# New stupid grocery sale ritual **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 23, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257 "2009-09-23T16:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/41 "2009-09-25T13:40:23Z")
Makes me wish the still had Green Stamps. At least the kids had fun with them licking and sticking in the booklets. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/42 "2009-09-25T14:19:49Z")
> [@Brainiac](#): > > Makes me wish the still had Green Stamps. At least the kids had fun with them licking and sticking in the booklets. Well…in a way, they still do. You don’t get actual stamps anymore, but IIRC you get “points” that accumulate on…you guessed it, your store loyalty card. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/43 "2009-09-25T14:27:15Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I have quite enough things in my wallet as it is, thank you very much. In my area, all cards are tiny and are hole punched to fit on your key chain, or you can punch in your telephone number at the terminal. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/44 "2009-09-25T14:33:20Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Where is the local Sunoco, anyway? The wife and I have been searching for weeks to find a gas station that will accept that card. I thought it was the one in the Shaw’s Powerhouse plaza, near Ninety-Nine Restaurant, the one with the car wash? Across from the Mobil (that may now be an Irving?). The one that says “Sandri”. > [@bouv](#): > > Maybe there’s only one Sunoco near you, and I guess that could be what the “word on the street” is referring to. Sorry, that’s what I meant. Locally, there’s only one station. I know that’s not Price Chopper’s fault! ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/45 "2009-09-25T16:57:47Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > On at least some cards, you have to respond to the frigging email they send you in order to activate the card. I have several email addresses, and I only check one of them every day. I check another a couple of times a week, and the others just don’t get checked, unless I’ve given them out recently. Let me introduce you to the wonderful world of [Mailinator.com](http://Mailinator.com) When asked for an email address, make up anything @mailinator.com. No need to register that address first. Mailinator will accept the email and hold the email for a short time (I don’t know how long that is) If you need to access that email, like having to activate something, you go to [mailinator.com](http://mailinator.com), enter the name you used, and read the mail. Notes: There is no password to read stuff sent to [mailinator.com](http://mailinator.com) addresses. Anyone can read it, if they can guess the name you used. You can not send email from a [mailinator.com](http://mailinator.com) address, not even to forward it. It’s strickly a holding bin. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/46 "2009-09-25T17:07:20Z")
Thanks to my Kroger card I haven’t paid a cell phone bill in three months. Kroger has that preselect thing too but mine doesn’t work for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/47 "2009-09-25T17:10:40Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I thought it was the one in the Shaw’s Powerhouse plaza, near Ninety-Nine Restaurant, the one with the car wash? Across from the Mobil (that may now be an Irving?). The one that says “Sandri”. Ah, OK. I think we actually missed that one. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/48 "2009-09-26T19:18:50Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > If you travel, you can play “which out-of-state loyalty card works in which local store?” Often the local store employees will resist, but if you find a bored cashier or a self-checkout, you can have some fun. If you already know which card will work you can tease the employees with their lack of knowledge of their own corporation.“Albertsons? What’s that?” > “Trust me, it’ll work” > _beep_ > “I don’t understand why.” > 😃 > > Last time I tried, in 2008: > Ralph’s and Kroger’s cards work with each other. > Albertson’s and Shaw’s work with each other. I was at a Kroeger in Indiana, and my phone number worked. Kroeger bought Fred Meyer, which is what I use where I live in Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/49 "2009-09-27T14:09:22Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > … What you want is a 2-tiered or multi-tiered pricing system. … > > Places like Pizza Hut and KFC have had a 2-tiered pricing structure for ages. They do this by have ever-present coupons available. These coupons make a big deal in price…usually 20-30%…and they are ALWAYS available if you look. I did this with Dominoes just a couple of days ago. I always call in my order for pickup and the owner automatically applies the coupon, But this time the new clerk told me a higher price. I told her I always got the lower price but she wouldn’t budge. So I went online and printed the coupon before I came in. She backed out the order and resubmitted it with the coupon key and handed me back the coupon. I have no idea how that works. ---
