo. Toiletries are better purchased at the dollar store around here. As long as they’re name brand why pay a dollar or two more at the grocery store?

Motor oil, It was after normal business hours and was in a hurry (already shopping) so I paid what I recall was at least 30% more than whats normally charged at the gas station or parts store.