Is there are a larger photograph showing more of the "price cut" sign? Because the visible text all says General Mills but the price tag on the left is for Post Cereal.

I've never actually seen a box of cereal next to its correct price tag in a Target. Those are the worst-arranged aisles in the history of retail, I think.

What's even more *awesome* about these deals is that a lot of "n for X.XX" deals are pro-rated, so to speak. That is, in this case you might be able to buy just 1 box and get it for 1/3 the $8, or the "haha, you got screwed" price.

I dunno if Target uses that system or not; I know some places do, some don't. But if so, how messed up would that be? Not only is the "deal" worse than the original individual prices, but when scanned, you can't avoid the "deal" prices!

As is, I like to think that companies are not this exploitive and that such things are just mistakes. Of course, the cynic in me believes that all corporations are out to screw *everyone* just to make that extra buck.

@EtoilePB: Ah crap, i didn't even notice that. That's a good point.

@EtoilePB: No, the price cut sign says Post. Read the bottom two.

Also, I wish I could buy cereal at those prices! They're 7$ each at my local grocer.

If a company does this, I think it is fair. People should be able to do basic math, and should look at the prices of what they buy. If a company can get away with saying "Buy 1 of these for $3, or two for $7!" and someone buys the two at $7, it's fair.

@Aristeia: The state of California requires such deals to be pro-rated (which is why you will often see buy x get one free deals instead). Though I think they also have to give you the lowest advertised price which would require them to give you the 3 boxes for $7.62. Who wants to venture by Target and give it a try?

@EtoilePB: Oh boo I see the better photo was by your request. Good eye.

Better question:

Is it legal to upcharge someone if you buy more of something?

If I buy three boxes of cereal at 2.50 per box, can I legally be charged $10?

I'm thinking that this can't be legal.

Their "specially packed" Cheerios double box is more, oz per oz, than their biggest box of Cheerios (regular price) in the regular grocery part. Mathematically a lot of their "specials" are not designed to impart savings, just mislead consumers with flashy numbers.

@AlteredBeast: It's common practice to bundle products to offer package deals that aren't always a better deal, but to use the large type "Price Cut" when the price is increased is unethical at best and I suspect fraudulent.

So what? As I said in another thread, this is a tax on those who can't do simple math. If Target makes a little extra $$ off stuff like this, I say good for them!

@SkokieGuy: While it is misleading, you can ask the question "What is receiving the price cut?" Perhaps it is not in relation to the individual items, but a price cut on the overpriced bundle.

How is it a price cut on the overpriced bundle? Maybe if they said '3 for $10.00, now price cut to 3 for $8'?

I would ask (and there is no way of knowing probably) if the bin label on the shelf with the 2.54 price is old. If someone missed the price change for that item a month ago and it went up to $3.33 or some such, then the 3 for $8 would be an appropriate deal.

@Franklin Comes Alive!: Harsh Comment for a Consumer blog. But, I agree. I don't think they should do knowingly do this. It's deceptive. But if you fall for it, I also don't feel bad.

Prerequisites for being a citizen is 3rd grade math.

@SkokieGuy: Yep, that's pretty much what I meant...but perhaps it was just a 10 cent price cut, enough to justify the sign.

@Bladefist:

Part of being a good Consumerist is the ability to spot stuff like this and get the best deal you can.

This IS hilarious and likely a very misleading offer. I've noticed this in the past at Target (but surprisingly nowhere else that I've noticed). I'd blame the error on staff just not updating the tags because every time I purchased items like this (whether or not I get the full "bundle") they've always just charged me the cheaper price.

I agree that this is a stupid tax for those that can't do math or not very observant. Good for Target for exploiting the poor public education in the US to make some extra scratch.

@Franklin Comes Alive!: Oh I agree. It was a formality to point it was harsh, before I blamed the OP (Had the OP fallen for it)

@Matthew Hughes: Thanks, and no worries. ;)

I sympathize with the cost of cereal, by the way: I just moved away from New York City where I basically stopped eating it for years because the base price was $5.99 or $6.99 for most boxes. Although there was a Target in the Bronx where I could sometimes get deals... almost as good as the ones in this article. ;)

What concerns me is should I choose to buy one box ... what price will I pay ?

