# Price increases you've noticed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 6, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833 "2011-10-06T23:07:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/21 "2011-10-07T13:12:19Z")
I just noticed the butter last week. However, I seem to remember it being high like this a couple of years ago and then came back down to $2.29 for four sticks. I am hoping that will happen again. Milk prices went down at my local Publix simply because people were going to the Walgreens and CVS rather than paying 5 dollars per gallon. Pasta got expensive but the store has bogo on a major brand most every week so I stock up. Same with mayo, chocolate syrup and soups. What got me was when my daughter asked for Oreos as a treat and they want $4.29 for a bag of cookies! No way was I spending that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/22 "2011-10-07T13:56:55Z")
Food in general, but especially meat, here in the UK. Even the cheap kinds are getting expensive now - I used to buy turkey drumsticks for less than a quid each, but they’ve more than doubled in price in the last year alone. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/23 "2011-10-07T14:18:59Z")
What really pisses me off about shrinking product sizes costing the same amount - they screw up my recipes. My favorite pumpkin pie recipe calls for one pound cans of pumpkin, which you can’t find, but you can find 14.5 oz cans. That makes the math fun… OK, I don’t do the math - I just use the smaller cans and so far, no complaints about my pies, but still, it pisses me off. Dammit, if you’re going to raise the prices, be honest about it!!! I also hate that ice cream is no longer half a gallon but is now 1.5 quarts - I miss half gallons - just raise the damned prices and knock it off! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/24 "2011-10-07T14:23:32Z")
Even fresh fruits and vegetables are going up in price Avacados are $1.50 to $2 apiece. I can’t ever find them for $1 apiece like before. Apples (admittedly out of season until now) are usually between $2.50 and $4 a pound. I remember when they were $1 a pound. About the only thing that’s been kept reasonable is the price of bananas. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/25 "2011-10-07T14:27:44Z")
My toilet paper no longer comes in 24-packs. Just 12-packs which are priced similarly to the 24-packs. I think, at least…I like my TP, I buy it blindly. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/26 "2011-10-07T14:52:53Z")
Chocolate: It’s actually an accomplishment that chocolate and candy containing chocolate aren’t even more expensive. The cacao tree has been under attack by some sort of blight; there have been labor and political issues and other challenges to keep costs under control. .Mmmm… chocolate ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/27 "2011-10-07T14:55:50Z")
The Sunday paper, which provides so many coupons and used to cost $.50, went to $1.00 a few years ago, and not too long after that, to $2.00. I mostly wanted it for the weekly TV schedule, and I don’t know how long ago they stopped providing that. But what a lot of paper that is to just throw away … well, recycle, of course. When I look at that stack of Sunday papers in the store, all I can think of is how many trees were cut down for them. I will not buy another Sunday paper. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/28 "2011-10-07T14:58:19Z")
I used to take it for granted that a pound of ground bison was $4.99. Imagine my shock when I rang it up at $7.99! For one measly pound! ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/29 "2011-10-07T16:21:42Z")
Yea, my rent! Like 10%, it’s robbery. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/30 "2011-10-07T16:24:09Z")
I was taken aback a bit when a convenience-store muffin rang up at $1.89 this morning. I thought they used to be around $1. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/31 "2011-10-07T16:47:36Z")
My hay guy went from charging me $3.25/bale last year to $4.75/bale this year. But my friend, who lives in Texas, is paying $10-14 for a square bale! 50-60 lbs of dried grass. I feed almost a bale a day in the winter. Things are going to be desperate for Texas horses this winter, and I predict a lot will starve to death in their own yards. Dog food and horse feed - my feed store increased the cost of my horse feed by $1.50/bag because the company selling to them tacked that charge on for fuel surcharge. I was buying Diamond Naturals Chicken & Rice dogfood at TSC. It was always “on sale” for about $18/40 lb bag. Now it’s $21. I feed 40 lbs per week. For my food, it seems to steadily increase, but I’ve been doing a lot of shopping at a local grocery store that buys closeouts. Sort of like Big Lots for food. Things like Oscar Meyer pre-cooked bacon will be $4 at the regular store and $1.25 at this place. But you have to stock up when they have it. It’s an adventure. StG ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/32 "2011-10-07T16:48:13Z")
Black oil sunflower seed. Double the price that we were paying this summer. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/33 "2011-10-07T16:51:12Z")
