to suggest a campaign using post its on supermarket shelves

[nippiesweetie]

Yesterday I was buying coffee for work in Tesco. The price per kilo was greater for a refill pack than it was for a jar but of course the weight differed so it was not obvious at a casual glance. That is, they are charging more for an item that is much cheaper to transport.

If I had had a post it pad I would have liked to leave a message - Look the pack costs more than the jar.

Would this be breaking any law? No damage, just information for other customers and if lots of people joined in...

What other pricing anomalies rip offs could be highlighted.

OP FWIW I think it's a great idea. I think supermarkets often try and purposely try and bamboozle us and that sucks.

Yes, 26andabit. You are right. I am wrong.

There you go! All is well on t'interweb

Alternatively, offer up something that would work. I like to think I do / always have:

I am active in my community, I do things that might make a difference to me and those around me. I have always been politically and socially active, chained myself to Greenham common fences, carried placards decrying nuclear weapons, campaigned, demonstrated for equal rights for women, helped set up what turned into a nationwide charity in Romania, sent tractors and wheelchairs to Africa, worked in local health education projects and now volunteer in a food bank.

None of which were polished, many of which were not well organised but relied on the spare time and well wishes of a widely disparate group of people, but all of which helped make a difference to someone.

I am quite happy to bimble along in my own way. And that will probably continue to include things less polished than Post Its!

So you think you're intelligent enough to work out which is cheaper, but no one else is, and we need it pointed out to us via the medium of a post it note?

Ooh! Another one who is willfully choosing to go with a negative view on one person's admittedly small act.

Lost - did you read my response to the last person who said that? It was aimed at the supermarket / machine that made a daft error. Should you wish to believe that anyone would take joy in belittling others, go for it. But I don't, have said I don't and will continue to say 'Not me!' and not having such low thoughts about my fellow man!

Present company excepted

TheLost If you are remotely interested on what I think read my other posts in the thread.

It seems a very patronising thing to do, OP. The information is helpfully on the labels anyway and most people (I think) are capable of doing a couple of calculations as they shop. They can always ask a member of staff too?

Post-it notes around the store is littering. As another customer I'd think you were a bit sad with too much time on your hands.

It's a forum yes, that doesn't mean people have to agree.

... why not write a blog that people can elect to read if you want your nuances read and appreciated?

^^ serious question, that.

Don't know about the OP but I can't - I am a teacher and am fairly certain that someone would take issue with me being identifiable and controversial, etc.

I am sorry nippies / OP - people do seem to be reading my posts as though I am you.

But why should we always have to be looking out for the ways in which the supermarkets are trying to rip us off? What is so unreasonable about expecting larger packs of the same thing to be better value or sodding Eco packs of coffee to be cheaper than the jar? Why can't the supermarkets deal fairly? - which is not necessarily the same thing as dealing legally.

I agree. A trip to the shops to feed your family shouldn't be a marathon in mental arithmetic requiring you to have your wits about you.

Got to go now so I'll just finish by saying that the point of my suggestion was that supermarkets deliberately try to mislead their customers about pricing, they shouldn't do this and they should be called on it.

I'm glad that Which are running a campaign.

I know you can compare prices ...but this the reason I've stopped going to Tescos (Unless they send me a good spend X and get x off) and prefer Lidl and Aldi,. I know I can go round in no time and not get a shock at the till...
Where as a similar Tescos shop - like lovelyrita says - takes me hours ...because nothing is logically priced - and if you don't pay attention you are likely to get a shock...
I wouldn't mind the post-it's - wouldn't think the person who put them there thought I was too thick to realise - rather they were trying to save me time, speed up the process.
Coffee refills are one thing I've noticed - and 1kg boxes of eg Cornflakes being more per g than 500g etc...and things being impossible to accurately compare ....like fruit and veg and one I'm still trying to work out. Weetabix - obviously cheaper to buy label by 'biscuit' but they seem less dense than branded - DD2 sometimes wants an extra one but only every 2 branded - you need a weight comparison rather than per biscuit - a cynic would say that the supermarkets don't want you to be able to compare.
Another thing is when they are 'brand' price matching - sometimes branded items are cheaper than own label - so Asda can say their Bird's eye peas are cheaper than at Tesco etc...
You literally have to check each item you pick up ...and I'm pretty sure a refill bag costs less than produce than a glass jar and lid - (although the pouches can't be recycled and the glass and plastic can...)
I heard some guy on the radio (might have been the founder of Lush -but could be wrong) a few years ago saying if you said a bottle of shampoo cost £1, the actual shampoo would cost 20p to make, the packaging 40p (rest of money/profit/advertising/marketing) ...

