Smaller package, same price
Less is more --- or maybe it just costs more.
Consumerist has a post about three examples of products sold in smaller quantities while the prices remained the same -- for example, 16.2 oz of Skippy Peanut Butter with the same price tag that an 18 oz. jar once carried. Or less square footage of Quilted Northern toilet paper or Brawny paper towels than you used to get --- again, for the same or higher price.
Readers wrote in with other examples, including yogurt cups shrinking from 8 ounces to 6 and smaller jars of spaghetti sauce. Formerly 16 oz canned goods now show up as 15 or less.
These types of examples have been fodder for the back page of Consumer Reports for years, but as a Consumerist reader points out, it complicates planning. Do I have to buy two 28.2 cans of diced tomatoes to satisfy a recipe calling for 32 ounces? Or pay more per ounce by buying a smaller can to make up the difference?
We know why manufacturers do it. The price of raw materials, and the cost to ship goods, has been skyrocketing. And people get upset --- and reconsider their purchases --- when they see prices getting higher. But selling less product for the same price of a larger size is disingenuous.
What can you do?
Remember, the largest package is not always the best deal! In the supermarket, check out the unit price tags to find out how much your body wash or mushrooms cost per ounce. If they are missing or unhelpful, don't be afraid to whip out your cell phone calculator to compare brands and sizes.
Don't be fooled! A company can change the potency of a product as well. Mouseprint spotted Act mouthwash that has half the active ingredient in a larger bottle, and has to be used twice a day. Smaller bottles have twice the active ingredients and only need to be used once a day.As a Consumerist reader suggested, you can keep a price notebook to note prices for your basic items at different stores. That way you can see at a glance whether the price of milk or bread or sugar is better when it's on sale. Unfortunately, these practices make it clear that you need to note the size/amount/count as well as the price for the package you buy.
Where are you feeling the pinch of product shrink? And what ideas do you have for making sure you get what you pay for?
Comments
Are there any databases which track changes in package size? All too often you're buying something and you think "didn't that used to be a 1 lb package?", but you don't have any of the older packages, so you can't compare...
So it would be good to be able to llok up your favorite brand of toothpaste and find out whether there selling less at the same price.
Personally, I think a nationwide shaming campaign would fix a lot of this.
Posted by: douglas ward | February 24, 2009 1:20 AM