Reader Luke noticed that the grocery shrink ray mercilessly zapped his bottle of White Rain shampoo– but mysteriously left the “33% more” label untouched. 33% more than… what exactly?
Luke says:
I’ve been using White Rain shampoo for years. It’s in every Walgreens in the nation, and it is the cheapest shampoo ever. It’s a dollar a bottle. It’s always been a dollar a bottle. Ask anyone. It’s also always been in a 590 mL bottle. But now they changed it to a 532 mL bottle. They still insist it’s “33% MORE” than something.
Well, it certainly isn’t 33% more than it used to be.
More From Consumerist
-
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Feta Cheese, Shrinks Product And Packaging (Updated: Not So Fast!)
-
Kashi Heart To Heart Hit By Ever-So-Tiny Shrink Ray
-
Aldi Hits Kid’s Krunch Cereal With Sugary, Sugary Shrink Ray
-
Jennie-O Reverses Grocery Shrink Ray To Add 10% More Fat Back In To Turkey Franks
-
Shrink Ray Zaps Aussie Shampoos, Somehow Makes Them Look Bigger
@JaguarChick: The company making the product rarely is the company making the package the product comes in. So for packaging companies, it’s their cost of business to design and sell new packages.
For the company making the product/buying the package, it’s as simple as just picking one from a catalog (and setting up a whole bidding process and so on).
The real problem with the shrink ray is that it’s not just that you’re getting less stuff per $$, it’s also incredibly wasteful. The company may make more money without having to raise the price per package, but I have to buy more often, meaning more trips to the store, more transaction costs for the retail location (think credit card fees and cashier costs), and (my real beef here) more packaging. (Less product per container equals less product in relation to the amount of packaging — larger containers are always more efficient in this regard.) Plus, that last little bit of product you can’t get out of each package happens that much more often.
Be honest, raise the price, don’t try and sneak it by hoping we won’t notice and wasting a bunch of resources at the same time!
Finally! A real, honest, deceptive “grocery shrink ray” article! I can’t blame stupid consumers, say buyer beware, etc. This really, truly is deceiving!
I’m sorry, when did I ask to get something for nothing? I understand I’m dealing with a business, but when they downsize containers, bottles, etc. and then jack up the price ( or downsize the container and jack up the price) they’re ripping off consumers- the people who keep them in business. You want to raise prices? Fine, then don’t downsize the regular container. That’s like a store advertising a B1G1F sale, and then the night before doubling the shelf prices on everything to still make a running profit ( Safeway does this with 18 packs of eggs- who pays $6.39 for an 18 pack of eggs?).
I participate in a consumer panel for a major company- they send me pkgs. of products and I try them and then fill out an online survey or do the survey by phone. I noticed that one of the laundry products they sent me was 8 oz. less than normal, and when they asked me if I would purchase the product I said “nope.” The lady on the phone seemed surprised because I had just said it smelled great and seemed to work well. I told her I wasn’t going to pay the same or more for less product! After I explained that to her, she thanked me and said she was going to look for the “shrink ray” when she shops from now on.
Honest, I’m just tired of being ripped off- everyone has the right to make a profit, but price gouging should be against the law.@PackerX:
See my comment to Packer- prices go up all the time. I expect to yearly pay a little more for things- but shrink it AND raise the price? Criminal. @chiieddy:
@bobosgirl: They didn’t raise the price. It’s still a $1. Read the article. They shrunk the amount you get for $1.
I read the article- maybe you should read more carefully. I was making a general statement about companies raising prices AND shrinking sizes, in repsonse to the 2 posters, NOT commenting on the shampoo.
@johnarlington: same bag, less chips.
kind of like the ones in vending machines, just half filled.