> [@MizQuirk](#): > > The Sunday paper, which provides so many coupons and used to cost $.50, went to $1.00 a few years ago, and not too long after that, to $2.00. I mostly wanted it for the weekly TV schedule, and I don’t know how long ago they stopped providing that. But what a lot of paper that is to just throw away … well, recycle, of course. When I look at that stack of Sunday papers in the store, all I can think of is how many trees were cut down for them. I will not buy another Sunday paper. That’s a shame. As an investor in sustainable forestry, which sells products to paper and lumber companies, at the rate paper usage is curtailing we’ll be forced to sell out soon. The last tree farm we had was an Xmas tree farm, but all this ‘save the trees’ nonsense forced us to sell. I guess the Mcmansions being built on these 75 acres there aren’t too bad. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/34 "2011-10-07T16:53:13Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > What really pisses me off about shrinking product sizes costing the same amount - they screw up my recipes. My favorite pumpkin pie recipe calls for one pound cans of pumpkin, which you can’t find, but you can find 14.5 oz cans. That makes the math fun… > > OK, I don’t do the math - I just use the smaller cans and so far, no complaints about my pies, but still, it pisses me off. Dammit, if you’re going to raise the prices, be honest about it!!! > > I also hate that ice cream is no longer half a gallon but is now 1.5 quarts - I miss half gallons - just raise the damned prices and knock it off! I agree. I get especially annoyed by the shrinking sizes because it’s clearly nothing more than an attempt to raise prices while disguising the fact from consumers. The Consumerist website calls it the [Grocery Shrink Ray](http://consumerist.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=1&tag=grocery%20shrink%20ray&limit=20). Recently, i bought some vanilla ice cream after an extended period of having no ice cream in the house. I usually get Haagen Dazs or Ben & Jerry’s, and this time i decided to go with the former. It wasn’t until i got it home that i realized that, while it looked pretty much the same as it always had, and looked almost identical in size to the B&J’s pint, it was actually only 14 oz. I’m now refusing to buy Haagen Dazs, on principle. I wonder how far the companies are willing to go with this. That is, how far are they willing to keep shrinking their products in the hope that we won’t notice, rather than simply being honest and raising the price? Will we end up with 4 oz “tubs” of ice cream a few years down the road? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/35 "2011-10-07T17:50:53Z")
Don’t forget “shrink wrap.” Shrink wrap is a method where manufacturers keep the same physical size in packaging but actually reduce the amount of contents inside. Even though the retail price may not change, you are getting less. Retailers have jumped in with consumer perception games. Buying something in bulk traditional means a lower per unit cost. That’s going away. Many times now you buy the bulk item and don’t realize [the unit cost is more expensive](http://consumerist.com/2010/05/target-discovers-opposite-of-bulk-discount.html) than if you purchased five smaller item rather than the single bulk item. Target stores do this ALL the time. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/36 "2011-10-07T18:01:12Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I wonder how far the companies are willing to go with this. That is, how far are they willing to keep shrinking their products in the hope that we won’t notice, rather than simply being honest and raising the price? Will we end up with 4 oz “tubs” of ice cream a few years down the road? I was joking the other day that if ice cream companies keep reducing the quantity of their containers while trying to maintain the same “face” we’ll eventually end up with ice cream being sold in containers that are only an inch thick. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/37 "2011-10-07T18:07:36Z")
Where I work, Motor oil has increased more than 100% in 7 years, from $2.49 to 5.99 per quart, for Pennzoil. Candy has increased for King Size, from .99 to $1.29 in about 4 years. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/38 "2011-10-07T18:09:34Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > Half gallon of half and half was 1.99, now 3.18 > Whipped butter up 40 to 50% > Now go to Aldi’s for milk at 2.39/gal, big supermarkets are at 4 a gallon. Wow, that’s a great price for half and half. I mean fucking great. You can’t get a pint here (San Fran) for less than $1.49. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/39 "2011-10-07T18:13:04Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > [Doritos](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=617686) I started the thread about it. Frito Lay just raised their retail for a small bag to 1.09. It was .75, then smaller for the same price, then .99 for a little more, then .99 for smaller, now $1.09n for the same. The delivery driver said it has killed their sales, and from observation, it definitely has. Ninety-nine cents is a very, very important price point. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833/40 "2011-10-07T18:15:48Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > I saw the other day where 20-ounce sodas are $1.77. That makes me go :eek:. It wasn’t that long ago that they were 99 cents. Another good one. When I started 20 years ago, they were 16 ounces and maybe $.79. Now they’re 20 ounces, and $1.79 + tax and CRV, for an out-the-door price of $1.99!! Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/price-increases-youve-noticed/598833.md?page=3)