Do supermarkets assume we're stupid?

Yes, we've noticed this too. The price per 100g on some products helps but it would be better if it was in larger print!

Try this one :-

1 x 6 crisps £1

1 x 14 crisps £2.75

so I got a manager who said "Don't ask me, you should go to promotions", so I brought 2 x 6 pack for £2.

Did I do right ?

Yes I did, now I,ve wrote it down I can see, so much for special promotions.

Yes they do. Because a lot of people either can't do, or can't be bothered to do the maths. Or are very trusting that the multinational, multimillion pound supermarket has the shoppers' best interests at heart... AKA stupid.

(Naïve at best)

I always shop with DH, he is good at working out whether the offers are genuine. Buying two smaller packs of produce often works out cheaper than the big family pack. The other week I bought Flora margarine, half size was £1 per tub large was £3.76, I bought two smaller tubs and saved £1.76.

I think we should complain that they are misleading their customers. And even better, write comments on their Facebook pages and twitter accounts. Companies really hate being embarrassed on Twitter.

Supermarkets do not assume we are stupid. They have the evidence to prove conclusively that many shoppers are. That is why they have all these misleading offers. A fool and their money are soon parted

Katek...that's a well known strategy (am sure someone has been trying to ban it but hey you know big business and all that....its one of the reasons I always distrust multibuys.

I think the strategy just assumes we are all too busy...not necessarily daft.

I saw one a while ago, so I might not have the price right, 10 pack of thin vinyl gloves £1.30 and the unit price was 13p a pair. There were only 10 single gloves in the pack!

Our local supermarket is closing down and advertising 30% off everything. Our favourite wine usually cost us £5.99 a bottle so I thought I'd get some at a discount. They had put the price up to £9, so with 30% off it would cost £6.30....not a bargain at all, especially as it was still selling at £5.99 elsewhere.
People were still filling their baskets so the hype was working!

Large supermarkets and online grocery retailers in Australia must display the unit price and unit of measurement alongside the selling price. You don't have to make complicated calculations anymore. It makes it so much easier to compare the price of each item.

Whoever thought it up was a genius.

No, they don't assume we are stupid but they do know that most people are too busy or trusting or can't do the maths!

Always assume they are out to rip you off and then you won't be disappointed or surprised!

Another trick (by manufacturers) is to reduce the size of a product but keep the price the same so that, in reality, the product is more expensive. I wonder if this is taken into account when inflation rates are worked out.

Heinz beans 50p; 4 'pack' £2.50!! Alternating 2 weeks later single tin 75p!
4 'Pack' £2.00!!

I don't think it's got anything to do with being stupid! Many of us are too busy to spend time standing around doing complicated mental arithmetic or getting the calculator out on our phones! I have to do my shopping after I drop my grandson at school and in the 10 minutes before I am due at the office where I work full time! My shopping therefore involves a dash round Waitrose shoving a mental list of stuff into my trolley and then a dash to the car to get to work on time. Working out if I am being ripped off is therefore not at the top of my priority list. I obviously try to avoid obvious rip offs and bogus offers and when I have been able to go shopping in a less pressured time I am more successful but even then I am usually going with a small child in tow and hence distracted so again concentration is a problem. Clearly if you aren't working or are retired it's easier to do the maths but it's not always possible.

Must admit sometimes I get taken in usually when I'm tired and can't be bothered . It seems all supermarkets do this one thing that gets me is poor dates. I once pointed out that bread was out of date on shelf but assistant just shrugged shoulder and walked off !

It is not just on special offers this happens. I recently wanted caster sugar and needed a lot as I was baking for a cake sale. I was delighted to see 2kg bags alongside the 1kg ones at our local store as they do not usually stock the larger size but ended up buying 2 x 1kg bags at £1.20 after noticing the 2kg size wa £2.60. I'm sure many shoppers would simply assume the larger size was cheaper.

Nuts are one of the worst offenders. Selling them in 250/300 g packs they sound relatively cheap - until you work out that it is equivalent to about £15 a kg or more. We shouldn't have to do this. Price per kilo should be clearly stated.

They usually display the unit price but use different units as comparison in small print. The department manager should ask his staff to report any anomalies and correct they.

This is an alarming trend in supermarkets; I noticed a 'promotion' for two packets of butter that was in fact a complete rip off as the individual packs were cheaper. 'Mentioned it to an assistant, and she said that this kind of thing goes on all the time - 'That's how they make their money'. This in a well known and 'posh' nationwide supermarket. You also have to watch that the offers marked on the shelves have been computerised or you can buy two 'bargains' and get home to find you have paid the full price for each at the till. This happened twice in a short space of time in a VERY well known and old established high street chemist. I went back and did a little war dance about misleading customers and wasting my time; apologies and a refund, which was for about £6; but how many of us don't have the time or energy to check everything carefully or trek back carrying goods we have been overcharged for? Shops must make millions every year with these 'mistakes'. Also attempting comparisons of kg and units make my head hurt - I try to get OH on this as he is a walking calculator.

I think they fool younger people with families, because these consumers, as one person wrote, havent time to check prices etc, but we "mature" people should have time to do quick maths, and not be fooled,and keeping us on our toes, having said that, I am not a genius at maths.Happy checking everyone.

Perhaps we should all produce "It's a rip-off" stickers and stick them on the offending shelves!

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