Takemeup Don't you think it's a bit patronising "look at me, I'm smart and have worked out the price per weight but the next person isn't smart so o need to point it out" - sorry to have to say this but a lot of people can't work it out when the supermarket breaks down the price using different criteria.

eg: 4 pack Toilet Rolls £2.00 - small print: price per roll: 50p
4 pack toilet rolls £1.80 - small print: 0.1p per sheet

So to work out which is the better value, you need to work out how many sheets are in the first pack to compare them. Supermarkets rely on people not having the maths skills to do this. And many MANY people don't.

Nomama... No more than posting on this forum, surely? Be anonymous.

What is so unreasonable about expecting larger packs of the same thing to be better value or sodding Eco packs of coffee to be cheaper than the jar?

Exactly, OP. Especially when the said larger pack (say 1000g) have a large banner across the front screaming "Better Value Bumper Pack" or some such rubbish. Only when checking out the price per 100g do you realise that two small packs (500g each) of the same item are actually cheaper! (Yes, cereal, I'm looking at you). So it is actually deceitful and a lie .

Don't know why some posters are getting their knickers in a twist about post-its bright little squares of fun.

Ditto Lovely. I also don't get all the angst about how doing this is implying that no one else could possibly be smart enough to work out the best offers. Of course it doesn't imply that, but it should go without saying that not everyone is great at maths and some people will struggle. I got an A in maths so should in theory not have an issue, but y'know if I'm sleep deprived, in a rush, or have a tantrumming toddler with me I may not actually get it right. People don't only go to the shops under ideal, non-rushed, non-pressure circumstances do they?

LyingWitch - if I posted re my own small campaign I would almost certainly become recognisable. Here I am not so easy to spot.

Don't bother. Find another supermarket. Tesco's is the worst one for sham offers and misleading customers.

I use to go round the supermarket trying to figure out which was cheapest, if three for two was better deal than than a product which was cost less in the first place... And come home mentally exhausted.
Now I just shop at
Aldi. It's sooo much easier.

My mum struggles with her maths. Has done all her life. She's now in her 70s and likes to shop in the place she is familiar with. When she sees Tesco saying 'Bumper Value', or 'save X Y Z', or 'This is cheaper than Last Week' nonsense she'll believe it and pick that product.

Often it is not the cheapest way to buy what she wants. She is bamboozled by clever marketing techniques which are no secret any more, but which continue to catch many of us out.

OP I don't think YABU. The sentiment behind what you are suggesting is sound.

I'm a bit late to the thread but Argy what apps are out there?

I'm 'intelligent enough' to usually be able to work out which product offers the best value - even though, as several pps have already said, it's not always easy when some packets show a price per 100g, then another different sized packet of the same thing shows a price per unit (such as per biscuit) on its shelf label.

However, it irritates me beyond belief that I should have to spend so much time performing mental arithmetic almost every time I shop (depending on which supermarket it is and how transparent its pricing is) - I mean why, it's hardly customer-friendly is it - yet they'll often effectively have a captive audience because it may be the only supermarket for miles and people either don't want to travel further afield - or can't afford to use non-essential fuel, or don't have private transport.

And then I get really angry when I think about the many people who can't work stuff out as readily as I can, as Balloonslayer points out - and who undoubtedly will therefore be losing out by purchasing stuff (especially non-perishables) which is needlessly costing them extra, like Fluffy's mum. Particularly because people who find on-the-spot maths difficult will often be vulnerable - I don't mean to generalise but elderly people for example, or those with learning difficulties.

I can't think of ANY sensible reason why supermarkets don't ensure their labelling/pricing is clear and easy to understand by all customers. You can therefore only assume that so much of it is arse about face - albeit that they may be following the letter of the law but not its spirit, as a pp pointed out - because they hope, or indeed know, that a good proportion of customers will opt for the worst value item because it's advertised as a 'bargain', a 'special offer' or simply because they make the natural and not too unreasonable assumption that larger has historically tended to mean better value.

Makes my blood boil that 'we' are all but taken for fools.

Oh - and for those who've criticised people who 'fuss' and 'bother' about such things, get real, get in the real world and perhaps show a bit of sympathy for people who have no choice but to follow an ultra strict budget - for whom transparent pricing is therefore particularly important.

And just to add ..... the price per 100g, price per unit etc. ....... is often very small indeed, and almost impossible to read clearly if you have eye problems.

I am not sure the price per unit/kg is legally required, so are they actually going beyond the legal requirement by putting it on there.
Also, why should they not make the most money they can - if you don't like it, don't shop there.