Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Save money - don't assume bigger is necessarily cheaper

I was at a store the other day buying formula for the babies when I saw this:

The small tin (400g) costs R46 and the big tin (900g) costs R152,90. I couldn't believe it!


The big tin should cost in the region of R103,50 or even less. A lot of people would assume that the bigger one is cheaper (I threw big tins into my trolley before I started thinking) but first do your sums and make sure you're getting a good deal!

There you go - trying to save you money :)

post signature

6 comments:

jacki janse van rensburg said...

you won't believe how often that is true. a large mayonnaise bottle is also more expensive by volume than a standard one.

pick 'n pay has lables on their shelves, that shows you Rands per unit. it makes comparison easier.

these days grocery shopping takes so much longer, because every item needs to be compared first. compare the sizes, compare different brands, and compare to no-name-brands. *sigh*

se7en said...

This is so my "pet gripe" and I could go on and on and on... I am sure there is something about "Buy Bulk and Save..." Luckily my husband is the master comparative shopper, I keep the kids quiet and he rants up and down the aisles going on about false advertising!!! Wet wipes at the moment are much cheaper to by the smaller packs than the huge "Saving" pack and Margarine (we use stork), much cheaper to buy the small ones than the 1kg tubs. I will stop already and get back to blogging!!!

Anne said...

I agree! Tons of people are buying into the big warehouse stores now assuming that no matter what they buy, they will save money, but it doesnt work that way. Stores always have loss-leaders and higher priced other items to make up the difference. I try to shop as "smart" as possible and compare. Warehouse stores for me? Yes, but only for meat, pastas and canned foods... and sometimes even the canned foods are cheaper with a coupon elsewhere.

Nicol said...

I don't know if the stores there do this, but here most items will have a tag on the shelf breaking down the cost. So it will say how much it is per ounce, liter, pound, etc. This is super helpful because I can scan it quickly and know if the larger bottle is a better deal. You're right that bigger is not always better.

Marcia Francois said...

Se7en, oh go ahead – I love when other people get on their soapboxes too  and thanks for the tips.

Nicol, some stores do but a majority don’t so I whip out my calculator and do my own sums J

Mana Laura said...

Hi Marcia,
I was just in Metro this week while in SA and there were NO price labels at all in the powdered milk section. I threw the big tin of Klim in my trolley but when it rang up, it was 149, which I know was higher than the price at Pick and Pay. So I asked her to take it off and the checker had to call the manager. He politely asked me why, I politely explained and he said "what about if I knock 49 rands off?" making it 100 rands!! So I said, sure and thanks! I was quite surprised by that!

So reading your post now, a couple days later, makes me extra thankful for my blessing and a good reminder to check the prices - when they're listed!

Laura

ShareThis