5 Ways Grocery Stores Trick You into Spending More

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Home > Food & Dining Out > Topics: Grocery Stores

5 Ways Grocery Stores Trick You into Spending More

Submitted by: Tip Hero 07/11/2012 10:54 AM

Ever have that feeling, after you've left the grocery store, that you've somehow blown your budget and gotten more stuff than you originally planned on getting? The truth is that the supermarket itself can take a lot of the blame for this kind of occurrence. Let's take a look at some of the ways that supermarkets trick you into saving more on a normal basis:

10 for $10

In most cases, you can take advantage of the "10 for $10" price without buying 10 of whatever the item is. But even though this is the case, a recent New York Times survey found that people were more likely to buy more items when they see 10 for $10 deals vs. 5 for $5 and 1 for $1. This may be because the larger number tricks your brain into thinking you're getting a better bargain. But keep in mind that you may not be saving if you won't be able to use all the items you buy.

Pre-Cut Veggies and Fruits

These may look pretty and convenient in their attractive packaging, but don't be fooled. You'll end up paying for the convenience of having your produced chopped, sliced or diced for you.

Consumer Reports found that pre-cut veggies and fruits can be a lot more expensive than the whole items. The team noted that a $1.50 six-ounce bag of shredded carrots costs about five times more than a similar amount of whole carrots.

Not to mention, these pre-cut veggies and fruits go bad faster than their whole counterparts.

So take the extra 5 minutes (tops) that it will take you to cut that produce on your own. Your wallet will thank you.

Growing Carts

You're not imagining it; carts are growing at the grocery store. Grocers figure that the larger the cart, the more likely you are to fill that cart with stuff. A great way to fight against this psychological trick is to try to shop with just a hand basket if possible. When that basket starts getting heavy, you'll start weighing (pun intended) your options with more scrutiny. You'll really think about whether you need something as opposed to just throwing items in your easily-pushable cart.

Find more tricks that you can be aware of over at SavvySugar's 5 Supermarket Tricks to Get You to Spend More.

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Comments:

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I used to do bookkeeping for a grocery store-there is a list of the top 100 items that people track the prices of --Miracle Whip and milk are at the top of this list. Grocery stores will lower their prices on these top 100 items which makes the consumer think all of the stores prices are competively priced.

If you want to get rid of a poor seller or left over Halloween candy--"buy 1 get 1 free" You get rid of much more than if you just marked it down to half price. At half price, they might buy 1 bag, at get 1 free, multiple bags!

Also, mark things 33 cents each or 3/dollar.

Put a sign limit of 3 on an item and I guarantee you most people will buy 3 whether they want it or need it--they just have to get their "fair" share! Some will come back for a second purchase or have their kids or spouse buy more!

Posted by Claudia on July 12, 2012 1:12 PM

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I have hauled produce from all over the country to the midwest. This stuff on the shelves even if it is refrigerated is anything but fresh. Most of the time a truck will spend and entire day and part of another just picking up a mixed load. Then it's three days from California to Iowa only to have the fruits and veggies put in another cooler and put on another refrigerated truck to peddle the stuff to their stores. Refrigeration constantly draws nutrients out of the fruits and veggies. You are now looking at 5 to 7 days before it hits the store shelves it may lay there for another day until it's purchased.
I buy a lot of frozen fruits and veggies, on an average they are flash frozen within 6 hours of being harvested and no they don't loose any nutritional food value once frozen,it automatically locks in the nutrients. Don't confuse frozen fruits and veggies with frozen dinners which are notoriously unhealthy, and frozen items keep a lot longer in the freezer than your supposedly fresh items. Granted not all produce can be frozen like citrus but they are one of the easier items with a longer shelf life, apples also. Frozen veggies are handy to have around for steaming, microwaving and adding to soups and stews. The frozen produce is usually quite cheap and they run sales on them quite frequently and you have about zero spoilage as you can experience with what is deemed fresh, You're saving with price and zero spoilage while enjoying more nutrients. They can be gently thawed in the refrigerator and come out nice and crisp to add to a salad. It's seasonal but, if you want fresh go to your local outdoor community markets. Their produce hasn't been trucked halfway across the USA.
Bon Appetit the frugal and healthy way!

Posted by l.d.meyer on July 13, 2012 2:42 PM

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Another thing is that some stores will take slightly bruised or spoiled produce, cut off the bad part and cube or shred the good parts, package them and sell them at the high prices as "ready to serve."

Posted by Chris Bown on July 13, 2012 9:38 PM

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Do note that although "10 for $10" usually means the same thing as "$1 each," in some cases the sign will also say, "Must buy 10." In that case, you need to consider whether it's worth buying that many to get the good price. (Sometimes sales like this are "mix and match," meaning that you can buy any 10 items from a list of sale-priced products and the total will be 10. So you could buy 6 boxes of pasta and 4 jars of sauce, for instance. This works out well if one or both of the sale items is something with a long shelf life.)

Posted by haverwench on July 16, 2012 12:27 PM

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I notice that even with chain stores, each store will have their own areas (or not) with reduced priced foods such as bread, deli, meats, and produce. Some do dairy as well. Even the same store (Wal Mart) in the same city will have a different policy on whether they offer stuff reduced priced. I went to the deli and the woman asked me if I wanted to buy half priced ham--no advertisement, and if you didn't go to the meat counter, you wouldn't have known this. You usually have to go the the stores early, around 9-10 Am to get the "deals" but some, like fried chicken, put it out the last hour or two of the day. so if never hurts to ask. Some times the store employees look dumbfounded when I ask where is the reduced food items--they don't even know it exists in their store. or I'll be sent on a wild goose chase to find it. And it is first come first served so it could be there early but not when you get there!

Posted by jserra on July 26, 2012 3:58 PM

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