# Do I Really Need to Buy One to Get One Free? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115 "2010-10-23T18:27:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/21 "2010-10-24T00:55:33Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > At Harris Teeter whenever something is advertised as “buy one, get one free” they actually charge half price; it even says so in the ads: “Item rings at half price with your VIC card”. Also, whenever items are listed at say, 10/$5, each item rings up at fifty cents, regardless of the number I buy. Occasionally they will have “buy 2 get 3 free” sales, where you have have to buy five to get the full value of the sale. I think this may be because you’re in NC, not because of Harris Teeter. In Florida, items that are advertised as BOGO will be one-at-full-price, one-free. In NC / SC (and I believe Georgia), the law says that BOGO items will each ring up at half the price. As far as 10/$10 or 4/$5 – in Florida, that depends on the retailer. I’m not sure of the laws regarding this in other states. In my company, if it’s 4/$5, then each will ring up $1.25 – but I know that in other stores in this state, the first three items would ring up at the regular price, then the fourth would bring the total price down to $5. These are things I’ve learned over my time at this company. I have no citation for the laws I’ve referenced. Sorry ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/22 "2010-10-24T01:20:01Z")
I live in Chicago and Walgreens always says things like “$2 for a dollar, $1.50 for one” and Domincks say “3 for $5.00, must buy all three to get special price” ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/23 "2010-10-24T02:37:24Z")
> [@falcotron](#): > > Yeah, I’ve noticed that at Safeway and the like, the special deal always shows up on the register in a clear, easy-to-understand way (so it’s obvious I’m not getting ripped off), even if the cashier knows nothing about the deal. A few times, I’ve heard things like, “I didn’t know we had that sale, I’ll have to remember to get some on the way home.” > > On the other hand, at Walgreen’s, every time I buy a 2/$5 deal, it shows up as $10 or something else ridiculous, and they have to get half the employees in the store hovering around the register and running around looking at the tags before they finally enter it manually with supervisor override. Are there separate companies dealing with drug-stores-with-a-bit-of-groceries, or is Walgreen’s just completely inept? Separate companies to do what? Setting up the pricing is done by Safeway/Walgreens themselves. Both companies use IBM POS systems, albeit different IBM applications, but both are perfectly capable of handling the pricing methods described. Any screw-ups are down to Walgreens. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/24 "2010-10-24T03:10:56Z")
> [@Carnacki](#): > > In this age of computers, if a store charges 1/2 price each when the sale is “buy one, get one free”, why can’t they charge 2/5 price each when it’s “buy 2 get 3 free”? It’s the same store, right? They have calculators and computers, right? It’s the same verbiage on each sign, right? Seems very weird that a store would do what you describe – not that I doubt you, it just seems weird. Unfortunately, I don’t have a current ad with a “buy 2 get 3 free” sale on it, so I can’t quote exactly how the ads phrase it, but memory tells me that there’s something like “must buy five to get three free”. This can be a bit inconvenient for me when, like last week, one of the items on this sale was 64-oz bottles of juice, since I do my shopping via bus, and hauling five 64-oz bottles onto a bus is a PITA. I’m also fairly certain that there’s also usually a limit of “ten items total”, presumably to keep people from abusing the sale. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/25 "2010-10-24T03:28:57Z")
In the old fashioned grocery store, items were something like 69 cents each, or two for a dollar. If you tried to buy one, you’d pay 69 cents. This is how it still works in some places. There is nothing illegal about it. Similarly, “Buy One Get One Free” clearly indicates that IF you buy one, you get one free. Some stories use it to push merchandise at half price, but around here, if you only buy one item, you pay the same price as if you bought two. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/26 "2010-10-24T03:40:22Z")
Former Kroger’s employee here. Nearly every sale we had that was BOGO or B2G3, etc., you would just get the discount regardless of how many you bought. Which meant I often dealt with customers who would complain that they were charged for two items on a BOGO, and I would have to explain to them they were charge 50% each. The store wants you to buy both, but you’ll get the discount no matter what. Same goes for $10 for 10. it’s all just $1 (but I would see hundreds of customers buying exactly 10) The only exception we had for deli items. For example, they occasionally have tubs of nacho cheese for BOGO. Since they are priced buy weight, you actually had to buy one and get the cheaper one for free. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/27 "2010-10-24T03:42:45Z")
I used to get buy one, get one free bologna at Winn Dixie. One time it got recalled, so I took the unopened one back. They gave me the regular price for it. I finished off the other one with no ill effects. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/28 "2010-10-24T13:46:39Z")
Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle, with stores here in northeast Ohio, will sell you almost all items at half price. A very few items will carry the disclaimer “Must buy two.” These usually are larger-ticket things. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/29 "2010-10-24T20:00:33Z")
