The Great 'shrinking food and other items' Hunt

zygurat789

FireFox wrote: »

Is this thread still going?

I may be slow off the mark but only just noticed that following the great shrinking Twix shocker (4x50g down from 4x58g a few months back) it seems like the rest are following suit -

Mars Bars - 4 pack x 51g also down from 4x58g 12.07%
Snickers - 4 pack x 48g down from 4x58g 17.24%
Cadbury Double Decker - 4 pack x 54.5g down from 4x60g 9.17%
I won't mention percentages!

Old larger sizes still available variously from Sainsbury's & Tesco.

Grab 'em while you can
(... or not - I've decided to boycott the lot!)

Why not? Percentages are THE tool for measuring things like this.
Makes the results look so much more meaningful.

terra_ferma

In a different thread someone mentioned that Aldi seems to be shrinking its products, probably thinking they can increase prices without people noticing...
Han anyone else noticed the same?

geordie_joe

zygurat789 wrote: »

Why not? Percentages are THE tool for measuring things like this.
Makes the results look so much more meaningful.

I think percentages are meaningless to most people, all they care about is the amount the item has gone up.

To most people, knowing they will have to pay X% more for an item is no use, but knowing they will have to pay X pence more is.

zygurat789

geordie_joe wrote: »

I think percentages are meaningless to most people, all they care about is the amount the item has gone up.

To most people, knowing they will have to pay X% more for an item is no use, but knowing they will have to pay X pence more is.

So an increase of £10 on an item costing £130 is worse than an increase of 10p on item costing £1?

You may or may not be aware of the debate which is raging over the standard of maths in the population. The fact that percentages are meaningless to most people is the reason for this debate.

maman

zygurat789 wrote: »

So an increase of £10 on an item costing £130 is worse than an increase of 10p on item costing £1?

You may or may not be aware of the debate which is raging over the standard of maths in the population. The fact that percentages are meaningless to most people is the reason for this debate.

Ironically, the need for mental maths has never been greater. I'm constantly comparing cost per kg between different size packs.

Smidster

terra_ferma wrote: »

In a different thread someone mentioned that Aldi seems to be shrinking its products, probably thinking they can increase prices without people noticing...
Han anyone else noticed the same?

Certainly some of the Yogurts have decreased in size (from 180g to 165g)

terra_ferma

maman wrote: »

Ironically, the need for mental maths has never been greater. I'm constantly comparing cost per kg between different size packs.

And even if you are ace at mental math, sometimes it doesn't help....
A pet hate of mine is the fact that often you can't compare prices because fruit and vegetables are randomly priced per unit or kg, just to confuse buyers. And you can't always easily find scales to check weight of a pack priced per unit. And when you do you need to be able to make the calculations in your head, or use your phone's calculator if you have one.
It really annoys me.

zygurat789

terra_ferma wrote: »

And even if you are ace at mental math, sometimes it doesn't help....
A pet hate of mine is the fact that often you can't compare prices because fruit and vegetables are randomly priced per unit or kg, just to confuse buyers. And you can't always easily find scales to check weight of a pack priced per unit. And when you do you need to be able to make the calculations in your head, or use your phone's calculator if you have one.
It really annoys me.

But sometimes it's worthwhile.
Tesco were selling bags of oranges for £1 the SEL also said 20p each
I managed to persuade the staff to sell me a bag for 80p because there were only 4 in the bag.

geordie_joe

zygurat789 wrote: »

So an increase of £10 on an item costing £130 is worse than an increase of 10p on item costing £1?

It makes no difference, what I am saying is most people are interested in how much extra they will pay for things, not the percentage of the increase.

zygurat789 wrote: »

You may or may not be aware of the debate which is raging over the standard of maths in the population. The fact that percentages are meaningless to most people is the reason for this debate.

Well I am not aware of it, so it can't really be "raging" very much, can it?

I can't believe there are that many people "raging" over something that is meaningless to most people.

Are you sure you aren't just making a mountain out of a more hill?

zygurat789

geordie_joe wrote: »

It makes no difference, what I am saying is most people are interested in how much extra they will pay for things, not the percentage of the increase.



Well I am not aware of it, so it can't really be "raging" very much, can it?

I can't believe there are that many people "raging" over something that is meaningless to most people.

Are you sure you aren't just making a mountain out of a more hill?

It just goes to show how out of touch you are and that will also apply to your first statement too.