**Author:** ![Emmy2635](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/919ad9/32.png) [@Emmy2635](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emmy2635)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/50 "2009-09-28T23:00:23Z")
Coupons can save you a significant amount of money, if you know what to purchase. There are hundreds of blogs that list the deals each week. For example, here are some free/cheap products at Safeway this week: •Fresh Express garden salads, shreds and spinach ($1): use $1 off any “blends” = FREE - coupons are on display in produce in a small cardboard box. •Campbell’s Tomato and Chicken noodle soups (.50 cents each): use $1 off 2 [HERE](http://promotion.familytime.com/cscc/default.asp)= FREE •Safeway Filone small Artisan dinner bread ($1.29): use $1 off [HERE](http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Print-Coupons#iframetop) = .29 cents •Suave hair care (.88 cents): use $1 off 2 from 9/13 Red Plum = .38 cents each •Aquafresh toothpaste (.88 cents): - the recent insert coupons .50 cents off one are for “premium” toothpaste - = .38 cents ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/51 "2009-09-29T14:23:00Z")
> [@Never\_Say\_Dice](#): > > I did this with Dominoes just a couple of days ago. I always call in my order for pickup and the owner automatically applies the coupon, But this time the new clerk told me a higher price. I told her I always got the lower price but she wouldn’t budge. So I went online and printed the coupon before I came in. She backed out the order and resubmitted it with the coupon key and handed me back the coupon. I have no idea how that works. Ahhhh Dominoes. They try to have a 2-tiered pricing system but they don’t embrace it. I still remember having a discussion with the owner/manager of a Dominoes who proceeded to explain to me that using a 2 for 1 coupon would cost me more than just buying 2 pizzas without the coupon…and he discussed this without a shred of shame. Maybe Dominoes has gotten better with the 2-tier, but they didn’t really understand it. They seemed to look at a sale of the lower tier price as ‘losing money’. Yes…you make less money with a lower tier sale but the point is to get the sale at a lower profit without compromising (much) sales at a higher tier. That just went beyond them and, instead, they looked like crooks/insane. Maybe they’ve gotten better in the last few years 🙂 People will get all morally uprighteous/pissed off if they find out you have a 2-tier system (look at what happened to Amazon a few years back when it was discovered they based price of books on your zip code). You need to be consistent/sneaky about it, unlike what Dominoes did to me which caused them to lose a customer for, well, I’ve never been back and its been 15 years. So, you need to be sneaky. Children/Senior Citizen discounts. Ever-present coupons, volume discounts and so on. However, automatically giving the lower price over the phone is making it too easy for you to get the lower price. So, the last cashier you talked about was doing it correctly 🙂 ---
**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:** [September 30, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/52 "2009-09-30T05:16:32Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > If you travel, you can play “which out-of-state loyalty card works in which local store?” Often the local store employees will resist, but if you find a bored cashier or a self-checkout, you can have some fun. If you already know which card will work you can tease the employees with their lack of knowledge of their own corporation.“Albertsons? What’s that?” > “Trust me, it’ll work” > _beep_ > “I don’t understand why.” > 😃 > > Last time I tried, in 2008: > Ralph’s and Kroger’s cards work with each other. > Albertson’s and Shaw’s work with each other. This is killing me. Why is it a spoiler that Kroger and Ralph’s cards work together? And same goes for Albertson’s and Shaw’s? If you hadn’t put the spoiler in there would somebody really complain: “Awe man! you spoiled it for me!! I didn’t want to know that!” 😃 Jus’ say’n. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257/53 "2009-09-30T06:30:37Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I don’t want another piece of crap in my wallet or dangling from my keychain. Krogers and probably most other stores accept your phone number as input so I use that in place of the card. > [@Broomstick](#): > > I don’t want to be deluged with coupons for crap I’ll never buy - I cook mostly from scratch and when was the last time you saw a coupon for raw spinach or plain brown rice? A good system looks at your purchase record and prints out coupons tailored to you on the back of your register receipt. > [@Broomstick](#): > > I don’t want to be deluged with coupons for crap I’ll never buy on the few processed food items I buy - mostly condiments. Mostly, I just buy whatever mayonnaise is cheapest regardless of brand. On the very few items where we do care about brand name it is HIGHLY unlikely we’ll change. That’s a good strategy. Many of the best savings can be found in store brands. The problem is discovery. Sometimes the cheapist brands are great, sometimes they are below one’s expectations. If I have a gripe, it’s that they don’t use the information gathered to it’s fullest potential. I have driven to different Kroger stores looking for items that were shifted away or eliminated. There seems to be a disconnect between the idea of a good selection and “super stores”. I’m utterly amazed that a company would double it’s square footage but fill it with twice as much of half the selection they use to carry. Dumbasses. Dear marketing team: It’s really cute that you built a cheese bar at the expense of the tea I like But why in the name of all that is Holy would you carry 4 different versions of Earl Grey and no version of Lapsang Souchong? Selection is a big draw in getting customers in the door. If I have to go to another store to buy “X” then you can be sure other items were purchased. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-grocery-sale-ritual/511257.md?page=2)