# Why do supermarkets use 10 for $10 advertising? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703 "2011-01-23T22:27:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/21 "2011-01-24T04:09:32Z")
I’ll bet the only difference is that one is clearly marked two for $5, $2.99 each, and the other isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/22 "2011-01-24T04:16:43Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’ll bet the only difference is that one is clearly marked two for $5, $2.99 each, and the other isn’t. Now that I think of it, I do believe that is the case at the Walgreens. I have to check next time I’m there. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/23 "2011-01-24T05:14:25Z")
Yeah, Walgreens around here is notorious for such pricing. They’re the only retailer I’ve seen that does the “2 for $2 or $1.49 each” pricing. I wonder how far one can take multi-unit pricing. Ever see 20 for $20 or 100 for $100? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/24 "2011-01-24T13:09:43Z")
I’ve seen 20 for $10 on lower-priced items, like ramen noodles. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/25 "2011-01-24T13:23:36Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > It may depend on the state, but I think in a lot of places the law dictates that if a grocery has a product marked “10 for $10” they actually have to sell the item to you for $1 instead of, say, $1.50, if you only buy one. This is a possibility - I’ve encountered consumer laws like that before - although not actually in a place that matters to the context of this thread - the company I used to work for opened a shop in Denmark and ran into trouble with sales promotions, because apparently they have a law that enables the customer to demand a discount of equal value as an alternative to any free promotional gift. In the case of ‘buy one get one free’ offers, this meant that customers were demanding the value of the second item as a discount against the first, reducing the effective price to zero. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/26 "2011-01-24T14:07:12Z")
I recently bought ten bags of Goldfish crackers for $10.00, mostly because some woman was encouraging me to “live a little” and “try something new.” Anyway, I bought flavors of Goldfish I hadn’t known existed. I’ll probably buy more of a couple of those flavors but buying new flavors of Goldfish sure isn’t my idea of living a little. I did, I guess, “try something new” but Goldfish wouldn’t normally have occurred to me in that context. Getting old sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/27 "2011-01-24T14:14:29Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Especially for those shoppers who infer from the sign that they’re required to buy AT LEAST ten oranges to get the good price. > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > As a former grocery store employee, I can say this happens a lot. He had big 10/$10 sales at least once a month, and we would get a lot of customer buying exactly ten of each item. Apparently it wasn’t the case in the store where **enalzi** worked, but in many stores in several European countries you really need to get the N items in order to get the bargain: buy 9 oranges, they’re $1.10 each; you only get the discount once you reach the minimum amount. The prices on the shelves clearly point this out. Discounts for high volume are common in corporate settings, every single project in which I’ve worked has involved those; so are “pack” sales in small-volume distribution (in many fast-food restaurants, getting food+soda is more expensive than the ‘menu’ which includes samefood+samesoda+fries; you often see items such as yoghurts or individual juices where the individual packages say ‘not for sale individually’). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/28 "2011-01-24T14:19:49Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I did, I guess, “try something new” but Goldfish wouldn’t normally have occurred to me in that context. Getting old sucks. I can remember the days when “trying something new” involved undressing.😃 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/29 "2011-01-24T14:42:01Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I can remember the days when “trying something new” involved undressing.😃 So can I but just barely. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/30 "2011-01-24T15:57:32Z")
I lived through the 60s. There was a time when try something new meant dressing. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/31 "2011-01-24T16:03:12Z")
Recently the fine print on sale items around here has changed. Whenever there was a 2 for $5.00 sale, you always, **ALWAYS** could buy just one for $2.50. A few weeks back I started noticing: 2 for $5.00 (or $2.89 for one) When going through the checkout I could see the first item being scanned at $2.89 and the second one coming through at $2.11, for example. The bastards! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/32 "2011-01-24T16:07:09Z")
