Math at Walmart
I figured out a few years ago that Walmart counts on people assuming that a multipack of something is always the better bargain -- the bigger the pack, the better deal -- and thus price multipacks so that the cost of the individual unit is more than singles or smaller packs. For example, a two-pack of deodorant might be $2.90...or you can buy indentical individual units for $1.35 each. Or, as I discovered last month, you can buy individual cans of Mighty Dog dog food for $.58 a unit, or you can buy a ten-pack for ...$5.96.
(We'll ignore what this says about U.S. consumers that Walmart does this so often and so flagrantly and has been doing so for many years now. Presumably, they wouldn't if it didn't work so spectacularly.)
(And this isn't to say that a multipack is never a better deal -- a two pack of contact solution today was $13.50, while the individual bottles were $6.98. But most of the time, the pricing goes the other way.)
Anyway...a three pack of Mach 3 disposable razors is $5.98. A six pack of the same razor is $13.48. (Yeah, they make a profit of $1.56 on that one.)
But I have coupons today: $2 off the three pack, or $3 off the six pack. Two coupons of each. And you wouldn't believe how long I stood there trying to figure out whether the extra dollar off the larger pack made up for the ridiculous amount WM is screwing with me over. It wasn't that I couldn't do the math and figure out that six for $7.96 is better than six for $10.48. It's that it's summer, and I shave more, meaning the more razors the better.
Couldn't do it. Couldn't buy one of the larger packs, even with a $3 off coupon.
If you've ever wondered, though, how WM manages to price some things for so much less than their competitors...it's probably easy when your customers apparently check their brains at the door.
(We'll ignore what this says about U.S. consumers that Walmart does this so often and so flagrantly and has been doing so for many years now. Presumably, they wouldn't if it didn't work so spectacularly.)
(And this isn't to say that a multipack is never a better deal -- a two pack of contact solution today was $13.50, while the individual bottles were $6.98. But most of the time, the pricing goes the other way.)
Anyway...a three pack of Mach 3 disposable razors is $5.98. A six pack of the same razor is $13.48. (Yeah, they make a profit of $1.56 on that one.)
But I have coupons today: $2 off the three pack, or $3 off the six pack. Two coupons of each. And you wouldn't believe how long I stood there trying to figure out whether the extra dollar off the larger pack made up for the ridiculous amount WM is screwing with me over. It wasn't that I couldn't do the math and figure out that six for $7.96 is better than six for $10.48. It's that it's summer, and I shave more, meaning the more razors the better.
Couldn't do it. Couldn't buy one of the larger packs, even with a $3 off coupon.
If you've ever wondered, though, how WM manages to price some things for so much less than their competitors...it's probably easy when your customers apparently check their brains at the door.