On Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:19:21 -0700 (PDT), Sheldon >
wrote:

>Janet Baraclough wrote:
>> > James Silverton wrote:
>>
>> ?I saw some large navel
>> > > oranges marked "10 for....." That looked interesting until I saw
>> > > it was "10 for $10" or a dollar each. Don't people do the simple
>> > > arithmetic.
>>
>> ? ?Sadly. huge numbers of people today are incapable of the most basic
>> mental arithmetic.
>
>What if you bought ten oranges, and after a week the last two were
>rotted... that happens with produce, very often... when produce goes
>on those volume sales it's far more often because it's ready to go off
>than there's a glut.
>
>Actually a far greater percentage of people today than ever are
>capable of arithmetic... reading/writing too. Far more people today
>receive an eduction than ever before and a far better education...
>perhaps you don't associate with educated people, I have a strong
>suspician you don't, otherwise you'd not be so reactive regarding
>things you know nothing about... the uneducated tend to shoot from the
>hip, they don't think first.. very prevalent with newsgroup posters
>who typically race to reply, and often, especially about topics of
>which they know nothing.
>
>I think most shopppers do very well with calculating pricing, actually
>too well. But many of today's marketing tactics are about placement
>strategies, ego stroking, and impulse buying, but have little to do
>with a patron's mathematical abilities. Most people, in the US
>anyway, buy food items based more on what they need at the moment
>rather than based exclusively on price... not many people are going to
>drive all over town just because they can save a few pennies on a few
>items... most folks in the US are smart enough to realize that when a
>store prices meat a dollar less per pound that the items that go with
>that particular meat are priced higher than usual, but not many are
>going to drive miles to save 20 cents on onions, mushrooms, potatoes,
>canned beans, etc.. most folks in the US value their time much more
>than saving a dime on soda pop... and with the high cost of energy
>today it never pays to go the drive-by shopping routine. And anyway
>all stores have sales, and over time by shopping primarily at any one
>stupidmarket the yearly grocery bill tends to even out... so Americans
>tend to possess better abilities at logical deduction and more common
>sense too... becoming trapped in the picayune aspects of the math is
>precisely what the marketing gurus hope for, their goal is to coerce
>shoppers into buying volume... the shopper doesn't get nearly the
>volume discount the store does. Next time you see a 2fer, 5fer or
>10fer sale even if it costs a few cents less, think more about if you
>really need that many instead of computing the math.... because if
>just one doesn't get used you're a loser. Whenever you buy more
>volume and larger sizes than you can possibly use in a reasonable time
>you are not only investing your dollars into non interest bearing
>commodities but you are losing the use of your capital (actually
>transfering it to the store for free), and you have to warehouse all
>that bulk on your shelves, in your fridge, in your freezer. which
>frees up the store's shelves and saves them money (you become a free
>warehouser, but also a goodly portion will often spoil before you can
>use it). People tend to prepare larger amounts than they can
>reasonably use just because they have the extra volume on hand,
>especially with the larger sizes... then the leftovers end up in the
>trash and then not only have you saved nothing but if you do the math
>you'll discover that you actually come out in a much poorer position
>than had you NOT did the math originally that coerced you to buy that
>ten pound sack of spuds instead of the five pounds... you innitially
>saved 50 cents but three weeks later tossed three pounds into the
>composter. You know where you can shove your pence pinching math.


I am very fortunate that our regular grocery store charges by the
item, even when price at 2 for or 10 for. If the price is 3 for $.99
and the regular price is $.40, I can buy 1 for $.33, I do not have to
buy 3 to get the lower price.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)