It’s our general tendency to *assume* that when things are sold in bulk, they should be cheaper. Here is what we discovered about bulk prices at our local grocery shop the other day:
Some of you may remember that last Sunday I ranted about onions getting horribly expensive (see that “was $1.99” in the upper left hand corner of the image? - that’s the price we paid last last time). As anticipated, we were done with those onions in 5 days and were back to get some more, when I took the above picture.
In the current situation as depicted by the photograph, the 2 lb onion bag comes to around $2.50 per pound, whereas if you just buy loose onions on per pound basis, you will get the same onions at $1.49 per pound - that’s ridiculous. Now, 2 pounds is not really as *bulk* as one would expect, but it’s still bulk when compared to loose onions.
On last Sunday, I am pretty certain that the price per pound was slightly lower for the 2 lb bag than for the loose onions (makes sense); however, that time, we went with the loose ones because they looked and felt much better than the ones bagged together. Anyways, what makes it all the more confusing is the constant raising and lowering of prices - on one given day bulk prices will be cheaper and then suddenly, the next day they will be more than the non-bulk prices. Perhaps, retailers do it deliberately, I am not sure. Also, I noticed this with onions, but it must be happening with other commodities as well.
Bottom line: look at the prices before you jump for the bulk - bulk may not always be cheaper.
The story behind the photograph
The first time we went to the store, we didn’t carry a camera - obviously. Then, I noticed the weird onion pricing. Initially, I thought there is some mistake with the pricing, so I weighed a couple of those onion bags and they were really 2 lb bags. Before I weighed them, I suspected that perhaps they were 3 lb bags marked wrongly as 2 lb bags - although, even with that, the price per pound would have been $1.66 which is more than the loose onions at $1.49.
Once I realized that there was something genuinely stupid about the prices, I drove back home to get the camera while my wife continued with the shopping - man you can’t loose these priceless moments. 
Last Sunday, there wasn’t much motivation to carry the camera in the store, so I just took a photograph of the receipt - shown below (didn’t have a scanner handy).
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Costco anyone?
That is all I have to say about this.
“Bottom line: look at the prices before you jump for the bulk - bulk may not always be cheaper.”
That too, lol.
I noticed that years ago, so I just shop the specials then get the rest. It appears the grocers have adjusted for the big box raiders!
The produce guys will tell you that they need to manage their stock, so if the new is coming in you get a discount.
Bull. Two pounds of onions is four onions, or maybe five if they’re small. Aside from price, a great benefit of loose onions is that you can leave the molded ones behind and only fish out the good ones. Onions, if properly stored, last for months, and who uses only four onions in several months?
A lot of shoppers aren’t particularly astute. At least the cheaper onions do have a big “On Sale!” sign above them.
Aren’t loose veggies and fruits always less expensive than bagged/packaged?
Laura, that’s only true if the packaged/bagged veggies have been cleaned/cut /processed etc. If they are the exact same product as the loose one, then logically, they should be cheaper than the loose ones - to sort of encourage the shopper to buy more - or at least that’s how I have seen it happen usually.
True. I was once shopping for a Colgate toothpaste in WalMart. I spotted a single tube of 6 oz for about $2.00 (I don’t remember the exact price and I did not have a camera, so just take it as an example). Then near the checkout counter, I found a “Super Saver Offer” on the same thing, just packed in 2 units “on sale” for about $4.99. I picked it up and asked one of the gals working there. She could not defy my logic that if I buy two single units, I’d be saving a buck instantly. But she said this, because it is near check out counter and all customers spot is the word “Save”, they don’t care to go back to find out the exact price of the item in hand and pick up “item on sale” instead.
Good insight on retailing
This won’t work back in India, as apart from having very shrewd customers, they also print the exact price on almost all items in human readable format.
I just found this site, and this post and thought of something that just recently happened. I took my 6 year old to the store and I was “teaching” him how to shop. I looked at the loose onions and the bagged onions. In our case the bagged WAS cheaper. The loose ones looked a tiny bit fresher. For the heck of it, I weighed the 2lb bag of onions and it was 2.5 lbs not 2 as stated. My son and I decided to get the bagged and just use them up quickly or chop and freeze them for later use in stews and soups.
Moral of the story…weigh the prepackaged items, sometimes they weigh more.
Back when I lived Canada and Costco opened a super store near by everyone and their brother went shopping there, took a while before you realized you not only didn’t save anything but because the bulk nature of store you spent way more. You didn’t save money because of the way they package things, two desirable items with one undesirable one cereal 2 cornflakes with one branflakes for example. As well they sizing was often different so prices were hard to compare. No days I always check the price per kilo (pound) often as not the bulk prices aren’t cheaper
btw found you website via a link from simpledollar.com
Diane: Yeah, agree with you there: “weigh the prepackaged items, sometimes they weigh more.” - for these onions I did and they were OK. However, like you, I have realized in the past that sometimes, sacked/packed stuff might be more than the sticker says.
Rob in Madrid: “the bulk nature of store you spent way more” - that happens to us most of the times
- we use Sam’s club and also check the prices per pound. Although, there are certain things that are invariably cheaper in bulk stores - it always helps to be alert while picking up bulk items.
I worked for a produce distributor in San Francisco, produce prices can change from day to day depending on what is generated from the farm, AND where it comes from. The farther it comes, the more expensive.
Oh, and Organic produce shouldn’t cost what it does. And the mark-up on most produce after cost is anywhere from 45-80% Usually at least 55% due to spoilage.
My family consists of three people, so buying ‘bulk’ is not something that I would normally do, especially with food. It usually spoils because we can’t use it up quickly.
basically you right, the shoppers are looking for the “deals”, and the bulk sales force you to buy more than you planned, so instead of spending 150$ on a shopping cart you leave 250$ on the table. open your eyes!
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