> [@jebert](#): > > They could just as easily advertise at $1 each, so use of the 10 for $10 ploy must be for some sort of marketing psychology reason. What is that reason? Guaranteed revenue. Not every business works on a profit basis all the time - some generate cash from low margin/loss leaders. Someone may also have worked out the extra resource at the register from multiple $1 purchases vs single $10 purchase of 10 items. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/33 "2011-01-24T16:14:44Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Yeah, Walgreens around here is notorious for such pricing. They’re the only retailer I’ve seen that does the “2 for $2 or $1.49 each” pricing. In the Chicago area, this is not uncommon at various retailers besides Walgreens. It seems like many have gone to the 2 for $2 means $1 each route, but I always double check the signs, because you’ll find places only applying the discount when the item is purchased in bulk. It does seem that it’s becoming rarer and rarer, though. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/34 "2011-01-24T16:19:29Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Yeah, Walgreens around here is notorious for such pricing. They’re the only retailer I’ve seen that does the “2 for $2 or $1.49 each” pricing. Is bulk discounting rare in the US then? UK supermarkets do this kind of thing all the time. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/35 "2011-01-24T18:12:46Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > Well, one time in Houston I was shopping at my local supermarket, and on the way out I noticed a dry cleaners next door that had a big sign - 3 suits cleaned for ten bucks (this was a long time ago). The next time I went to the store, I brought along a couple suits and dropped them off at the dry cleaners. > > When I came back to get them a few days later, the guy said it was 16 bucks. I said how do you figure two for 16 when it’s three for ten, and he said you didn’t have three, you had two. I said I can see not charging me the same rate per suit, but not charging me more for cleaning fewer suits. > > I couldn’t make him see reason, and I didn’t want to make a scene over six bucks, so I gave up, and obviously never went there again. I’d have handed him back one of the suits and said “clean this one again”. But, then, I have no problem making a scene over $6. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/36 "2011-01-24T19:10:31Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I lived through the 60s. There was a time when trying something new meant dressing. 🆒 What kind of dressing? Thousand Island? Krogers has that in the 10 for $10 aisle this week. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/37 "2011-01-24T19:21:15Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > Well, one time in Houston I was shopping at my local supermarket, and on the way out I noticed a dry cleaners next door that had a big sign - 3 suits cleaned for ten bucks (this was a long time ago). The next time I went to the store, I brought along a couple suits and dropped them off at the dry cleaners. > > When I came back to get them a few days later, the guy said it was 16 bucks. I said how do you figure two for 16 when it’s three for ten, and he said you didn’t have three, you had two. I said I can see not charging me the same rate per suit, but not charging me more for cleaning fewer suits. > > I couldn’t make him see reason, and I didn’t want to make a scene over six bucks, so I gave up, and obviously never went there again. That’s just bad business on their part. They’re encouraging you to bring them extra work for less money. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/38 "2011-01-24T20:32:39Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Even if people know that they can get them in smaller quantity for $1 each, that sign - repeated all over the place, generally - works the number 10 into people’s unconscious. I’d bet you ten imaginary dollars that if you changed the number, even if you went up, you’d find most shoppers buying exactly the quantity you put on the sign or a multiple of it. What’s more, I’d bet it’s for stuff that, without the sign, even at $1 each, they’d buy five or six or seven of. So the grocer makes more because he sells more. This is called [anchoring](http://ezinearticles.com/?Anchoring-and-Price&id=4187930) and is very powerful. People get anchored to a quantity of ten, and thus buy more than they would if they were advertised as $1 each. ---
**Author:** ![GTPhD1996](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/97f17d/32.png) [@GTPhD1996](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GTPhD1996)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/39 "2011-01-24T21:55:18Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Uh, Meijer does this: > > 10 for $10, **and the 11th item is free**. Otherwise, each individual item is just $1. The idea is to get you to get a bit more so you can get your 11th item free. > > Isn’t this how everyone does it? Our local Meijer does this every so often. The store will usually have 25-30 items with the same sale pricing. You just need to buy 10 items total from those on sale and get the 11th one free. This store also has done some sales such as 2 for $12, limit 2, quantities more than 2 cost the regular price. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703/40 "2011-01-24T22:34:35Z")
I’ll tell you why: Because ten sounds important! Ten sounds official! Ten is the basis for the decimal system! It’s a psychologically satisfying number. The top ten, the ten most wanted, the ten best dressed. They knew that if they’d tried, say, eleven, people wouldn’t take them seriously. People would say “What, are you kidding me? 11 for $11? Get the fuck outta here!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-supermarkets-use-10-for-10-advertising/568703.md?page=3)