To think that Supermarkets try and 'cheat' their shoppers with false 'offers'

[Mrsdavidcaruso]

I went into one of the big supermarkets today (not sure if I am allowed to name them).

I actually needed dishwasher liquid tabs so was interested in a large display at the end of an aisle 'offering' a pack of 51 tabs for 14 quid. Now there was no RRP ..... or special offer sign but the way they were displayed looked like it was some sort of deal.

However when I went to the aisle where all the dishwasher stuff is kept I saw the same brand in smaller packets of 32 1/2 price at £6.00.

Of course I bought two packs thus getting 64 tabs for £12.00 but if I hadn't checked I may have been tempted to buy the £14 pack in the mistaken belief I was getting a 'good price'.

I wonder how many people were taken in

yes but OP do you not see that YOU were taken in? Did you honestly set out with the intention of buying that many dishwasher tabs? I doubt it.

Each online shop I get DH own brand lemonade at 42p a bottle. It has been the same price for a long time, maybe years. Last shop it was marked as a rollback. When I read it the price was still 42p but they had the previous price as 60p. Liars.

Nigella I have 3 cats, a puppy a DSand a DH not to mention a bunch of free loading relatives coming to spend a few days on the Isle of Wight ( one after the other for the next three weeks) I need that many believe you me

i dont doubt it mrsdavid but did you honestly intend to buy that many when you set off for the supermarket?

It's not a problem because washtabs are unperishable and can sit happily in storage for months though; it's not as if you suddenly have to eat three times as many bags of crisps than you planned for, because of an impulse buy.

Shops are out to make the biggest possible profit? Hold the front page.

I love BOGOFs as long as they are things that I want/need. If they're not, I don't buy them.

I bought 2 x 52 dishwasher tabs for £4.10 each yesterday in the co-op

Nigella, dishwasher tablets are never going to go to waste, I may go back for more today

What gets me is when they do 2 for £3 but the single item is £1.50 anyway!

"Nigella I have 3 cats, a puppy a DSand a DH not to mention a bunch of free loading relatives coming to spend a few days on the Isle of Wight ( one after the other for the next three weeks) I need that many believe you me"

You don't put your cat and dog food dishes in the dishwasher do you?!

stupidity tax? Nice. So the people who aren't as clever as you almost deserve to pay this?

Where the items are marked as p/£1 per 100g, it's very easy to work out what's cheaper, but where they then have a 'buy two, get one free' type offer, it's very difficult to work it out without a calculator.

They do seem to think we're idiots, though. DH likes pepperoni , used to be £1 per packet for the cheap stuff in Asda. It then went up to £1.30. I thought it was a rather steep increase, but then a few weeks later, it was 2 for £2. Quelle surprise. It's now back to £1 per packet. Do they really think we won't notice?

They're the only major supermarket in our town, so I don't really have the choice to go anywhere else. Besides, the staff are very nice and I never have to queue at the tills!

Sainsbury is by far the worst, even their nom deals have stupid pricing. A large bag of rice was twice the price per 100g as the smaller ones.
I check the 100g prices of everything and Tesco is not bad at all compared to sainsbury

I shall be off to Sainsbury's in an hour. I've already had a look at offers online whilst I was writing my list.

I won't be going for the 3 for £4 on their Walker's crisps though, not while they have a 20 pack for £2.50.

My lovely dad taught me to check the unit price, compare brands and check for offers across all the supermarkets (his mil thought he was mad and would "wear out his shoes for a tuppence saving" )

He did this in the days before the internet by shopping at a different supermarket each week, keeping an eye on the press/adverts and was a lidl pioneer.

DH was suckered in by an offer on branded chocolate digestive biscuits at the end of an isle in sainsbos, not realising the lidl equivalent was only 75% of the price anyway, and he hadn't even gone for biscuits in the first place.

And YY to having reference point prices. DH has no idea what things normally/should cost, so has no idea if an offer is good or not (to be fair this is probably because I am a control freak re the supermarket shopping & so he can't develop reference points - but I'm convinced my dad's teaching has saved us a fortune over the years).

You should be able to take the retailers word that something is a special offer, but sadly I don't think it'll ever happen.

Website www.mysupermarket.co.uk/ is your friend ! They list most of the supermarkets so you can compare who's charging what and what's the unit price (per 100g etc) for whatever sizes they stock. I don't think I've gone shopping without checking this site for a couple of years now .

NotMrs, but only McVities branded chocolate digestives are worth having anyway

I have started to use a calculator when I do my shopping, either that or take a list.Having said that, I rarely go for BOGOFs, because I usually buy the supermarket own brand, often the basic. Even then you have to compare the 2, because sometimes the basic brand is actually more expensive. You really do have to keep your brain switched on when you are shopping. The supermarket wants customers to wander around in a daze ,chucking whatever takes their fancy into a trolley. A lot of people can't afford to do that.
And I agree with the poster who said about pound shops not always being cheaper.
Always compare prices, and forget about 'brand loyalty'.

A calculator is the way forward, esp in Tesco and Sainsburys who are really adept at confusing customers by putting price per 100g for one product and per kilo for others, to name just one little trick. I know it is just a sliding decimal point but if you are no good at arithmetic...

If pricing in kilos and 100g units confuses you, then that's a basic problem you need to sort out. It's the maths required of an 8 year old.

I have noticed that whenever I shop in tescos, the more of their "offers" I buy, the greater the amount I could've saved shopping elsewhere would've been according to the voucher they give you with your receipt.

I do only buy what I want / need but clearly the offers are not fabulous savings otherwise surely I'd be paying less than elsewhere not more?

Local butchers and fruit and veg shop much cheaper but finding the time to go as not open in evenings etc is a problem.

goblinchild it is designed to confuse people or why would they do it?
Yes I can manage a sliding decimal point despite my dyscalculia there is no need to be that rude.
would you be that rude to someone with dyslexia?

Having dyscalculia and trying to work out what's the best offer must be a nightmare.

I only recently started online grocery shopping after having ds, and find it so much easier to compare price per weight on the app.

If we are entertaining or bbqing its lidl all the way!

What bugs me is that one product can have 'comparison' shelf tickets in 'per 100g', 'per kg' and 'per item' for the same thing. Apples for instance.

I can easily do the 100g/kg conversion. But when the alternative is 4 apples in a bag at x per apple, it's a pain to have to take them to the scales and work it out.

As ever, the law is vague enough that they are complying with the letter of it while ignoring the intention.

And I do think that there should be a ban on '3 for 2' and 'buy 1 get 1 free' on things with short dates. All these headlines about the food people 'waste' are not surprising when you can get two bags of salad for the price of one, but you end up throwing the second away unopened when it goes slimy.

If you don't take the second, you know you're paying over the odds, so many people will take it even thought they know they're ulikely to get through it.

Personally, I now buy a lettuce, which lasts longer anyway. But many people want the prepared versions.

I wasn't being rude, I am constantly surprised by the acceptance of a level of poor mathematics by the majority of the population. If an adult had the reading level of an average 8 year old, I'd be advising them to get support from adult literacy groups.
And no, I had no idea that you had a diagnosis of dyscalculia, why would I?
Most people just shrug and say 'I can't do maths' It's why schools are being hammered into improving the situation.