Welcome to Target! The normal rules of logic do not apply here, and addition and subtraction also work differently, so you need to evaluate all price tags and signs that say “Sale” or even “Clearance” carefully. Are you up to the challenge? Then you can shop at Target. Congratulations. Here is your first assignment: help reader Bill figure out how much this bottle of Oxi Clean costs.

He actually purchased the item, and it rang up at $2.76, the “sale” price. “The ‘regular’ price on the shelf says $2.49,” he wrote. That’s not what his receipt said, though. There’s another variable, and that’s what Target claims the “original” price is.

“The ‘sale’ price this week is $2.76, based on a ‘regular’ price of $3.07. Which one is real?” he wrote to Consumerist. Did he overpay by 27¢, or did he save 31¢? Perhaps he should simply be grateful that he was allowed to escape unharmed.

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