As others here have stated, whether BOGOF means you can just get one item for half price depends on who’s making the rules. Usually that’s the store, but sometimes the government gets involved. ISTR in Ontario in the early 2000s any store advertising a BOGOF had to allow the consumer to purchase one item for half price. I know that the previous UK government grumbled about the practice (saying it encouraged overspending and wasted food) and occasionally made vague threats of regulating it. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/30 "2010-10-25T01:10:54Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > Supermarkets also offer deals like 2 for $2. One place would charge me more than $1 when I bought only 1. I stopped going there pretty quickly because there are other places that don’t pull that crap. Schnuck’s supermarkets don’t do this; when it says 2 for $2, one of said item is only $1. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/31 "2010-10-25T01:31:40Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I was shocked to go to a Publix in Florida (we use Publix here in South Carolina all the time) and find out that I did in fact have to buy one to get one free. Seriously, I was about to get all offended but they explained it was state law. Here, you can buy one and get the sale price every time. Wow. I would love to know the FL state law that prohibits a grocer from charging half price on an item… Anyhoo, that was my experience when I lived there. You could buy one of the item, but you paid full price, and the second one was invariably free. In almost every other place in the country, “buy one get one free” simply meant half-price.. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/32 "2010-10-25T01:47:00Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I live in Chicago and Walgreens always says things like “$2 for a dollar, $1.50 for one” and Domincks say “3 for $5.00, must buy all three to get special price” Yeah, I sometimes see this at Walgreens, and sometimes not. The Walgreens by my house has 3/$10 bottles of wine, and they will ring you up at $3.33 if you just buy one. But I’ve seen other items where it says exactly as you state, a bulk price and a single item price. There’s also a liquor store I go to that has 3 for $12 bottles of wine, but charges you something like $5 each if you only buy one or two. I have absolutely no problem with places that only give you the discount for the purchase terms as advertised. I see no reason to assume if something is listed as 2 for $10 that I will be rung up $5 for one. Quite often, this is the case, but it’s not an assumption I would make. If a retailer wants to move stock, offering such deals seems to be a good way of doing it. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/33 "2010-10-25T02:27:14Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I have absolutely no problem with places that only give you the discount for the purchase terms as advertised. I see no reason to assume if something is listed as 2 for $10 that I will be rung up $5 for one. But what price would you expect to pay for one? If there is no other price advertised, which seems to be the case in these “2 for $x” cases, then all you can assume is that you would pay $5 for one. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/34 "2010-10-25T02:49:27Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > But what price would you expect to pay for one? If there is no other price advertised, which seems to be the case in these “2 for $x” cases, then all you can assume is that you would pay $5 for one. No, since it says buy one get one free, that means the first one you buy is full price, but you have the option of getting a second for free. Generally, that isn’t the case, but that would be the assumption with the words as written. There’s no reason to assume that each identical item costs the same amount, and thus simple averages fail. My own experience is that the first item costs more than the average of two items, but less than their total cost. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/35 "2010-10-25T02:52:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > No, since it says buy one get one free. Not in the post I was responding to, it doesn’t. I was responding to pricing of “n for $x”. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/36 "2010-10-25T03:01:29Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > But what price would you expect to pay for one? If there is no other price advertised, which seems to be the case in these “2 for $x” cases, then all you can assume is that you would pay $5 for one. Usually, the single item price _is_ advertised at the store in smaller print for places that don’t follow the 1/2 $x convention. Otherwise, I would expect to pay the store’s regular price for the item, which is usually listed on the shelf below the item in question or on a price tag on the item itself. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/37 "2010-10-25T03:13:52Z")
> [@The\_Controvert](#): > > Supermarkets also offer deals like 2 for $2. One place would charge me more than $1 when I bought only 1. I stopped going there pretty quickly because there are other places that don’t pull that crap. Offering you a discount is pulling crap? You prefer places which charge you full price for two, instead of those who charge you less for two? Glad I’m not in charge of your housekeeping budget! 😃 ---
**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:** [October 25, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/38 "2010-10-25T04:35:08Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Offering you a discount is pulling crap? Yeah, I don’t understand that logic. I’m a small businessman. I may charge $x for one product, but if you buy two or more of them, I’ll give you a discount on the additional ones. Or I may advertise one widget for $250, two for $400 in an effort to sell two. What the heck is wrong with this approach? Sometimes, customers will come to me with the same type of deal. It seems to be normal business, and I’m surprised at how many people take umbrage to it. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/39 "2010-10-25T06:43:00Z")
At the Safeways in AZ if it said buy one get one free, they would give me the one half price. In NV it was a no go. So I chose to take my business elsewhere, figured it was the store managers discretion. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115/40 "2010-10-25T11:48:02Z")
I’ve seen it both ways. One local store is explicit and their price tags state that single-item purchases will be the regular price. As an aside, I was once buying over the phone and I used the phrase Buy-one-get-one-free (as per the company’s advert) and the sales-taker kept correcting me with: No. > [@](#): > > It is _buy one_, get the _second one_ free. I found him mighty annoying, but I’m guessing he had had a previous customer who had trouble with the concept. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-buy-one-to-get-one-free/558115.md?page=3)