Reader Justin was shopping at Target when he noticed some interesting pricing going on in the cotton swab aisle. Remember, the bigger package isn’t always going to save you money.

Justin says:

I really think Target hates people with poor math skills. The consumerist has shown us how terrible Target’s “Price Cut” and 2-for-1 deals can be, but now it appears that Target has a holistic approach on retail suckiness with regularly-priced items.

My wife and I spotted these gems yesterday at the Target in Sugar Land, Texas (see attached, apologies for iPhone photo quality). While it may appear from the price tags that these are different brands of cotton swabs, they are indeed the same brand (Target’s generic brand).

500 Cotton Swabs for $1.94 (0.388¢ per swab), or, if you buy in bulk, 750 Cotton Swabs for $3.69 (0.492¢ per swab). Wow, that’s a savings of -27%!

Target is edging closer to Wal-Martitude in my book of awful.

Not all states have unit pricing laws, so if yours doesn’t, you might want to bring a calculator with you when you shop. It might seem weird, but if it saves you money — who cares?

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