Do Not Fall Into Target's Evil Sunscreen Trap!
Eagle-eyed reader Kt noticed that Target is charging $9.99 for both the 3 oz and the 6 oz size of Coppertone's NutraShield sunscreen.
Do not fall for this.
It is a trap.
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Comments:
Sunscreen is almost as much of a ripoff as printer ink.
Am I missing something? How is this a trap? If you are extremely dumb you might say that a brick wall is a trap because you might walk into it.
While the bottles look the same, those are two different products (one is for the face). While I agree they probably are no different, I would blame Coppertone for the price difference, not Target.
@Trance1861: You are right. These are two different products. Granted, the ingredients might be the same, but in that case the OP should blame Coppertone, not Target.
a picture of Admiral Ackbar is needed and i am failing at html today. the god for the preview check.
@sir_pantsalot:
Yes, you are missing something. And that is the point. We don't always take a moment to stop and calculate the best deal, assuming that the store and manufacturer plays fair.
It does mean you are "dumb." A consumer can only do so much to protect from traps and manipulations. Target usually does it the other way around actually, making this an even more clever trap. Most of the time the Target "economy size" costs significantly more per unit than the smaller size.
Well played Target merchandisers.
I was at Fred Meyer the other day buying Russet Potatoes.
5 pound bag is $1.78, 10 pound bag is $1.79...
I'm sure glad I spent the extra penny and side-stepped that land-mine!
Unfortunately, this is happening a lot lately. Blame the DHS's retarded requirement of what you can bring on a plane; it's making 3 oz. and smaller sizes of any product more expensive.
The real trap is thinking you need SPF 70.
@techstar25: The ingredients probably aren't the same because facial products are generally touted as being non-comedogenic, hence the reason they are marketed specifically for face.
I agree though that the issue is with Coppertone.
@Trance1861: Ok, I looked on their website. I didn't see a list of the ingrediants (maybe I didn't look hard enough), but I did a side-by-side comparison of the two. The only thing I saw was that it looks like the non-face version is "Fragrance free." So perhaps the face version has a shitload of expensive fragrance in it. Maybe you smell like a dewey tulip, or some such thing.
@Trance1861: Agreed, two different products. Face sunscreens usually seem thicker to me so I'm guessing there's a minor formulation difference.
Coppertone Faces is a different product and meant specifically for daily use on the face, more like a moisturizer.
That's why it's 2x the price.
Um... that's two different products though.
Very cute. So some retail wage slave missed an old price tag or something.
@dave_coder: Ah. And if you look closely they are different products. One is "specially made" for face application.
Wal-Mart does this all the time.
@Gizmosmonster: I can't stand Target's deceptive pricing, either, but it's easy enough to avoid getting ripped off with the use of some basic math and an extra few seconds of shopping. I would say that people who miss this are pointlessly lazy if not dumb.
The only reason that these "traps" work is because drones fall for them every day.
@HeartBurnKid uses Linux: the taint of OS's:
This is the real reason. Try and sneak that 6oz monster past the TSA Nazis and you'll see why the 3oz tube is the same price.
This is disappointing. If the readers can figure out that this is inaccurate, why can't the editors?
Again, a huge rush to post a Target pricing "issue" results in a huge FAIL.
@Canino:
You want to know what a real ripoff is?
Buying toothpaste in TSA approved sizes.
Costs about 1/2 what the full sized tubes cost. Contains about 1/10th the toothpaste.
Don't forget people, price points are set by things like turn over, shelf space, shipping costs, etc. Not just by an individual bottle's size.
Don't forget too that sunscreens for the face are formulated differently, or should be. It shouldn't sting the eyes or clog the pores. This could lead to the smaller amount offered at the same price.
12 oz can of Coke for $1.00 or 2 liters for
79 cents? Shipping in big bulky packages is cheaper than shipping and handling many smaller ones.
Don't forget the 3 oz bottles are probably meant to go on a plane.
They are right next to each other, so it's not like Target is trying to fool anyone.
It's not the same item. Consumerist has some really stupid posts every now and then. By the way, I love Target.
@JoeWaiver: Or@lordargent:
Can't you just put a regular-sized tube in your toiletry bag in your checked luggage?
Do you really need a tube of toothpaste with you on a flight?
@Kogenta: They're different products, for sure. Is the "Faces" version so different that it's twice as expensive to make? I doubt it. However, this isn't just two different sizes of the same product.
@HiPwr: I couldn't find it either. Then again, I didn't see this post until I had replied to the one above, so my Internet vision is obviously weak today.
@HiPwr:
My wife is a Northern European mix and she burns easily. My kids (sharing her sun tolerance) also turn into little lobsters if we don't use sunscreen. I tend to do better in the sun but still burn, just not as fast.
The smaller one is a "face formula". That's why it's more per ounce.
@sean98125:
Yeah. Airlines lose luggage. How are you going to brush your teeth? What if you have to get right off the plane and go to a meeting?
What if it's a long flight and the inflight meal has spinach and you get some stuck right in your teeth?
What if you have to spend the night in the airport?
What if you get upgraded to first class and you get put next to George Clooney (I can dream, can't I?)and he's feeling chatty and you don't know if you have dragon breath?
Hello? Not the same product. "Faces" sunscreen is generally made with a fancier base so you use less product per use and it doesn't cause break outs. It's always more expensive.
It says "Faces" right on the package. Jeeze.
@Kogenta: If you hear hoof sounds, think horse first, not zebra.
I'm (just) a grunt freight-stocker for Target and also work in pricing. Given that there's no white strip behind the shelf tags (meaning the tags are individual labels, and not printed on one long strip that fits into the edge shielding) that the price revisions just aren't completely put out yet. Occasionally, price label changes will printed up on different days -- but they'll show up at the register correctly, despite what the shelf says. There's scanners all over the store to double check prices if they seem weird. I'd recommend the OP check with someone at the store to see about correcting it, instead of going drama-psycho on the internets with their haphazard presumptions of conspiracy.
Just below the price, there is a xxx-xx-xxxx (called a DPCI) number. You can check Target.com with that number to get details about it. The image is a bit blurry to read them, though, it seems.
@Kogenta: I was recently in the market for a new sunscreen and saw this exact thing. I read the ingredient labels on both of them and compared: they are exactly the same ingredient wise. Same order listed and everything. I didn't test to see if the product felt the same or anything, but I did buy the bigger bottle. Does a nice job blocking the rays.
So, um... did the person who took this photo point it out to a Target employee? It could've been a mistake.
@Starfury:
I've got a lot of irish, and scottish, I spent 2 days at darien lake this weekend (in north new york) and I'm a lobster.
Also, I have very sensitive skin, and with most brands, I can only wear face lotion, anywhere, because it is less irritating
I don't know why people complain about this - are they supposed to raise the big size bottle's price? What if they have a hard time selling the large bottle because people want the smaller one for the portability?
There's alot of factors there that people who don't understand these things would ignore and it's the source of alot of confusion.
That being said - it does make an entertaining failblog-esque picture.
Well, I'm going to point out that most companies charge a large premium for the same product if it has the word "face" on it. This isn't particularily limited to single chain.