To wonder if anybody ever buys the smaller, dearer ones

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

Asda in particular, but they're probably not the only ones, seem to have permanent offers/rollbacks etc on certain lines - but only on one size of exactly the same product. This means that you can usually buy a bigger pack (often twice the size or thereabouts) for less money than the smaller one. I don't mean less money per 100g/ml etc - charging 60p for 100g or £1 for 200g makes commercial sense to me - I mean the price for the whole of the bigger one is actually less than the price for the whole of the smaller one (or the converse, whereby you're quite considerably penalised if you bulk buy and get a bigger one rather than 2 or even 3 of the half-sized ones).

What is the sense of this? Does anybody actually buy the smaller ones? Are they effectively carrying a whole shelf of dead, unsellable stock (unless the big ones have all sold out and people don't feel swizzed enough to deliberately not buy the small one on principle)? Don't the supermarkets notice that they haven't sold any and wonder why people seem to love Big X but hate Small X?

And on a similar note, you sometimes see big brands on promotion meaning that they're the same price (or a penny or two cheaper or dearer) as the own-brand versions. Do people still buy the own-brands when this is the case? Again, are they giving valuable shelf space to a line that will most probably not sell for as long as the branded promotion is on?

Am I the only one baffled by these admittedly non-earth-shattering phenomena?

When I worked in a shop the thing that got me was bogof.

At the till I'd say I can run and get another for free (talking expensive items) and they'd so no I'll have one! I felt like saying I'll have it.

But with food I understand. I pay more for individual things like chocolate or cereal pots because I know I won't binge on a load.

Good point, people, when it comes to self-control with treats.

Although is anybody else now thinking of Sister Assumpta sitting on the floor stuffing her face whilst she's sent Ted and Dougal away for their character-building punishment regime?!

I bought half pounds of butter this summer when the weather was hot. I don't like butter that has been opened and in the fridge as it gets what I call 'fridge-taste'.

But it bewilders me why people don't check prices, offers and weights. I never pay full price for any branded products. If they aren't on offer I don't buy them. The supermarkets have a base price for everything - basically what the average price is if you calculate it using the amount sold at top price and at all the offer prices. When you pay full price for something you're subsidizing other people's bargains.

The shops like Aldi just have the basic price all year round apart from the super 6 thing they do.

I’ve done it loads - combination of no willpower and not wanting to binge as said upthread, but also living in very central London, having no car so being limited as to what I can carry, and having a very small flat so being limited as to what we can store.

Yes definitely see your point when ut comes to buying to much and eating it all i never offer people the giant bars of choc for few pence more especially as most of the time there just buying it for a quick bite or they maybe dont want to eat a large bar.
But the crisps alot of the time is just in the trollet in vast quantities and cost so much more than the multipacks is quite strange.
Bogof like pp said is a strange one so many people dont want the free one... give it away put it in the food bank see if a neighbour/friend wants it. The bogof one happens alot at xmas with cards and gift wrap... no i only need one roll etc. Omg get one for next year give it to someone else and do a good deed lol. It’s mind boggling sometimes.
I wish we could donate the unwanted things but unless it’s scanned through with that shop we cant.
Sometimes when somethings £9.99 or 2 for £10 second item gets left alot for the sake of 1p i would have to buy 2...x

And kitchen paper....I buy the cheapest rolls I can, checking the cost per 100 sheets. Why would you pay nearly three times the price for something you are going to put in the bin as soon as you have used it?

apileofballyhoo don't you have a freezer? I hate butter lying around so always freeze butter then unwrap,cut in half and put the other half back in the freezer . Always have butter in the freezer, usually bought on special offer!

And kitchen paper....I buy the cheapest rolls I can, checking the cost per 100 sheets.

I was once horrified at first when comparing the cost of toilet paper in Tesco (we now just buy Aldi's double-length el cheapo stuff - a roll lasts forever and it all suffers the same grim, shameful fate anyway) to see the little price label on the shelf giving the cost 'per 100 shts'. Maybe be just a little careful about what you abbreviate

Bogof like pp said is a strange one so many people dont want the free one... give it away put it in the food bank see if a neighbour/friend wants it. The bogof one happens alot at xmas with cards and gift wrap... no i only need one roll etc.

