My local grocery store does this all the time, and it drives me batty. WI I only want ONE of the items? Yeah, in some cases I can just store the 2nd one for use down the line, but in other cases I really may just want one, for various reasons (including weight control).
Why do businesses do this?
Because it’s, like, free, man!
Because more people are willing to buy 2 to get that 1 “free” item, then to go for something 1/2 price…even if the price is jacked up a little bit on the former.
If the sign says 2 for 99 cents and you buy 1 they charge you 50 cents. Tell them you have the one that’s 49 cents and the 50 cent one is on the shelf. In most cases they get really confused.
Exactly because sometimes you just want one, so they get full profit margin and have the other still left to sell.
If they have 100 widgets to sell, if they sold at half price they get 50 profits. If they sell 2 for 1 there may be enough people buying one only that they can sell 80 twofer deals at 40 profits and then another 20, including yours, at full profits = 60 profits.
You clear out more inventory quicker. People wanting to buy 1 now buy 2. People willing to buy 3 now buy 4. …
In most cases you will be charged the 50 cents(plus tax if applicable) because this already came up in training.
I find they tend to do that with meats in some supermarkets near me. The exact procedure I studied over the years it works like this:
-Normal price lets say is $6/lb
-Have a buy one get one free sale and advertise it, the lower priced one is free.
So during this sale unless both pieces are exactly the same, you end up paying more during the sale, and you get royally ripped if you buy one instead of two.
I know what markets these are and rarely buy much from them, but do visit them due to connivence if I need a item or so, and it amazes me that they stick to this formula like glue, so I must conclude it must works, and suspect it’s people buying one at the 2x pricing.
If the sign says 2 for 99 you get 2 for 99. You don’t get 1 for less than 99. You get 2 for 99 take it or leave it.
BOGOF has been so discredited here in the UK that it is rarely seen these days. I do frequently see multi packs - four tins of tomatoes or twin packs of biscuits for example. There are also offers, especially in the fresh veg area, of “Three for £x” or “Buy three, get the cheapest free.”
With multi packs I always double check to make sure that it’s not cheaper to buy individual items as this is not an infrequent occurrence. I usually ignore the other offers as the savings are usually trivial and I don’t see three items that I want anyway.
If the sign says 2 for 99 you get 2 for 99. You don’t get 1 for less than 99. You get 2 for 99 take it or leave it.
Where do you live? On some other planet? Never heard of that . They can’t force you to buy 1 for 99.
That’s a big one. Being able to clear out the inventory faster means the store can buy in larger quantities which means they can get better deals from their suppliers which allows them to have the lower prices. This is especially true in my business where nearly everything is perishable.
If something is 2/99, I don’t have an issue selling someone a single one for 50¢. My problem is when someone asks for a full case of those items. You run to the back, grab a case, find out how much you can sell it for and tell the customer how much you’ll sell him the case for. By the time he’s done picking through it and bickering, he only wants half the case and gets mad when you tell him half the case isn’t half the case price, it’s the price on the shelf.
The whole point of us giving a discount on the case is that we don’t have to touch it. We don’t have to stock it. You might run into a bad one etc
No you can leave the shop peacefully if you desire. The sign says what it means.
Edit, unless you’re Joey P and it’s your store and you can choose to offer discretion; at a normal shop not owned by the people working there, the price is the price.
A store isn’t required to sell you a single item just because you want it either.
If the sign says Lemons 2 for $1.00 and you only want a single one, most stores will charge you 50¢ for it, but as far as I know there’s no legal reason they’re required to do that.
Then there’s the customers that will bring up prepackaged things to the counter because they only want a single one. Like, they’ll have a bag of carrots, but only want half the bag and don’t understand why I won’t sell them just a few of them. What am I supposed to do with the rest? Throw them out?
It’s routine where I live (Smiths supermarket) that they will usually give you one for the equivalent discounted price when something is presented as a multibuy offer. The exceptions are always stated cleary “Must Buy Two” or whatever.
I guess I’m not sure why OP finds this whole thing puzzling/frustrating. Obviously the consumer may not want more than one, but it seems pretty clear to me why in some cases a store might be keen to shift inventory, so they are giving a volume discount. It’s conceptually no different than the fact that a large multi-pack of something will usually work out cheaper per item than buying the items individually. You wouldn’t expect to be able to split up a six-pack of beer and buy one beer for one-sixth the price.
More likely really annoyed, is my guess. Especially if fifty-three people have already pulled that one that day.
And, I promise any joke you can possible come up with to tell a cashier, they already heard 53 times that day. If I never have to hear “it better be good, I just printed it this morning” when i get handed a large bill, I’d be thrilled.
You have to remember, they see hundreds of customers, day in and day out, they’ve heard it all and would prefer not to hear it again.
I’ve been trying to recall the last time I saw “2 for the price of 1” at the Ralph’s where I do most of my shopping. I do see “Buy one get one free” sales, which is pretty unambiguous at checkout (and equivalent to 2 for 1). If you show up at checkout with just one item, you are charged the full price and are told “you know you are entitled to a free one?”, but if you say, “I only want one”, they shrug and move on. It’s your choice, your loss.
I also see “N for $X.XX”, which results in being charged X.XX/N if I just buy one.
Here 2 for $1, means the exact same thing as 50 cents each - it’s considered a unit pricing, not a requirement to buy 2 unless there is a note that you must buy 2 to get the discount, but BOGOF means you have to get 2 to get the discount.
Same where I am, too. Many stores have a blurb on the signs clarifying this.