Will it be the regular price of 2.54 or will I get the "enhanced" price of 2.66 or 2.67 (if rounding up) ?

Historically, I have observed Target pulling these shenanigans as long as I can remember. As a rule, I always compare unit prices before grabbing any special from a Target shelf. Target's pricing strategy makes the same kind of logical sense as Best Buy's "open items cost more than new items on sale" policy. As with all shopping experiences, caveat emptor.

I'm unsure why people are so upset. The prices are clearly labeled. You buy one box of your favorite cereal for the price on the shelf. If you buy 3 boxes of either the same cereal or a mix of the listed cereals, you pay $8. I'm sure each of the cereals available for bundling in the 3 for $8 has a different price (some higher, some lower).

If the individual price or the 3 for $8 package is not what you want to pay, then get in your car that burns ~$0.25 per mile and find a second grocery store. They are not the only vendor of cereal.

I'm with @OldJohnRobinson -- I bet they just forgot to update the small sticker. But ya'll feel free to spread your F.U.D.

@AlteredBeast: The legality of advertising it as a "Price Cut," when in fact it is not, is what I take issue with.

If it said buy 1 for $3 or 2 for $7 it's still bad... but if they advertised the "Buy 2 for $7" as a price cut, then it's a LIE.

Since when did it become OK to lie to consumers? I can see corporations taking advantage of consumers and making it look like the 12 boxes of X is a sweet deal, but advertising it as a cheaper price is wrong no matter how you slice it.

Lately at Wal-Mart many items have NO price shown. The price check self serve machines are either hidden away or not working. In these days and times retailers will try to take advantage of you any way they can.

You know, I'll take the occasional price gouging at Target for the simple reason that those stores attract beautiful women like crazy.

/well, at least the one I shop at.

I'm confident that Target does this intentionally. I've never had to drag a cashier out to where I got the item (for when it rings up at 2x the shelf price), nor have I ever had any arguments when I asked to NOT get the bundled pricing (as in this post). If they made it an ordeal, I'd probably not shop there anymore.

@Caveat: AFAIK, from my days working in retail, stores are required by law to mark the price of all items (the idea being to prevent price discrimination from one customer to the next). If this is really systemic as you claim, it might be worth researching the law and calling them out on it.

@cbartlett: Perhaps they "forgot"...still makes it misleading. You decide to run a huge retail operation, changing prices is the cost of doing business.

I don't see how a 'stupid' tax could be said to apply here. This is a (small) step up from cheating customers out right. If companies swindle one customer, they're swindling all of us, and not calling companies on it will just encourage them.

I think the main problem here is that if someone does actually buy 3 boxes, what does the cash register show? Because the register does not know if you recognized the scam or not, it just processes it.

So recognize or not all you want, the main issue is what's in their system when someone purchases 3 boxes.

I've never seen a shelf label at Target look like that. Especially with the red square part.

@teapot37: Unit pricing on grocery items at Super Targets.

Part of me wants to agree it's a tax on the stupid people, but then again... if it automatically rings up at the "deal" price but I WANTED to buy three? then even though I can do math, they're charging me extra.

No, it's just fraudulent, nothing more.

I registered specifically to make this comment. As an avid cereal eater, an occasional Target shopper, and a Honey Bunches of Oats (with almonds) lover - The OP is full of crap.

I want a closer look at those $2.54 price tag - I can just about guarantee that those are for the 14.5oz (or smaller due to the shrink ray) boxes of cereal. 3/$8 on the 19-oz (family size) Honey Bunches of Oats is an excellent deal.

$2.54/14.5 is ~17.5 cents per ounce
$8/(19*3) is 14 cents per ounce

I'm no fan of Target but I'm getting fed up with crap like this being posted to the front page of Consumerist. Everyone is berating this company for offering a sale (yes, it really is a sale). Shame on you all for not noticing this, especially after the new image was posted showing 19oz on the sign.

