"Discount" is a pleasant word. But not every discount makes you richer, and some are built so that you take more than you meant to. The traps here are not cheating in the strict sense: the prices are printed honestly. It is just that the shop knows how we look at a red figure and lays everything out so that we do not count. Here are the most common tricks and a way to check each one.
"Two for the price of one" and "three for two"
This is the best-known offer. It is good when you were going to buy two anyway and they keep for a long time: grain, tins, tea, soap. Then you simply pay for one and get two.
The trap works on perishables: yoghurt, herbs, rolls, sliced meat. You take two because it is a good deal, and one sits for a week and gets thrown out. Paying for what you throw away eats your whole discount and then some. First ask yourself: will I eat both before the date? If not, take one, even without a discount.
Sometimes the base price in such an offer is higher than in the shop next door. Then "two for one" just brings the price back to normal. You can check in a minute: look at the price per kilogram in other shops.
The crossed-out old price
Next to the new price there is often a crossed-out old one. The trouble is that you do not know whether anyone ever paid that price. Sometimes an item stood at a higher price for a short while so that it later looks cheap. Sometimes the "old" price is simply higher than elsewhere.
How to check: do not trust the crossed-out figure, trust your own experience and other shops. If you buy a product often, you remember what it costs. If not, open the catalogues and compare the price per kilogram in nearby shops. How to read flyers is in the article on flyers.
The pack that got slimmer
This is the quietest trap. The price stays the same while the weight in the pack falls: it was 200 grams and now it is 180. You cannot see it by eye, because the box is the same and the label is the same. It happens most often with sweets, crisps, biscuits and coffee.
How to check: read the weight in grams every time, not out of habit. Best of all, compare the price per kilogram, because it shows the hidden rise at once. More in the article on price per kilogram.
As an example, chocolate in the catalogues now. Look at the weight in the cards:
In the catalogues now: chocolate
Sirop de ciocolată "Diamir", 360 g102.75 lei/kg36.99 lei
AVK Burunducioc129.5 lei/kg129.50 lei
Batonas Roshen de ciocolata lapte/crema brule 33g151.21 lei/kg4.99 lei
NEFIS Prune in Ciocolată cu Lapte 200g166 lei/kg33.20 leiLoss leaders
The shop announces milk, sugar or eggs at a very good price. You go for them and pick up other things on the way. Such a lure is not cheating, it is ordinary retail logic. The trap is that you not only take the lure but also believe that everything else in that shop is cheap too.
What to do: buy exactly those goods and check the rest against the flyers of nearby shops. If the lure is cheaper by a small amount and the trip takes an hour, it is not worth the effort.
End-of-aisle and till displays
Aisle ends and the area by the till are the most visible places in a shop. Things go there that must be sold quickly or that suit the shop. It does not mean they are dearer, but it means you cannot take them "without looking". Often on the ordinary shelf, two steps away, the price per kilogram is lower.
Habit: if an item sits at the aisle end, find the same one on the shelf and compare the price per kilogram. It takes ten seconds.
Fizzy drinks and other drinks often lie in packs and sets. Here is how they sell in different shops:
Where it is cheaper: fizzy drinks
- JOY'S Băutură răcoritoare carbogazoasă 1,5 l1,5 l9.95 lei−23%
12.90 lei6.63 lei/l - JOY’S Băutură 1.5L1.5L
Linellauntil 21 Oct9.99 lei−28%13.79 lei6.66 lei/l - Bautura Pepsi Cola gaz. 1.5l pet1.5lBonusuntil 31 Oct19.99 lei−32%
29.40 lei13.33 lei/l - PEPSI/MIRINDA/MOUNTAIN DEW Băutură carbogazoasă sortiment divers 1L1L
Slavenauntil 20 Oct13.95 lei−30%19.95 lei13.95 lei/l - Băutură carbogazoasă Pepsi, 2L2L
Rogobuntil 21 Oct29.90 lei−27%40.90 lei14.95 lei/l - Bautura carbogazoasa CERNOGOLOVCA 1.5L1.5L
Localuntil 21 Oct22.99 lei−39%37.99 lei15.33 lei/l - Pop Cola pet 1,5L1,5L
AlcoMarketuntil 18 Oct22.99 lei−29%32.30 lei15.33 lei/l - COCA COLA 1.25L1.25L
Mega Alinauntil 31 Oct21.99 lei−27%29.99 lei17.59 lei/l
Smaller tricks
There are smaller tricks. "Buy three": the discount starts from the third piece, while one and two cost more. "Up to": the discount reaches a certain size, but on your item it may be smaller. "Card only": you get the price if you have the shop's card. And "last pieces": they hurry you, although a week later the same offer is often repeated.
About products with a short date that are sold cheaper: it is an honest discount if you eat them today or freeze them. Do not buy them for later.
How to check a discount in a minute
Here is an order that works almost always:
- Find the weight and work out the price per kilogram or litre.
- Compare with the same product in two other shops.
- Ask yourself: was this product on my list?
- Ask: will I eat all of it before the date?
- Check whether there is a condition: card, number of pieces, date.
If the answer to all five is "yes", the discount is real. If at least one is "no", wait: a good offer comes back. More habits are in the article how to save on groceries.
One more tip: look at the discounts page and see where the same item is cheaper.
