Can you explain to me Target's bulk pricing on their Degree deodorant? As you can see in the attached picture - I could buy one deodorant for $1.82, or a two-pack for $3.89 from my local Target here in Chicago! Am I paying for the plastic they use to keep them together? Neither one is on sale, this is their regular pricing.
This is either Target trying to take advantage of people not paying a lot of attention and fairly assuming that two together will be cheaper than buying two individually, or just bad pricing!
People write us all the time about Target doing this with all sorts of products. We're pretty sure they're banking on you not paying attention.
]]>I do this all the time, and it is surprising to find the "sale" items aren't always the cheapest.
]]>A short story:
Two marketing types at Unilever have been feuding for quite a while. One day at a marketing department meeting, the first says, "Someday, two-pack packaging will rule the marketplace!" The second guy, who incidently is also the dude in charge of single unit marketing, thinks to himself, "I'll teach this dweeb a lesson!" and promptly lowers the per unit price on the single units of Degree.
Okay, maybe not how it really happens, but it could...
]]>Not especially new. If something's selling, the people who keep buying it may notice a price drop on their totals and come to rely on the store for other things also. Also, if something is selling well from a particular vendor, dropping the price could maintain the momentum.
]]>I see stuff like this a lot at Wal-mart. It just so happens that you find an item in the middle of a price raise. I saw something like this a while ago and when I went back to check on it again, the prices were aligned correctly.
]]>Yes, they do. If something sells more, they buy more and can get a better price due to a larger volume.
]]>I remember the days where I learned this on this blog. These days it is either grocery shrink or Target selling two packs for more than two singles.
I get it, people write you all the time, but you don't have to post every one.
]]>If you label something with the term "value pack" yet price it higher per roll, I do think you are being deceptive.
@ministan:
Can you let us know the source for this information?
What is this "pop"
]]>I'm glad I'm not on your gift list :P
]]>I'm sure it's just paying for the more convenient packaging - it makes it easier to wrap when you're giving it as a gift.
Have you ever tried to wrap two individual sticks of deoderant together? I just don't have that much tape.
]]>That's why I bring 2-liter bottles to the office and get ice from our fridge.
]]>I don't think you can accuse Target of cheating the customer; all the pricing information is right there in plain view.
Sneaky, yes. But thank goodness for The Consumerist and other such sites for spreading the word about this type of pricing practice.
]]>Exactly !
It's a tax on people who are too lazy or uneducated to do simple math
]]>Just another example of how buying in bulk isn't necessarily the cheapest way to go!
]]>If you owned a business, wouldn't you want to sell more? I know I would. I would not "cheat" anyone, but with all the information there, the shopper can decide for themselves.
I'm surprised The Consumerist does not have a story about how 20oz pops cost more then a 2 liter of pop.
]]>Well, the unit price makes it pretty clear that the two-pack does cost more, so I'd just chalk this up to bad pricing.
]]>It may be something with Degree's pricing because I saw this at a Wal-mart also. I even double-checked to make sure the two-pack had the same type and size as the the single pack.
]]>Noticed the same thing at Wal-Mart this past week. $1.77 for one or $3.76 for the 2 pack.
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