Bargain Basement

Original posting, August 2006

The selling technique of 3 for 2 suggests a bargain - if you want three of something. It may work like this: sell each 'reduced' item at the true price so sell three items at once. If a single item (or two items) is sold then a higher individual price is reached.

Example: 3 for 2 @ 99p each. Buy 2 for £1.98 (and get 3) suggests the third item is free. Each works out at 66p instead of 99p. A 33.3% saving and a real bargain. Not when you consider the true selling price as 66p, then buying just 1 or 2 units will cost you 50% more at 99p each. Similarly, get 2 for the price of 1. Probably sell twice as many items as it appears cheaper. The true cost of each unit costs 100% less than the declared selling price. Then if the item is sold singularly, there is 100% higher cost. Example: say an item has a true selling price of 25p. If the sale is then 2 for 1 they'd go for 50p. If you buy only 1 then you still pay 50p = 25p + 25p (100%). Another ploy: take off 2 for 1 sale and sell a pack only individually, but adding 33% more content (it's how fruit is sold). Say the true selling price of a standard pack size is 25p. Add 33% more content and the true cost increases to 33p (25p+8p). But this then sells for 50p as that was the earlier selling price in a 2 for 1 deal, but with 33% greater pack size. Bargain. But this is still 17p profit on top of the 33p and is 17/33 = +50% markup.

Things are never what they seem are they?