I can't attest to other Target stores, but I can say this about the one where I work (we are just about to celebrate our 1 year anniversary, so it's a pretty new store): the salesfloor and stocking people CONSISTENTLY forget to remove old prices. They also "flex" items, which means they move them around on the shelf, so that the shelf looks nicer. which is fine, except for when an expensive item lands in front of a much cheaper tag, and we have to honor the price (as an example, somebody bought a 33 dollar racing toy for 11 dollars yesterday).

also, it's easy to get the cashiers to change the prices on items. we have the authority to change the prices on items, as long as the difference is not too big. a dollar or two, sure. we have neither the time or patience to check every item that may or may not be ringing up incorrectly. but if the price difference is large, we DO have to talk to our supervisors.

anyways, chances are that a salesfloor person just forgot to take off the old label. most likely it would ring up at the cheaper price. if it didn't, it'd be easy to convince the cashier to change ti

I agree that this one is highly suspect, as a result of the "temporary price cut" sign. It's totally different, however, from the deodorant business, which was simply a matter of a higher unit price when you buy two in a pack, which is stupid, but not fraudulent. It's also totally different from the ketchup thing, which is neither -- the fact that you pay more for the same quantity when it's broken up into two bottles logically reflects the fact that you're paying for more packaging.

I agree this one is bad, but I don't agree that it's the third of its kind. I do think it's shady to advertise something as a sale that isn't one, but the other stuff is just a matter of reading labels and deciding what you want to buy.

But what if you want 3.... but for the normal price?

Hi, I was the Original Submitter of the photos. I was curious as to what I was going to be charged, so I bought one.

I paid $2.54 for the single box of Honey Bunches of Oats.

@Aristeia:
Yes, in most locations if the price is marked as 2/$5, they have to sell you one for $2.50 unless otherwise clearly marked.

This is a great tactic. Rather than discourage a shopper with an ad that "limits ONE(1) item per visit, per sale...", they get you in that you can buy more, but at a penalty.

It's shady but they can do it as it's advertised properly (if you can add, you see there is no bargain...just look at Sam's club...just because it is bulk, doesn't mean its a deal)

We are not getting the whole story though. We are seeing only "one" brands price...yet the labels shows u can have any combo of 3 form the brands listed for $8.

Every brand is different in price normally..so it is possible that buying 3 may save you money..., impossible to tell unless we can see all the prices for all the cereals listed.

Pricing at Target varies a lot, because of local supply and demand, but the ads cover fairly large regions, so sometimes advertised prices will, as in this case, be higher than before. In that case, the item will NOT ring up for the "price cut" price, but the original price. The ad change team should NOT have put up the sale signs, but likely just didn't realize that the price was higher. They just print the signs and put them where they go (or at least somewhere around where they go).

Boo this man BOO him. General Mills cereals and Post cereals have different pricing depending on box size, type, etc. Perhaps if more investigating was done on the other cereals besides the one with the obvious clearance tag was done it may turn out that buying 3 boxes of cocoa pebbles for $8 is cheaper overall. Boo

I have a good example of this happening in retail as well, its just that my store is smarter than this.

I work at a new CVS store and am in charge of the alcohol sale signs weekly at my store. We sell 30 packs of Old Style and Old Style Light at a regular retail price of $12.49. Every once in a while corporate will advertise it on sale at $12.99. In that case, not only do we not hang the sign, but the register also continues to sell it at $12.49. If something is on sale and the regular retail is lower, the regular retail will always ring up.

Here's a slightly different question...a local grocery store chain (Giant in the DC metro area) had a special on Coke products over July 4th. The advertised price on the 12 can 'fridge pack' was 5 for $10...must buy 5 to get sale price. The regular price was something like $2.79. What would happen if I bought five and then returned four? Should I expect an $8 refund?

Also, has anyone tried to return a BOGO item? Do you get a refund for 50% of the unit price? My daughter bought some shampoo on a BOGO deal and realized that she hates the product. I suggested that she returned the unopened bottle.

You know, I noticed the same, but with something different!

I had to buy some toilet bowl cleaner, and I figured I would buy two (some type of Clorox with bleach). Right next was a "value pack" with two bundled together. Sure enough, the value pack was like 10c more expensive than two individuals. I even looked at the price/qt, and the "value pack" WAS in fact more expensive. I looked nearby, and some window cleaner was in a similar situation.