And yet, how many of these people, if offered a doubling of their salary, would turn it down and insist "No thank you - I already earn ample to live on." Not a single one, I'm sure. But that's basically what they're doing at the opposite end of the money cycle.

I worked in the pie counter in Morrisons and had a (polite) argument with a woman who wanted to buy two pies at £1.40 but not four at the special offer of £1.00. Eventually I split a bag of 4 and gave her 2 at the higher price, but the other two ended up wasted because no one else wanted to pay 40p extra for two fewer pies.

I think it is marketing. Almost everyone will see the offer, stop and buy the bigger one. The smaller one is a decoy to motivate you to buy its big brother. They probably order a lot more of the bigger sizes with this in mind,

I sometimes do this if I only want a limited amount of something and would just waste the excess product. I also agree with PP that I do also do it to restrict the amount of unhealthy food I have in the house. Similarly I regularly decline the free packet of crisps, chocolate bar or cookie that are often offered as part of a meal deal on the basis that I wouldn't purchase them if they weren't part of the deal so I obviously don't need them.

Have you heard of expandable consumption? It’s the concept that the more you buy, the more you use. Almost all products where the big package goes on special sale are in this category. Candy, cereal, crisps. Also, these tend to be the foods that it’s very easy to overeat and get fat. And maaaaan it works- look around! I always buy the size I planned to buy for exactly that reason.

Thin people. Thin people who have smallish families and aren’t on an especially strict budget are who buys the smaller package at the same price.

(This goes out the window for large families, as I’m sure “consumption” already feels virtually endless.)

M&S: 2 litre (or 1.5 can’t remember) is 55p. A small 500ml bottle of the same water is £1. I know it’s the paying for convenience of a smaller bottle, but crazy in my eyes.

I don't buy large multi packs of chocolate/crisps/snacks etc because I eat them all over a very short period of time
I just buy 1 or 2 or sometimes 3 (one each for DH, Me and DS) because I have no self control if there are extra in the house

MMM3. All those criteria for my family, except we are by no means slim (except DS,). It just stops me getting even fatter

I do, quite frequently. If I were to but a piece of treat food, I only want a small amount. The lower sticker price of the larger pack is not "cheaper" for me as I include the price of the excess calories and the price of not eating thing I would rather eat. Thus, in my mind, the lower price is more expensive.

When it’s a really good deal on something branded it’s what they call a loss leader.

The supermarket loses money selling it to you at that price but it’s used in advertising and it’s meant to get people through the door where they’ll hopefully buy a load of other stuff too.

I always check the price per KG or pack or whatever. My DP was boggled when I pointed out the little teeny writing on the POS that breaks it down for you. He’s the type to just grab and go.

I buy the really small tuna tin multipacks as only one person in my family eats them and they don’t tend to eat tuna two days on the trot so can’t even store the leftovers in the fridge. I hate throwing away wasted food.

I actually did this last week even though I usually wonder the exact same thing.

It was Heinz ketchup, I bought the smaller one even though the massive one was on offer at two quid. Simply because it only gets eaten by me, and only on fish and chips. So a Small one lasts six months. I didn't want a huge one in the cupboard still being there in two years time.

I do my 80+ DM's shopping and buy the smaller sizes especially for foods with limited shelf life. If I bought the large sizes DM would eat mayonnaise, ketchup, butter etc that was weeks out of date. She hates waste and struggles to understand why condiments have to be stored in the fridge once open. False economy to buy the bigger sizes for some items.

I look at "Cost per xxx" and buy that, no matter the size. It happens a lot with coffee. For eg, this weekend in Tesco the larger "eco friendly" bags of instant Kenko were more expensive per 100g than the slightly smaller glass jars - and not not just by pennies, it was something like an extra 46p per 100g. That adds up.

I shop online, almost entirely from my ‘Favourites’, so if the big pack hadn’t been on offer when I first searched for the item, it wouldn’t be the one in my favourites. I’d buy the small one every week.

I get caught by this sometimes, as I order everything online from shopping lists or favourites, so don't see the cheaper items if it's not the size I usually buy.

I noticed the opposite last week. My usual twin pack of cheese had gone up from £4.50 to £5, so I went to look for cheaper. I then discovered a single pack of the same brand was only £2 now. So I'm trying to be a bit more vigilant about prices.