Wisdom from The Action Wisdom In Action

The Aisle of Deception (Updated)

First, allow me to state that Tom Hanks has nothing to do with this production.

Second, I shall describe for you how I found this lonely place, and how it lures (and continues to lure) unsuspecting shoppers into its financially-deadly arms.

Once while making a shopping foray through a local grocery store in search of a specific item nobody else carried, I found it—the last aisle marked “What One Dollar Buys You.” I couldn’t believe it—an entire row (1/2 an aisle) dedicated to nothing but $1 bargains!

As I steered the cart in that direction, I dragged out my calculator.

As I got closer to the products, I was able to peruse labels carefully. What I found wasn’t the next mother lode of bargains to be had from a hidden-in-plain-sight place, but a huge “man trap” of deceptive bargains all under the banner of $1 buys.

There were loads of products from all areas of the store to be found in that one aisle—actual food items, laundry supplies, school supplies, health and beauty items, kitchen tools and hardware, pet supplies—basically a mini version of a dollar store--and all were suspiciously far away from their regular departments.

When I actually took an item and held it in my hands for closer examination, I then learned the dirty secret—size. These items were smaller than their normal-priced counterparts—fewer ounces, rolls, sheets, etc.—which told me that the price per unit would be sky-high when compared to the same type of product elsewhere in the store.

For someone uneducated in the basics of Frugality 101, this place would seem a godsend—but to me, it was nothing more than a huge man-trap set by clever grocery store mice.

Not having the time to compare every single item in the aisle with its normally-priced and normally-stocked counterpart, I just focused on a couple of tempting items. After wheeling the cart over to the proper departments for continuing my investigation, I found I was indeed right—these particular items were cheaper by unit price in their home departments than on Deception Aisle.

Sorry, Tom Hanks—no rescue for you (or any of your $1 buddies) today.

Readers: watch out for your Aisles of Deception coming to local grocery stores near you.

UPDATE: On the news just last night, a "consumer detective" discovered a discrepancy in one grocery store between nuts sold in the baking aisle vs. nuts sold in the produce aisle--the produce aisle ones were cheaper per pound. Another discrepancy she found was cheese--cheese sold at the deli counter was cheaper per pound than pre-packaged cheese in the dairy case. This type of discrepancy may not occur in all stores, so check your store before you buy.

ALWAYS CARRY YOUR CALCULATOR, SOMETHING TO WRITE WITH, AND SOMETHING TO WRITE ON. DON'T BE AFRAID TO WANDER AROUND THE ENTIRE STORE IF YOU HAVE TO, JUST TO BE YOUR OWN PRICE DETECTIVE!

Meanwhile, in the rest of the store, deceptive pricing also gets products to move off the shelf—canned goods that barely moved for .59 each are now placed on a special display marked 4/$3.00, and are suddenly flying out the door. Meanwhile, the retailer makes a .16 “ignorance” profit from each and every can as long as the display stays up.

Posted by Cute at 6:37 PM

Labels: financial (non-tax), food purchases