[Andrew Gigacz]

I’m a big fan of buying in bulk when it comes to regular household items. It potentially saves money and wasteful packaging, and everybody wins. In fact I get annoyed when I see a supermarket special that reduces the price of an item to the point where it’s cheaper not to buy in bulk.

One recent example I spotted was dishwashing liquid. It was cheaper for me to buy two ‘on special’ smaller bottles than a larger one which delivered the same amount of detergent using less plastic.

But there’s another side to bulk buying deals that I think can be dangerous to some shoppers – shoppers like me, at least. And these are the ‘Buy any 2’ deals. As the name suggests, if you buy any two of a particular item, you’ll get them at a cheaper rate. An item that costs say $4 for one, might have a ‘2 for $6’ offer. That’s a saving of $1 per item bought. Not bad, eh?

Indeed, it is not bad at all. Sometimes the discount is even heavier. On one occasion I saw an offer of two packs of Cadbury Favourites for the price of one. But if I just wanted the one pack, I’d be paying the same price as for two!

The problem for me comes when the discounted item is a ‘treat’ rather than an essential. Like chocolate. Or chips. Or chocolate chip cookies.

It’s a problem for me because, when it comes to such treats, I struggle to stop at one. If there’s a pack of something I like in the house, its chances of lasting out the day are very slim.

The solution is simple, of course. Just buy one pack of whatever it is. And that’s what I generally do. But it’s hard not to feel like I’m being ripped off in the process. Especially when buying one means leaving a ‘free’ one on the shelf.

What do you think? Should Woolies and Coles be allowed to offer bulk discounts on unhealthy foods? Or do I just need to work harder on my food discipline?

[disillusioned]

It seems to me that the “big” supermarkets are great at promoting discounts on “unhealthy” products, such as potato crisps, sweets, & biscuits, while raising the prices of “healthy” food such as vegetables, meat, etc. I wonder if, by doing this, these supermarkets are in fact part of the cause of the “obesity” epidemic gripping the western world?

[Daniel]

This has annoyed me for years. I’ve often noticed that the breakfast cereals most often and most heavily discounted are the Frosties, Coco Pops and Fruit Loops. I’ve also been taking my elderly mother shopping for the past few years and the two or even three product buy discounts certainly discriminate against the elderly. In the 2 for $6 example given in the artice you have to pay more to get the discount and are then left with a product that you might not need for 6 months. To those on pensions it’s not easy to find the extra to get the so called discount. Why not just discount the single item by 25%?

[Poppy]

2 for one specials are so unfair for those on limited budgets. I am a pensioner living on my own and I can never afford to purchase 2 of an item and have sufficient money left for the rest of my shop. Closely related to this issue is the increasing tendency of Woolworths loyalty scheme to place minimum purchase limits on their ‘boosters’. Sadly these are invariably the fresh, healthy products we should all be buying – fruits, veggies, and meats. Again, as a single person on a pension these ‘specials’ are way out of my reach.

[Dennett]

Supermarkets should be made to discount single items and stop 2 for one. Customers would be more loyal if they were treated as a brain.

[Dennett]

Supermarkets should be made to discount single items and stop 2 for one. Customers would be more loyal if they were treated as having a brain.

[Couldabeen]

We’re adults, it’s entirely up to ourselves. Fortunately there is usually a cost per kilogram and we can determine which is the better more cost effective choice.
Always compare, for example there is a nut that is usually priced at about $22/kg. So the assumption may be that buying the 750gm pack will be the better choice. I’ve often seen the 500gm pack at ~$14kg. Silly not to take 2 home.
A certain cream cheese is either a single pack or a twin pack, recently I saw that two of the single pack would cost less than a twin pack. I like it, I took two.
Check Kiwi Fruit. Nice convenient pack of 6 with an indicated price per item of .80c where as the loose ones are .82c each (when buying 5 at time). A quick check finds that the pre-pack ones are all a nice uniform physical size, but turn out to be over 10% smaller.
Recently I was seduced by a certain chocolate sold in long triangles that was for under $15/kg. Less than half price of the normal pack. A real test of self control when one gets such a large block home.

[Author]

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